The Fine Art of Dog Play

With some dogs there is an ultra fine line between play and fighting. The reason for this usually is that the dogs get ramped up so quickly that they become pretty reactive and they don't know how to stop and give themselves breaks before that happens.

Both Chima and Tuttle really struggle with this problem. They start to play, the intensity quickly ramps up (by quickly I'm talking about 15 seconds here) and if I don't step in I have a fight on my hands.

At a seminar I went to once I remember the speaker talking about how dog play should be like a boxing match - every three minutes everyone is forced to take a time out and rest for awhile. And if you watch two dogs together who play well you will notice that they naturally will take these breaks, backing off and waiting until the body language of the other lets them know they are ready for round 2 or 3 or 20.

When dogs don't naturally take breaks the intensity will build until fights happen and so it's the human's job as the guardian in the situation to manage this. Some dogs will never be well matched to play together because one will end up being bullied by the other. Neither dogs are bad, they just aren't a good match. But when two dogs are pretty evenly matched in temperament but struggle with giving themselves breaks, the human can facilitate this by creating distractions and interruptions to the play that cause short little breaks for the dogs.

I will call out their names, walk between them, pick up a treat bag, etc. Anything that causes them to pause and take the attention off of each other. After a bit if they seem to have taken things down a notch then the human ignores them a bit so they will start up again. When it gets to a point that the dogs struggle to bring their intensity down during the breaks then it's time to end the play and try again another time.

I do this often by a break in their crates with a treat and a favorite chew. This reinforces the play time, gives them a chance to fully calm down, and the chew is a way to work out some of that intensity as their body slowly returns to normal.

Chima and Tuttle and I have been working carefully on this over the week. I started noticing that Chima was interested in playing with Tuttle but she was quickly overwhelmed by him and then it would turn into a scuffle. By teaching them to take breaks and relax a bit, they have slowly started creating the breaks by themselves, Tuttle jumping up on a couch or chair and lying down. Then Chima will back off and watch him, wagging her tail until he attempts to jump her from the couch and the game is back on. It's been slow going - initially I would step in soon after play was initiated but by now we've worked up to a full 3-5 minutes of wrestling punctuated by short little self-initiated breaks to calm themselves down.

The video above shows them playing and taking small breaks and it was taken after about 3-4 minutes of play. After this session I stepped in and ended the session so it would stay a fun experience and everyone could rest and take down their intensity. Chima is very loud, vocal and intense in her play so a short session goes a long way for most dogs.

Tuttle says "will you play with me Sal?" and Sal says "NO". This time Tuttle took no for an answer. Yay, Tuttle! You are learning to be more respectful of your elders.