play fighting

hey im new to this forum and things keep poping in my head to ask but i dont want people thinking im stupid or a bad dog owner etc my dogs are my life trust me i have there best interest at heart my life revolves around them lol.

one thing thats bin on my mind is my dogs play fighting.

im new to having dogs i got my first dog ever in august 09 that was ozzy he was a 6mnth old rescue staffy x hes now about 2 years 7 months

i got another dog called bobo in february they have gotten on brilliantly ever since they mett.
they are inseperable and love each other to bits. ive never questioned the way they play fight as i have nothing to compare it to also my mother in law has had dogs all her life and has never said anything about the way they play being wrong.

one of my mother in laws friends is a dog trainer apprently and she was round the other day and sore my dogs going at it in the lounge, they wressle pin each other to the floor they bite necks ears legs (not in a bad way in a playing way) but they make a lot of noise while doing so and a lot of growling, they have never hurt each other and i dont think they ever would, they both come away with like little pink marks like scratches from teeth and nails some times nothing server though or remotley bad. i think this womans reaction may be based on the fact she has never worked with staffys before , shes mroe of a poodle specalist.

ive also red coments on another thread of people sayign tere dogs do similar things.

beaus top dog even though she was the second one and if shes not in the mood she lunges at ozzy as if to say F off never hurts him

just wanted to know if im wrong to let them "fight" as this woman was so shocked that i did and said "dont you stop them dont you interveen and stand in the middle" and my responce was "no there having fun and this wears them out a lot more than a walk dose" which is true. no matter how long a walk they have they will not remotley be tired , let them play fight and they will drop wen they are nackered lol

am i wrong in letting them do this ??


sorry if i seem like an idiot any dog advice ive ever had has been from family and friends, none of which have ever owned staffys xx

Staffs play hard! And yes, they make a lot of noise doing it. It's all about knowing their body language - if you know them well, you'll know when they're playing or getting annoyed.

As long as you're prepared to step in if it should get out of hand, then there's no problem. Let them have their fun!

thats ok then =] i always shout at them if i think there gettin a bit too rough and they stop there good kids lol just like to wrestle haha

That's how all dogs play, really - it's just that staffs play that bit harder!

Staffs do play very hard and i suppose if your not used to the breed it could look quite scary and assume they are actually fighting, but as long as you supervise and are prepared to separate if it goes to far then it's all fine

As long as it's supervised and you understand body language I think it's great exercise for them. Suki has done it almost everyday since we got her.
We do always seperate them if it gets too rough or after about 10 minutes or so just to be sure it doesn't get out of hand.

To some one who doesnt know staffs watching staffs play would be a bit umm....unnerving?? lol Staffs dont do anything by halfs as u probably already no haha and that includes playing. All noise and teeth lol. Obviously if u feel its getting more than play or is just doing your head in then put a stop 2 it. You know your dogs! x

As already said by the other, staffs play hard and its upto you as their owner to set the limit at which is acceptable. Problem with setting the level to high is if you let your dogs play with other dogs then this level may well be way above what this other dog and owner is used to and may end badly.

I let our dogs play a little but if it gets a little to much seperate them and let them carlm down a little. Its upto you to set that limit but as I say you might want to keep in mind if you wanna let them play with other peoples dogs it maybe a good idea to set the level quite low.

If on the other hand you never plan on playing with other dogs or other owners dogs then that level can be as high as you like really, they are your dogs and thats, that.

I set my level at what probley about the same as most other dog owners and that way I can let my dogs play with anybody elses dog with permission of course. Where as if I let them play to quite a high level of excitment them dont think any other dog owner would let me near there dogs an that would make me sad lol.

Pinning mouthing odd bit of growling ect all fine for me, if it starts to look plain aggressive then I stop them. Even though I know they are still only playing, for me its not acceptable to play at that level of excitement as I wish to let my dogs play with others without me looking like I have "a dangerous dog". Like if one wants to play and the other dont I stop it, instead of letting one force the other into playing. I have quite strick rules on play fighting as I dont want my dogs thinking they can just go round playing rough as they like with any dog they get chance to. But thats my personal opinion on the matter and its upto each owner to set what level is acceptable.

hey johneva, thanks for your insight.

they only really go mad with each other there pretty good with other dogs.

my mother in law has 4 standard pooldles 2 young a bit older than my 2 and 2 older ones

my two will go mad with each other but are a lot gentleer with them.
beau the girl dosent reli pay them that much attention she preferes people or ozzy
ozzy the boy spends more time hugging them round the waist and humping there front than trying to wrestle them haha

i do make sure i interviene when they get a bit too hyped up, its ozzy that keeps going beau will stop if you tell ehr too and lie down but ozzys a bit like a 5yr old on red bull constant amount of energy and wen he gets going that seems to fuel him more lol ill try what you said though about seperateing them maybe putting ozzy the other side of or dog gate to calm down wen hes being a bit too much, dunno why i never thought about that