TL;DR at the end.

Yetii (3mo cream) has quickly outgrown Sukii (2yo black and tan, runt) and is now an even match on the battlefield. He’s also entered his land-shark phase, so you can imagine how that combo is going.

During play sessions, he frequently bites onto the skin of her neck and just… holds on. Sukii is a confident pup and has no problem correcting him when he does something she doesn’t approve of *outside* of playtime, but never seems to correct him *during* playtime. Does that mean she’s okay with the latching? She’s almost always the one initiating play and immediately going right back for more. Should we be intervening whenever he refuses to let go, or only if Sukii indicates pain or discomfort? We don’t want to do the wrong thing and encourage bad behavior. 

Thanks in advance for the advice! We’ve never had a puppy before, so there are a lot of nuances we’re still learning. And Shiba play can look so scary sometimes, it’s hard to know when the line between play and fighting has been crossed! 

TL;DR:
3mo (cream) has grown larger than 2yo (black and tan) and during play often latches onto her neck without letting go. Should we step in when he won’t let go, or is this all part of acceptable Shiba play? 

Is this behavior during play okay, or should we intervene? Context in body text.