Wrestling a staff

johnnyjb

Hi all, my friend has a 6 month old staff and he is very playful and hyper. Im just wondering is it a good idea to wrestle with him as he gets older, does anybody play rough and tumble with their staffs.

Im looking for a debate on whether he will maul or attack me but just wondering is it good for his behaviour. Would it encourage him to be rough with children.

I always initiate the the "fight", he happily accepts.

Fluorescence

Playing games like that and tug-o-wars are actually not recommended at all. They are games of dominance and even though it might be just a bit of fun to the human in the equation, the dog sees it as a chance to assert himself as owner over you.

Whispered

haha - the dog tries to own you. Brilliant. He can bring me on walkies and hand me my dinner. He might even wash my bed sheets for me.

OP - we have a lab staff x and we wrestle with him all the time. We also play tug of war all the time. And he hasn't tried to take over (yet :eek:)

We start and finish the game each time, with breaks, we're having a game of tug-o-war and every now and again we'll tell him to sit and drop then start the game again. Just control the game and set clear boundaries. My husband will allow the dog wrestle with a lot more gusto than I will, and the dog respects that. He rarely puts his paws on me (last time I was in my wedding dress :rolleyes:) and he doesn't mouth me.

It's all about deciding what is allowed and letting the dog know.

bullylover

I have a staff and a english bull and we play rough with both of them, they love it. Bull breeds don't play like other breeds, they like to play rough. We play tug and we play swing, and not one bit of aggression they know when its play. Both my dogs are well trained and well balanced and they know there place.
I dont see anything wrong with it once that when you say enough the dogs stop. which mine do.

Wolfe Tone

Just make sure you win!

TechnoPool

i play fight with our GSD, he's two now and he knows not to go too rough and only to do it with me .

leopardus

Wouldn't think it would be a problem. As long as the boundaries of the game are clear and that you are the one that initiates and ends play.


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The Sweeper

Teach the dog to settle first. Once he has the hang of settling on command, then you can play games with him - but as other posters have stated, you must initiate the game and you must indicate when the game is finished.

If you simply rough house the dog all the time, you cannot expect him to know when he can't rough house - e.g. you cannot expect him to distinguish between you in your civvies and you in your Sunday best, and if he hits you at chest height in one he'll hit you at chest height in the other.

As for whether it would encourage him to be rough with kids - if you train a dog to get a reward if they bounce off the walls, it's a very rare dog indeed that will automatically distinguish between people and behave gently around one and ungently around another if you don't show them how to do that.

Graces7

Same rules apply to any breed and any dog. Our wee dog loves to play with a brush and is hyper with it.... But when we say stop and take the brush away,, same with football.

These crazy "dominance" theories.:rolleyes: We are not dogs, period. And we are the centre of the life of our dogs. Totally different from any "pack?" ideas

tk123

fluorescence wrote: »

Playing games like that and tug-o-wars are actually not recommended at all.

Tug of war is an excellent way of stretching out the back and legs - it's recommeneded for agility/working dogs. Our guy doesn't do agility but he LOVES playing tug.

DBCyc

johnnyjb wrote: »

Hi all, my friend has a 6 month old staff and he is very playful and hyper. Im just wondering is it a good idea to wrestle with him as he gets older, does anybody play rough and tumble with their staffs.

Im looking for a debate on whether he will maul or attack me but just wondering is it good for his behaviour. Would it encourage him to be rough with children.

I always initiate the the "fight", he happily accepts.

Ours is always up for a play or tumble but only when we start it. She is very excitable and loves a wrestle! She used to nip a lot but that has stopped. She also gets great fun out of games of tug of war.

Dogs know the difference between playing and fighting, it's a good idea to play with a pup to teach them where the limit is when playing rough. You shouldn't be at risk of an attack just from playing with your dog.

As for whether he may be encouraged to be rough with children, I would doubt it as long as you always start or end the playing/wrestling and you don't just let the dog jump all over someone whenever he is up for a bit of messing! Our staff can be very jumpy and bouncy when she gets excited, but she acts totally different around children and is much more careful.

seamus

Yep as said above, it's perfectly safe to play with the dog so long as you define the boundaries and stop play when the dog crosses a boundary and/or when you are finished.

Our staff got very little human play before we got her, so she had a tendancy to use her teeth like she was playing with another staff. It hurt on occasion Now she simply "grabs" my hand without using any force, and she knows that when play stops, it means she has bitten too hard or gotten too excited.
Though she still has no idea how hard her head is. Headbutts in the face are a constant problem

She hasn't had a massive amount of opportunity to interact with kids, but any time she has, she seems to switch into this super-gentle mode where all her movements become soft and gentle and she simply rolls over for a stroke.

Graces7

seamus wrote: »

Yep as said above, it's perfectly safe to play with the dog so long as you define the boundaries and stop play when the dog crosses a boundary and/or when you are finished.

Our staff got very little human play before we got her, so she had a tendancy to use her teeth like she was playing with another staff. It hurt on occasion Now she simply "grabs" my hand without using any force, and she knows that when play stops, it means she has bitten too hard or gotten too excited.
Though she still has no idea how hard her head is. Headbutts in the face are a constant problem

She hasn't had a massive amount of opportunity to interact with kids, but any time she has, she seems to switch into this super-gentle mode where all her movements become soft and gentle and she simply rolls over for a stroke.

I had a pet lamb like that.. used to call her "bonehead" when she got me,,, in the knees was her favourite choice though as that was more accessible...

TaraR

My OH play rough with all ours . Its like having 4 kids and big kid in the house lol. He will bite them [ not hard] wrestle on the ground you name it. And They love it. But as long as you let him/her know that there are boundries. They can get overly excited and sometimes bite just a bit to hard but its not intentionly. Once you correct him/her you & the dog will have great fun

DBCyc

seamus wrote: »

Though she still has no idea how hard her head is. Headbutts in the face are a constant problem

Suzie is the same. A mate called over last week and she got really excited when saying hello, much to his amusement. He started hugging her and she just went into a fit of happiness and excitement, jumped up and loafed him in nose. There was tears in his eyes :pac:

helimachoptor

TechnoPool wrote: »

i play fight with our GSD, he's two now and he knows not to go too rough and only to do it with me .

Was the same with my guy we'd regularly roll around on the ground, he'd love it but never once even accidentally bit me or scratched with a paw swipe. He only did it with me and i always took breaks when i wanted and made him sit for a few minutes then dived back in.

TechnoPool

helimachoptor wrote: »

Was the same with my guy we'd regularly roll around on the ground, he'd love it but never once even accidentally bit me or scratched with a paw swipe. He only did it with me and i always took breaks when i wanted and made him sit for a few minutes then dived back in.

same with our fella, stops right away when ya tell him ta

IvySlayer

fluorescence wrote: »

Playing games like that and tug-o-wars are actually not recommended at all. They are games of dominance and even though it might be just a bit of fun to the human in the equation, the dog sees it as a chance to assert himself as owner over you.

Care to back that up?

I wrestle with my dog. I always start it though I finish it too. It's just a bit of fun.

Sometimes, my dog will bring his rope to me and want to have a good old tug with me.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Aye, our wee terrier mutt LOVES wrestling and tug o' wars, she brings over her wee rope in the hope! I can't see it as being a bad thing as long as the boundaries are there - if the dog gets too excited or rough, just give it a rest and resume when they've calmed down.

scudzilla

fluorescence wrote: »

Playing games like that and tug-o-wars are actually not recommended at all. They are games of dominance and even though it might be just a bit of fun to the human in the equation, the dog sees it as a chance to assert himself as owner over you.

Not recommended by who?? People who know how to write a good book about keeping dogs but have never had one??

I've kept dogs for years and currently we have a Boxer, i'll play fight with her every day, to the point of us both ending on the floor milling each other out of it.

She's never got viscous through it, never got angry, she just loves having a play fight with me.