Hello everyone, I am new to here, but would like to ask some advice / opinions.

We have a 18 month old staffie cross bitch from a rescue centre.  She had been there over a year and we are her4th Home, so she did not have much socialisation.

We have been taking her everywhere and anywhere and she has come along greatly and mainly not put a  paw wrong.  The only thing she does is play VERY rougly with other dogs.   This is leaping all over them grabbing/ mouthing at them, play bowing at them, chasing and having a right ruff and tussle.    She can't seem to read the signs very well that they don't want to play, are scared or the other dog has had enough.

I don't know if I am expecting too much too soon, as we have only had her 3 months and she has come along alot since then, for example if they show no interest in playing and just want to say hello, she is fine now, or occasionally they give her an "oi pack it in" kind of air snap, which she seems to recognise as time to stop.  Occasionally she gets it wrong and it looks like she is bullying a dog that isn't interested or won't tell her to get lost, so I go and haul her back.    I always apologies to owners, none of whom seem to mind so perhaps it looks worse to me than it is.  She has learnt to play nicely chase with mums dog who we see alot as well, so she can do it.

I just don't think she has ever been taught play/ social manners as she used to play mouth/ bite to hard with our hands (but thats improving greatly too) and apparently had pups and was very rough with them.

She has recently met a 5 month old rottie pup, and they will play fight for hours if we let them, mouthing, grabbing, up on their back legs, chasing etc, very roughly, although strangely enough mine will tell the other to back off if she gets too rough.  I am not sure if this is a good idea to let them play- on the one hand its nice for her to have a dog who wants to play and have fun the same; but is it then undoing the play nicely type of work we try to do with other dogs, as she then tried it on with the next one after this once; or is it good for them to mix with a good selection of dogs so can learn how to tell who wants to play and who just wants to say hello.

Phew, sorry for the essay!

The problem with rough play is, particularly in staffies etc, that their pain threshold is often higher than many other breeds and they have been  bred to be very "physical " dogs.  Also the dog gets so much pleasure in the rough and tumble that it can be very addictive to dogs to be in this state of high arousal.

You need to ask yourself if you have sufficient control over your dog to be able to stop it immediately verbally if required (and the other owner too), you need to ask yourself if you can read your dog and that of somebody else's sufficiently well enough that you can identify when the play may be about to tip over into being out of control.

The dog needs to learn that a Tarzan approach will not work with all dogs and it needs to learn that there will be consequences if it enjoys play with dogs ie it is removed so that it will learn to moderate its behaviour if necessary.

You need to make sure the dog fully understands that any interaction with another dog is entirely on your terms, it cannot begin or continue unless you say so, and it MUST always end when you say so.

I would also make sure that other owners are given the opportunity to understand that your dog may be very physical.

The other thing to be wary of is of course this play is actually rehearsal for combat and the more they do it the better and stronger they get.......... Something to think about if you feel you may not always be in complete control.

Just a thought...........

I agree, that I don't want her to get any ideas about Rough play turning in to anything more; but I do want her to try and get the idea that nice play is allowed.  It never has shown any signs of this so far luckily, and its not unless she meets this particular puppy that the play gets really OTT.   Prior to this she was starting to learn who wants to play and who doesn't quite well.

I do warn other dog owners that she can be a bit over the top so they can then decide if they want to let their dogs play.  Unless of course they come bowling over anyway.  Its always with much bigger dogs as well she wants to play, never had any interest in playing with smaller dogs.

I will start putting her on the lead and stopping play as soon as it gets over the top.   As mentioned not sure if I am seeing it as worse as it is; because if I apologise to Owners, they just say "ah shes only young and having fun, so and so will soon tell her when hes had enough" type comments but it still looks OTT to me. 

You probably know your own dog best, at least better than they do, my motto is, better safe than sorry ;)

Em, I would suggest that you let her have very brief play sessions with other dogs, then get her and put the lead back on before it gets too rough.  This way she will be learning how to interact nicely with other dogs (since rough play usually starts after the first few calm minutes), and you are preventing her from learning to enjoy rough play.  Once she has learnt how to enjoy rough play, that's what she will want in future, which as you're discovering, brings a whole load of problems with it. 

You shouldn't ever let things get to the point where one dog or the other dog is forced to be aggressive (ie - an air snap) because dogs do learn quickly that aggression will get them that space they want, and then they will use it again next time - because it worked the first time.  To prevent this you need to stop any situation arising where she or the other dog feel the need to be aggressive.  The best way to do this is very short play sessions for her with other dogs, which are stopped before things get out of hand.

Certainly I wouldn't let her play with any puppies or with that Rottie pup, for eg:  You don't want her to teach other puppies how to play this roughly or they are going to end up with the same problems you now have.  And never let dogs play roughly for hours - that's a very bad idea, for the above reasons. 

I have the exact same problem with my saluki,also rescue,I try to put a stop to it at once, but always easier said than done,as he runs like a demon,he has learnt though, but it seems instinct to him to chase hard and try and bring down,a lot better these days but it didn't happen overnight, so lots of patience!

Also, if you can distract her, get her more interested in you, is a good plan,most of the time I can get my boy away from starting trouble by him being more curious about what Im doing, usually, running opposite direction.

Ash

Hi there

I completely agree with the comments above.  Just recently I have been walking a staffie who is about a year and a half old.  She lived with somebody in her early months who never socialised her with other dogs and was bought to keep his other staff company.  When the now owners got her she was 6 months and had no training whatsoever.  She was not dog aggressive so the new owners let her play at every opportunity thinking that this would be good socialisation for her.  However, the dog always wants to play rough and some dogs just can't take it.  I have seen her pin a dog down and start chewing its ears!   I have to say though that this wasn't aggression on her part.  My belief is that she just doesn't know how to play well because she has never been taught. 

I decided that I would walk her with my own dogs as mine are just not interested in other dogs!!!!  She was great for the first few weeks because nobody showed her any attention but this last week my working cocker Jack started to instigate "play" with her - like chasing games!!!!  Inevitably she would start chasing and then she would have Jack on his back and over-power him.  Immediately this happened she went on the lead.

On Tuesday while walking Jack picked up a huge piece of wood that he found in he field and this dog pestered him the whole time; barging into him and trying to over-power him to get the wood.  Jack very nicely told her it was his and to go away but she persevered.  I put her on the lead and let her off again when she had calmed down.  We got to the car park and they were slightly ahead of us.  I heard growling and found them having a stand off situation.  There was no wood in sight.  The wood has stopped being the focus and it was now a test of wills.  I put Jack in the car and the other on the lead.  She started barking at me with frustration.  Reading the body language I knew that neither were going to back down and had a fight occurred Jack would have come off worst.

Its very easy for terrier type dogs to go over the edge and you have to keep on top of things.  You don't want her to turn into a bully.  Staffies are powerful little dogs, with tenacious characters.  This of course is what breed enthusiasts love about them but with this package comes a responsibility to ensure that things don't get out of hand.

I think you are wise to restrict the play because she will get used to playing that way.  I have seen many dogs that were allowed to play rough as puppies that have turned into bullies as adults because "they were only playing" and the owners couldn't read the body language and realise that in fact they were actually learning their skills for when they mature.

I hope this helps.  I just wanted to share this with you.

Kind regards
Annie

your posting is though i have written it....i too rehomed a staffie aged 11 months 3 months ago...
He is a neutured male who has had very little training and appears to have had very little socialisation with other dogs.
My problem was that on meeting other dogs on the lead he launches himself at them very noisely which we found hard to decide whether it was in play or attack mode!!! only knowing very little history...
Havent done alot of off lead work out because he decides the world at the moment is far more interesting then the person who has given him a forever home!!!! and decides hiumself when to come back...!!!!
regarding the aggressive play... i have been taking him to dog training and has been coming on leaps and bounds but their view is that he should ignore other dogs so leaping and launching is a big no no...hence i immediately half check him and say no loudly....he is laods better in that other dogs can now walk past without him launching but i have to be one step ahead all the time...
This obviously doesnt confront the playing rough with other dogs and due to the launching, i have been very anxious about even let him play off the lead with other dogs...he has played in neighbours garden with a female GR....very passive dog who told what for when she had enough of him jumping all over...and he didnt retialate infact he wouldnt take the ball off her....so i know he can do it...
To cut a long story short we have been camping over the weekend and have met lots of dogs, buddy has been tied long to car tow hitch when at the campsite...other dogs have come up to him....one a staffie pup both on leads buddy launched very noisely tail wagging though and i chickened out introduction ended...somebody else with staffie 14months and 9month old rott (off lead) came over to say hello to buddy we stayed out of the way (buddy on long lead), played roughly but not nasty...phew....Buddy then spent day at kennels whilst went to santa pod...told owners not sure about other dogs but happy if they wanted to try him....pick him up to be told that apart that playing roughly he was fine and he had a great time!!!!
Do all Staffies play rough????and is this something they will grow out off....
Sorry for the long post just to let you know you are not on your own....!!! and would be interested to know what works and how you get on...

Funnily enough she is only perhaps a quarter staffie - and perhaps a small part EBT and Jack russel (everyone has a different idea!) so maybe its also a general terrier trait.  

We have been camping and meeting lots of other dogs and now it seems its only a select few she does it with; she does have some friends she plays nicely with, esp. mums dog who she has been on long walks with and plays chase nicely and ignorse her alot.  We have only met one dog she has done it with in the last week, a chocolate lab who kind of bowled into her as an initiation of play, and she went on the lead, so its too early to tell.   She did have a growl and a play bow to a spaniel who totall ignored her and she came straight back when called her so I am hoping its getting better.    Trouble is I need a middle ground between not playing and rough playing, but I suppose that will come.

I suppose I have only had her three months and as she had been a stray and in rescue for a year its a good guess she doesn't know how to play and interact nicely with other dogs; and was chatting to a couple of people got friendly with in the park and they recon she has improved greatly from when we first got her, but I shall try to keep up the work, and see how it goes.   Would be interested to hear how those others who kindly replied are getting on too!!

I have been having a similar sort of problem. Afew months ago a black dog was very rough with my dog, and before i had the chance to take him out of the situation he ended up in a heap yelping. Now if we meet a black dog he displays similar behaviour. I now try an avoid any situations but if it's dogs we have met before we let him off to play but any over the top behaviour and thats it he is back on the lead and we are away. I have found most owners say it's ok, but i don't think it is, i would hate any of my dogs bad behaviour to rub of on theres. It's never agressive just sometimes seems very one sided.

I'd like to ask some questions on this topic too. I have a 3 year old rottie bitch who has always been very playful with other dogs. Also very vocal but never agressive. If the play got too rough or the other dog was frightened by the growling I would stop the play. I will never let her charge up to other dogs as it can be quite frightening (mainly for the owner actually) but if the other dog came to us I would give the command for her to go & play. ('Yes') However, things have changed. A collie dog came bounding up one day so I let her go. They sniffed each other for a while but the collie lost interest and wandered off. Mine followed him and started a fight, wrestled him to the ground, her jaws firmly around his back. Needless to say I was mortified, grabbed her as quickly as I could and told her to 'leave'. The poor collie was yelping all the while and ran away as soon as released. The owner checked him over and said he was covered in slobber but otherwise ok and not to worry but I am now terrified to let her near another dog.
Where on earth do I begin with this one? This happened about a month ago and I've just kept her away from any dogs she doesn't already know. Now I'm wondering whether to try to reintroduce them - somehow, safely. I don't want to put any at any risk though.
Any ideas?

I would keep her on a long line which you let trail on the ground.  When she is meeting another dog, keep the lead slack but ready to pull her away if things turn nasty.  If she is clicker trained you can actually click and reward "nice" interactions with other dogs while she is saying hello.

Id keep a basket  muzzle on her, then if she does try it on at least the other dog wont get hurt too much.

Thank you. Yes I'd thought of a muzzle but not sure another dog would be allowed near us seeing a rottweiler wearing a muzzle. As for the long line I think I'd want to be closer to the action than that! I've half-heartedly tried clicker training but will reinstate it forthwith. We did so well without it - up 'til now. I fear I have mistakenly allowed rough play and it's turned into dominance. Back to the beginning again I think.
Thanks for suggestions. I still may get a muzzle - just to be safe.

my dog also likes to play rough so if i dont know a dog i call him back put him on the lead and check with the owner then introduce if i think its a suitable dog, but more ofton than not i stay 10 feet away talk to the other owner for a moment while my dog relaxes and looses interest in the other dog and eats my treats and then move on.he has playmates and doesnt need to play with every dog he sees, which likes yours in his case ofton means trying to wrestle them to the ground.:rolleyes:

My little one has been brilliant on 95% of the time since I posted this; even going to work with the O/H and playing nicely with their un-done huge lab who never meets other dogs or goes out (thought that one would be trouble!!).   She even has some friends now that come running over to say hello to her, and seems happy with a sniff at most dogs now.   I haven't done alot different, as she has only been rough once for me to put her back on the lead.  Maybe it is something she is growing out of as gets more socalised (its four months we have had her now). 

Appreciate all the comments and its 'nice' to know not the only one with the problem!!

She has started stalking other dogs like a collie tho, crawling along the floor to them really slowly, then when they arrive doing nothing.  Which is strange for a staffie/ terrier cross??