Dogs are the gods of play
Play is the universal language! Everything from bees, frogs and insects demonstrate play behaviors.
Playing with dogs is the bedrock of all the training I do with my dogs.
First let’s look at how we define play. In the attempts to come up with a scientific definition to define play Graham and Burghardt 2010 listed a set of 5 criteria:
The behavior should be incompletely functional in the context in which it appears
The behavior should be spontaneous, pleasurable, rewarding and voluntary
The behavior should be different from more serious behaviors in form or timing - for example, being a more exaggerated version or earlier in life before the more serious version is needed.
The behavior should be repeated but not in abnormal and unvarying stereotypic form, like rocking or pacing
The behavior is intiated in the abscence of severe stress
That last one is one of the biggest reasons I focus on play for my reinforcement strategies! Because the ability and desire to play is often the big predictor of how much stress your dog is experiencing! If they will play during your training, this is a good indicator that they are in a good headspace to train.
Let’s look at some of the ways we might think we are utilizing play, when we might actually not be playing!
The behavior should be spontaneous, pleasurable, rewarding and voluntary: In dog sports it is common to see dogs engaged in behaviors that might normally fall into the category of play, yet the way the training has taken place the behavior might actually be a trained set of non-spontaneous behaviors that are not voluntary or perhaps not actually pleasureable. An example: a dog trained to force fetch is not engaged in play while retrieving in the same way a dog that fetches a ball at the park whether or not it is required to return with it. That is not to say that all dogs retrieving after being forced fetch are miserable and are not experiencing pleasure. The expression of genetic drives can be highly rewarding and reinforcing, but that does NOT make that exchange play. Because play is by definition and nature, choice driven and voluntary!
The behavior should be repeated but not in abnormal and unvaryung stereotypic form. Again fetch. A dog that is stuck in a loop, mindlessly fetching a ball, dropping the ball, running for the next ball, that will literally fetch until they drop dead from heat stroke, this dog might not actually be playing, but rather could be stuck in an unhealthy obsessive loop. There is a line between play and obsessive behavior patterns. A dog that chases laser pointers, shadows, light reflections, many of these dogs are not experiencing voluntary spontaneous pleasurable rewarding moments, they can be stuck in OCD like abnormal behavior loops that can in some cases actually be expressions of stress and anxiety.
Many sport dogs are taught to tug and bite using frustration and intimidation. A dog tugging because it is pissed off is not in the same headspace of a dog that spontaneously and voluntarily latches onto a toy. The level of stress these two different exchanges involve can be completely different. Again like the force fetch example, that does not mean all dogs taught using frustration are miserable and not having fun. Again, expressing genetic drives can be very reinforcing. But that is often not play. And usually purposely so, if you ask most people involved in dog sports that use force fetch and frustration as part of their training would likely tell you they don’t want the dog really in play mode, because play mode IS voluntary and most of these folks want the dog approaching the behavior more as a job so they feel it will be more consistent and reliable.
What is engaged play?
You are BOTH playing! One of the reasons I have such a great track record getting any dog to play is because each and every time I try, I am playing! When “working” on play with dogs, I am playing I am not training. I try things, I experiment, I am creative and I am inviting a dog to join me, but I am not set on making a dog play with me, I am extending invitations to. “Expectations are resentments waiting to happen” is a famous quote. So we enter into the exchange with no expectations, only a desire to connect via joy.
Standing in a field with a chuck it stick and sending your dog for a ball over and over is rarely engaged play. That’s not to say you can’t use a chuck it and still play in an engaged way, or that it is a BAD style of more one sided play, just saying it is often not the same as engaged play. It’s about how you engage with each other during the game. Want to test it, drop the chuck it stick and sit down, what does your dog do? Do they come and sit next to you, climb in your lap? If you touch the ball will they come over all the way to you and let you touch them? Or do they take the chuck it stick or ball and go lay down away from you and chew on it or just go walk around sniffing and doing their own thing? If you pick up something else and toss it, will they go get that happily? Does the play increase their desire to be with you, do they want more? If after they drop the ball, if you leave the ball there on the ground and call them to you so you can touch them, do they come happily?
Standing in a field and chucking a ball as you scroll on your phone is definitely not engaged play, your dog might be playing (or stuck in that obsessive loop) but it’s only engaged playing if YOU are investing the same energetic emotion of joyful play. I think a lot of people struggle with this bit, because playing takes energy! So many folks see playing with their dog to mean they stand there and throw a ball and let their dog do all of the work. Because for many people playing with dogs is all about the exercise aspect and not about the connection. But if you are not investing the joyful energy exchange, then your dog is playing with the BALL not you. So your engagement ends the moment the ball in no longer in play.
If you are approaching play like a job, well that energy might just kill the whole vibe before you even start. I see this so much in agility, people learn that dogs really need good play behaviors to excel at agility so they set out to teach the dog how to play, but do so from a place of this has to done like a job, rather than feeling the joy of learning how to play together. This usually ends up with them putting a lot of pressure onto the dog to play, exactly when and how they want, which is often no fun at all. Again, that quote about expectations and resentments. If we place too much pressure on the dog to want to play we can be very frustrated when they don’t immediately play how we want them to, and they easily read that frustration and can find our attempts to play very weird and stressful.
There is natural exchange, the desire for you both to participate, this is WHY it is so beneficial for relationship bonding. If your dog takes their toy and leaves with it, and has no interest in having you involved with their play, preferring to play by themselves, this is not engaged play. This is super common, so don’t be discouraged, we just have to figure out how to make them want us involved in their game too. Many dogs are solo players, and to be honest we tend to accidentally create this. Read ANY puppy training book, and what does it tell you to do anytime your puppy is bothering you? Redirect them to a chew or a toy to play with. If you redirecting is always giving them a toy or chew to play with and leave you alone, well you are training them to play without you. Each time a puppy bothers you with those annoying painful puppy teeth, they are inviting you to play with them. Puppies learn from a young age that we are not fun, but other dogs are fun, visitors are fun, landscaping is fun, all of the things that do engage with them are fun. And we later wonder why we can’t call them away from the things that will engage with them!
Don’t be afraid to think outside the box! We have a tendency to just see fetch or tug as the ways you play with a dog, but it can be anything you BOTH find enjoyable. Dance parties? Don’t be afraid to be silly! Examples of outside of the box games I have had with my dogs over the years:
Car wash, most of my goldens LOVE this game. I stand split my legs apart, and when they go between my legs I bump my legs back and forth against their bodies gently as I scritch and pat their bums. Then they turn around and go back through. (If you are on IG there is an account that went viral with this- Nala Stomps)
Crazy, crazy, crazy was Ricky the border collies favorite game. He would grab a toy, turn and face me about 5 feet away in a play bow, I would freeze, then suddenly say “crazy, crazy” and he would thrash the toy back and forth like he was killing it, slapping himself in the sides of the head with it, shaking it, growling. Then he would stop and we would both freeze until I said it again.
Zoomies on cue, another one of my goldens favorite games. They stand and face me, I count to 3, “1, 2, 3 and GO” and they race around zooming. By having my cue start it, they are bringing me into their zoom game.
Dance party is one of Leo’s favorites! I pat my chest and say “dance party” and he jumps up on me and we dance.
And everyone on IG knows Leo’s favorite tiny snow people game, I punch a hole in the snow with my hand and say “where are they” and he will shove his face in the snow looking.
Nick’s favorite is “wonk wonk wonk”. We give him something, and say “wonk, wonk” and he smashes it with his feet and pushes it to you.
Benefits of engaged play:
Social bonding, I priorize play as my primary reinforcement strategy because this sets up a relationship where my dogs see me as their favorite playmate.
Play helps us understand each other better.
Play builds physical confidence
Play provides mental and physical exercise
Play improves cognition and helps build problem skills
Play facilitates novel and creative behavior
Play allows us to meet and work with our dog’s more energetic behaviors
Practical ways I use play in my day to day life and training with my dogs:
Playing chasing snowballs or digging for tiny snow people as an engaging game to reward a recall and entertain ourselves as other skiers go by
Playing kick the pinecone to occupy my dogs as we pass by distractions
Using a ball and then playing with the ball after we walk by dogs that are barking at us
Having my puppy tug on a long toy as we walk back in the house so they don’t attack my feet
During training classes I use tug to keep them busy as we walk back to our leash
This behavior was entirely taught using a tennis ball game
Reasons your dog might struggle playing:
Pain? Not wanting to play is often an early indication of pain! Bad teeth, sore necks, hip or elbow dysplasia, slipping patellas, arthritis and so on can all be reasons dogs sruggle with playing, because doing so hurts. So don’t ever PUSH, let them opt in and if they don’t, make sure their bodies feel ok Puppies 4-6 months old might be teething and play could be uncomfortable.
Pressure. If you are too intense about it you might be overwhelming them! Again, if you are so determined to make play happen, you might actually be no fun at all. You might be too loud, too fast, too rough. Play does not have to be loud or fast!
Learned avoidance. As I mentioned before you might have accidentally or someone else might have taught them playing with people is not ok, so it might take some time for them to feel like trying it again.
What they find fun might be different than what you are pushing for. Experiment!
YOU are not actually playing. Play is a mood, a feeling, a mindset. You should feel that internal feeling inside of YOU that you want to play, that you want to connect. Be silly, nonsensical, creative.
You are not meeting them half way. If we are so set on the play being by our rules and only how we want to play we can easily kill the vibe. “He has to bring the ball back or I am not throwing it again” ok, well that’s not actually play then, your dog is performing a task for you. Not that we cannot teach them to bring the ball back, but the attitude that not doing so is a deal breaker is not a playful attitude. If we approach it with oh this is fun but how can I get you to find giving me the toy fun, we can move within playful connection to meet both our desires. Maybe your dog cannot play within your rules, a dog that has body pain might not find retrieving fun, they might find tugging comfortable. If you are listening to them, you can miss these signals, if you are pushing for play, you could miss maybe they are not enjoying it. It should work more like a conversation, do you want to do this? No, ok, how about this?
RULES, expanding on above, too many rules kill fun. You can bring in rules as they play builds, you can have your own boundaries so it is fun for you. But if you are too much of a stickler to start out, you can easily turn others off.