Any Advice will be appreciated!

[kellylou89]

Hello, i have a behavioural question to ask .. I have two staffordshire bull terrier's a castrated 9month old male and recently a 7week old female as she was dumped we took her in.
My 9month old has always been very welcoming with other dogs etc and never had a problem with the socializing side of things.
The two of them will sleep side by side togethor and also while the 7wk old is sleeping my 9month old will check on her, and lick her then walk off etc, BUT when we put the 7wk old on the floor my 9month old always puts his mouth around her (Not hard as she dont yelp etc and rolls over) he also prods her with his paw, they will quite happily sit side by side chewing a bone etc, i would just like too know if what my 9month old is doing is usual .. We only got her saturday so they have only been in the same house for 3days.
The 7wk old is very vocal with him and when playing will growl at him even when his not playing she'll run up to him and pounce on him, they end up chasing each other and they get overly excited so we stp it before 1 hurts the other.
They both Mouth each other alot aswell, my 9month old will sit with his mouth open and the 7wk old will nip his mouth and cheeks etc, he dont seem bothered by it and occasionally will nip her back.

[Pawsitive]

Difficult to say for sure without seeing the behaviour but it sounds like play to me - lots of dogs will put their mouths over another dog's neck in an attempt to elicit play and the mouthing / nipping you describe sounds like puppy play too

Nothing to worry about! Obviously if you are concerned about anything, it might be worth seeing a behaviourist but give them time to settle and get used to one another. It sounds like they are doing really well together so far!

Congrats on your new addition!

[RobD-BCactive]

I believe SBT's are famous for this kind of mouthey and bite type play. Remember to find play opportunities with other pup breeds at a puppy romp if you can, and interrupt play briefly with a calming break, getting attention of both on handler, so they learn to self regulate their arousal, when there's signs of over-excitment or you simply feel like it.

The YouTube - Zoom Room Guide to Dog Play Gestures is quite useful to see; don't let your pup be a "bully", just a "Bullie"
Watching puppy romp, the SBT's though small were boisterous and soon with the larger pups.