Help, my dogs are driving me nuts, visious sounding play fighting!

[Marne]

Hi, I have 2 dogs, a female Saffie and a male lab x lurcher, we have had the female for 5 years, she has a great character, is great with the kids but pulls like hell on the lead and is very vocal when playing, we got the lab x from rescue (as a pup) 8 months ago. They are fine when indoors, cuddle up to each other, no aggression over food but as soon as they go outside they start playing and my staffie growls very loudly (sounds so loud like she's going to rip his head off), she has never hurt him (other than the tame she ran into him as a pup but has never bitten him) but I am fed up of the noise, the neighbours must think she's visious (I would think the same). I cant be with them all the time they are outside as the kids often leave the doors open so the dogs have free run, I cant split them up, if I go to grab the staffie she growls at me like she's going to bite me (though she has never bitten anyone I don't trust her 100% as she hates being grabbed by her collar), the only way I can split them up is buy chucking water at them, I know this isn't the ideal way to split them up but I don't know what else to do.

I think now the male is becoming more mature it seems to be getting worse, as soon as they step outside they start, I call them in but only the lab comes, the staff just stands there looking at me whilst wagging her tail.

I cant afford a dog behaviour specialist, what else can I do? I don't want to have to get rid of one of them .

It seems a bit drastic to be thinking about getting rid of a dog because of noisy play fighting.
I don't think you need a dog behaviour specialist, but it sounds like your staffie needs obedience training. Most places have cheap classes in village halls, you could ask at your vets.
As a temporary measure you could attach a long line training lead to his collar so you can make him come to you. A lot of dogs don't like having their collar grabbed.

I have 2 German Shepherds and as soon as I let them off the lead in the park they start play fighting, the noise is horrendous! anyone hearing it must think that they are properly attacking each other which of course they're not they are just being vocal. I've tried various things like only letting one off the lead at a time but that seems to just add to the excitement lol so I just leave them to it now.

Ender, i'm not considering getting rid of one really, it's just our neighbours are likely to complain and then we might not have a choice (our neighbours complain about everything including are lose guttering making a noise).

Obedience training classes are not a option as theres nothing within a 20 mile radius and she does not travel well, we have tried various training but she doesn't seem to respond to anything (I have had a few dogs and none have been like her, I just cant do anything with her, she has no re-call, will no longer sit or stay, I spend all day telling her to get down off the sofa, I praise her and she gets straight back up, she will do this 100 times and still does not get it), my lab is totally different, easy to train, great recall, sits, stays and is calm, we trained him very quickly using a clicker and he will do anything for food. Since getting the lab the staffie's behaviour has got worse, she doesn't do anything she's told .

They have been at it all day today, I have taken away all there toys as they seem to make things worse, I know they are only playing and dogs play but it is the noise that is worrying me and the fact the staffie does not listen or look where she's going and often barges into my daughter.
My dd got upset last week as the neighbour started shouting at the dogs over the fence.

Oh, and when I take them out for a walk they ignore each other (no growling at all), the staffie runs off (so now she stays on the lead), she used to have a ok (ish) recall but now she has no recall at all and just takes off totally ignoring the other dog.

Marne - interesting about the recall problem, same thing happened to us.
My 3 yr old lab had perfect recall till we got another dog six weeks ago. Then he started not coming back till he felt like it, the final straw was when he disappeared in the woods, I wandered around with the other dog calling him for over an hour. Then had a phone call saying he was in the park 2 miles away and had eaten someone's sandwiches .
So now I walk them separately, time consuming I have to get up an hour earlier. Have gone right back to basic training with my lab and following Total Recall book by Pippa Mattison.

Its odd isn't it ender, I thought she would want to stay with the other dog when off the lead, was shocked when I let her off and she ran off (had to take chase as she was heading towards a field of sheep even though she is petrified of sheep), up until we got the other dog she always stayed close by and came back when called, now she seem to have selective hearing. I now walk them separately and I keep her on a long lead. She wont even come back for a ball (she used to happily chase a ball) .