Play with your dog
How many of you set out 10 minutes a day to play with your dog? Or do you encourage them to play with the overflowing basket of toys where they shred the new £20 “indestructible” toy you’ve just bought them?
Many people tell us that their dog is quite happy lying on the floor chewing a toy giving them peace and quiet. However all I hear in my head is that they are reinforcing their dog playing by themselves, having fun without their owner. Or letting their dog run off and annoy (play) with other dogs. Again, reinforcing having fun without you. Dogs love to play and I don’t know about you, but I love playing with my dogs. Hearing their play growls and seeing them have a great time really makes me happy, and even better that it is with me! Play relieves stress, builds confidence, builds a bond with your dog and again reinforces that all things fun comes from you.
In a family setting with kids you usually find it is the children who interact with the dog through play and only play. It’s great that the dog is getting to play, however the dog can just associate the child with fun and games, and typically end up taking it too far. Or absolutely adores the kids but mugs off the adults. Find your inner child and spend ten minutes to play with your dog, you’ll both benefit from it. As Simon likes to say, if you’re not making a fool out of yourself, you’re not doing it right! On the flip side, get the kids involved with structured training and hand feeding. This will help teach your dog that your child isn’t a constant source of chaos. Please always supervise any interactions between dogs and children.
By building up that association to your dog that you are the best thing to be around, it will massively help with your engagement and recall. Which everyone desires over night. If the dog is getting to play with Buddy down the park whilst you are stood on your phone, who is he going to actively want to be around? Buddy of course. However if you’re playing flirt pole or two ball with him, he is going to want to play with you and will most likely be less inclined to run off seeking fun elsewhere. Now don’t get me wrong, I do love seeing two dogs playing with each other but I don’t want my dogs seeking out other random dogs to have that fun when I can provide it myself and it will strengthen our relationship.
There are many ways to enjoy play. Flirt poles, game of two ball, tug, hide and seek are all great games to play and they can tire your dog out at the same time. After all, our dogs don’t live as long as us, so enjoy the time we do have with them.