I have 2 Staff puppies a 15 week old dog and a 7 week old bitch. They have recently within the last two days been introduced and although they seem to get on quite well the older dog can be a little too excitable by the tiny bitch ( she is half the size of him) She is happy too play with him but after a while becomes tired and as he keeps pestering her she will growl and snap at him. Bless him the older dog will run away from her or role on his back and submit, but I wondered if we should intervine in their play/fighting or let them fiight it out in terms of whom is the more dominate dog. So far the older dog has not hurt the bitch but Im worried that the continuing aggravation by him will cause them to fight more aggressively. When she does snap at him we will seperate them so she can have a break.
Is this normal, should we intervine and how long will this last? Is there anyway we can make the boy calm down in terms of his play? at the moment his favourite trick is biting her legs and sitting on her.

Any advice critizism would be appreciated

It is normal - I have to smile as I have a 21 month old Staffy and a 17 week old staffy bitch and she can be a little sod. I know what you mean by the nipping and pushing over etc.
It doesnt tend to get out of hand but yours are younger than mine and may not know the boundaries they are allowed to.
We also have a crate so if pup does get too excited and wont stop we can crate either one of them - although my eldest will usually go in for a bit of peace away from Madam anyway.
All I can advise is to watch them , dont leave them alone together and let both know what behaviour YOU do not find acceptable :)
I dont envy you two little ones - pretty hard work ;)

Luckily for me it is my partner who spends all day with them, for once its a reflief to come to work for some peace!!! We do have a crate and we tend to crate the younger one as she seems to get more aggravated by him and needs a rest.
The older dog can't understand why she won't play!!!
Good to know this is normal behaviour!!!
My partner is very good with them and always makes them lick and make up after a spat which is very funny!

Good to know we're not alone

There are a couple of CD members who have younger staffys too so hopefully they will pop on later :)

I have a male staff, he's now 15 months and all I can say is that they are a breed of bostourious players; tumbling, body slamming, rolling around, play growling the lot.  He loves a good old bumndle; however most dogs do not like this; but luckily he has a couple of buddies that do: 2 yr Dalmation, 8 month Vizla and a 12 month lab.  The lab is female and he plays more gently with her; but I think he has a rather big soft spot for her (even though he has been castrated).  With the Daly they play non stop for hours until they drop but with the lab they play and bundle for 5-10 mins then trott off together investigating things and when they are worn out they crash of the floor nose to nose and sleep, they even share food and water out of the same bowls.  It is ever so sweet to see.  I expect you will find you male staff is highly tollerant and in time he will be very protective of his younger female playmate.  When Bobs (our staff) and the Daly play too hard for too long we lye them down together to calm down for 5 mins, before they are off again.  Bobs is great now, if I tell him "gentle" he tries to play a little less full on.

Hi
I would recommend that you buy another cage, so that both can have their own 'safe haven' to go to when they've had enough. My Staffs often run around like loonies, then one gets fed up before the other and they start to 'snipe' at each other. If one retires to their bed, more often then not the other shortly follows and they are curled up together for a snooze, but sometimes they like their own space. You dont want them getting too 'dependant' on each other for company, as I have found a very strong bond will form and if one is away for any reason, the other may fret :( . Remember there will be times when they are apart, for example when your girl comes into season (if you do not have her spayed). Good luck, you've got yer hands full! I'm keeping two out of my litter so I'll be right behind you! :D

We do try and keep them seperated, the younger pup does sleep in the spare bedroom so she can get some peace and quiet!
But they do like to cosy uo to one another in the Dogs cage! He has been such a gent giving up his bed and he even lets her share his food bowl!
So long as I know the behaviour is normal, I live in fear of them disliking one another.

thanks for everyones advice and tips!

There's a good chance that they will always get on, being a dog and a bitch. I'm not saying the same sex don't, as I've got a male and two bitches (Staffs) and mine get along perfectly up to now.
As everyone has said though Staffies really play rough. I've never had 2 as close in age as yours though. My bitch was 3yrs when she had her litter, and she played really rough with all of them. And they playfought as if they were trying to kill each other. lol. or thats what people thought who had never owned Staffords. The male we kept out of the litter was about 7 months when we got our puppy bitch (who is 9 months now) All 3 played rough with each other as long as we would allow it, especially the 2 youngest, apart from scabs and scratches :D there was no harm done.
They are now 4yrs (bitch) 17 months (dog) and 9 months (bitch) and they still play really rough (but always supervised) as you just never know. If I ever spot anything slightly dodgy, I just shout thats enough, and they stop playing.
As someone suggested 2 cages is better than one, then they can both have a safe place for time out.
Have fun.

Mitch

Well I am a "two" Staff person too. And recently as well like you. But my ages are totally different to yours too I have two bitches one almost 8 weeks and the other 20 months. The older one is and always has been gentle but understands the rules of "dog play" well and the pup is learning the rules. Also when I say "No" I mean "No" and they stop rough play (normally the pup has started it) and because it is "easy" to stop the older one like Lel  said earlier both yours are youngsters, so you may be at a disadvantage. Also yours have "no boundaries" so you would have to step in quicker than I may have too.

I don't envy you either two Stafford babies must be hard work. And the phrase rather you than me springs to mind :)

I'll let you know if my pup has learnt any manners though because she goes to puppy socialization classes next week. As a matter of interest does your older one go to puppy class or training classes, just so he and then she has one to one ime with you as the "boss"?
Karen

we have an 8 months old staffy bitch candy, and a 5 months old staffy dog buddy.when we first got the boy she wouldn't leave him alone at all and he was terrified.It took them both about 2 weeks to really settle down together and play with each other nicely, they are together all the time now and love each other to bits!!candy wouldnt eat the other week when buds went to the vets for his op!!as lel says though a cage is a must in case of any need to keep them apart!!good luck, they are very tiring but soo worth it!!:)

Hello

Both puppys are enrolled in puppy classes, the older pup starts them in September so role on september........
They do seem quite happy together in terms of eating, sleeping, etc. My partner keeps a close eye on things and things do seem to be improving day by day.
The older one seems to be more obediant and actually listens to us!!!!!!

Thanks for everyones advice!!

It isn't really natural for a 15 week old pup to know how to play properly with such a young pup.  In the wild the next litter wouldn't be born until the following year, and the previous years juveniles would be allowed to meet their brothers and sisters once they were able to leave the den, they would then act as baby sitters while older pack members and the parents hunted.

Young pups can easily inadvertently hurt a younger or smaller pup, as they haven't the expereince or self control.

If this were me I would not leave then unsupervised, and not allow play to get to the stage of the youngert pup getting grumpy, as it could learn that this is the way to get peace and try It with other dogs once out and about.

Just my opinion of course :D

Day six of my staff puppies living together and they are getting on fine now, thy share food bowls and will sleep together although we crate both of them in the evenings which is fine...everyone gets a good nights sleep. They seem to have sorted out the pecking order with funnily enough the 7 week old bitch being the more dominant!
Had a funny experience last night in the vets, was taking Rosie for a heakth check and some...women thing....(she was barely a lady) told me that my dogs would kill each other and that her staff cross wripped the neck out of one of her dogs.....apparently she has 7.... and 14 cats.....she told me shes had to get rid os two Rottis, one St bernard and 3 staffs .......because they all got mullered by the evil staffs which should not be sold blah blah blah.... I know Im using this to bitch about someone but I though what an awful thing to say to some one with a 7 week old puppy, that my dogs are going to kill each other....oh cheers!
I asked her if she ever thought it might be her whos the problem and not the dog.........

Unfortunately people will always have misconceived views of staffys- all we can do is set good examples to those who dont know the breed :)

Just wanted to say about feeding them both from the same bowls etc - you may find they become possessive about their own food and bowls in the future - just something to watch for :)

Thanks I will look out for that!
We do give them two seperate ones but they follow each other everywhere, they are besotted with each other and always tend to share one bowl then they will both move on to the other and eat this together as well..... what can I say... its love!!!

Whilst it's lovely to see two dogs so tolerant of each other, you may need to think about taking measures to ensure they don't become too dependant on one another.  Try and take them for walks seperatly (and make that walk particularly rewarding - to a fav place, or play a particular game they love) and get them used to one having cuddles while the other stays in their bed.  So often  dogs raised together become dependant, and when one has to go to the vets (or worse :( ) the other becomes physcially ill .........

We do have independent time with each dog, the older one gets taken for walks, (Rose can't go out yet) and we will put one in the crate while the other has cuddles and playtime with us.

I will make sure they don't become too dependant on each other.

Thanks for your advice!

I've got 3 Staffs: 2 boys (1 yr old) and their mum and boy has it been hectic with 2 young pups to bring up - not sure I'd do it again! ;-)

My Staffs play fight a lot, and it is very very noisy and seemingly aggressive when they do, but that's just the way they play and we're totally used to it, but we do have visitors comment on whether the dogs are about to kill themselves! :-)

My dogs have been taught the word "leave" which basically means stop instantly what you're doing NOW and is very effective for stopping playing when it gets too noisy.

Perhaps you might consider such a command for your dogs - I've found it invaluable especially with my hooligans! :-)  It also reassures other dog walkers ie if mine are playing with their dogs and they think for some reason that Staffs are "uncontrollable/vicious/etc etc" - all I have to do is say "leave" and mine will stop playing and return to me.  The other dog walkers then realise that their dogs are in no danger whatsoever (not that they were in the first place :-)) and it just shows others that Staffs are not necessarily "devil dogs".