The way for you to have your dog’s attention and be relevant to him is to regularly do activities that you both find enjoyable and can do together. These activities are intrinsically rewarding and do not require a ton of formal training. They can be a gateway to training, however – you can use play and other activities your dog enjoys with you as “pay” to get some “work” done (e.g. obedience). The “work” can become so much a part of the game that the work itself is intrinsically rewarding. This an ideal level of relationship enjoyed by some of of the top dog people at the pinnacle of their sports.
The other side of this coin is activities your dog finds rewarding that don’t involve you. Playing with dog friends, exploring on his own, solving a puzzle bowl or cleaning out a kong. These activities are enjoyable, but don’t build your relationship. In our Foundations section, these fall in the “Free Dog” window.
How is play used in Reacting Reasonably practice?
- Play is a reliable diagnosis of your dog’s state of mind. A dog under some degree of stress may still take a treat, but it is unlikely the dog will engage in play.
- If your dog knows that a favorite game can happen any time, he will get in the habit of paying more attention to you.
- The game can become more important than other considerations. Your dog can learn, then get in the habit of ignoring distractions like other dogs or other triggers.
- The game is intrinsically rewarding, and builds a better relationship than transactional food.
Play As the Way
There are three basic types of play: Toy play, Food play and Physical play.
- Toy play – the two most common examples are tug and fetch. Another good one is flirt pole.
- Food play – in this type of play, pursuing the food becomes the focus, not the food itself. Games that animate the food or involve hunting provide much more of a spark than just handing food over in a transactional way. Examples include prey-hand, boomerang, and hide-and-seek
- Physical play – this is fairly unique to each individual team, and can involve chasing/tag, bumping/pats, the dog doing “touch” with his nose, pretend toe pinches, etc. With physical play especially, it is important that both human and dog understand each other’s body language, the rules of the game, and how to play it safely.
Most types of play mimic parts of the Predatory Sequence.
Hunt/Sniff -> Eye/Stalk -> Chase -> Catch -> Struggle/Kill -> Celebrate -> Shred -> Consume
Different dog breeds were specifically bred to operate in specific parts of the predatory sequence. Herding dogs: Eye/Stalk and Chase. Retrievers: Chase, catch and Celebrate. Most dogs love chasing and catching. Bully breeds tend to love tug, which is all about the struggle. Many dogs love shredding a stuffed toy or cardboard box.
I use words like “tend to” and “many” because just because a dog is certain breed or mix doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll have strong drives of that breed or mix. Every dog is an individual. But it is definitely a good place to start, and most dogs like some form of sniffing or chasing/catching games and celebrating with their owner.
Play With Me
| Play is the single most powerful tool to connect with your dog and build relationship. It provides mental and physical exercise and builds confidence and impulse control. Your canine player practices healthy ways to deal with conflict, frustration, and possession. He or she learns responsibility, to play by the rules even while revved up in drive, how to downshift, and how to switch that drive off when the game is over. Even 10-15 minutes per day can make a huge difference. Any of these games can be adapted to indoors with a bit of creative modification. Apply rules to limit how rowdy and fast the play can be. Tug can still be tug lying down. Fetch can still be fetch across the room. HIde and seek can definitely happen indoors. Praise the energy you like.Fetch is Boring Think of the difference between playing catch versus a sport like football or baseball. A game has a much higher level of commitment and interest because there is competition, a winner and a loser. Building your game can inspire your dog — with you as the focus of his or her attention as the one person who provides that fun! What else makes a game? It is something both players enjoy. It has a clear start and end, rules and boundaries that players agree on, and some level of celebration after someone wins. These are what separate a game from simple play. So how do you build your game? Your Game WindowPut toys used in gameplay away when not in use. This keeps them high-value. Another type of play involves food – surprisingly, you generally use low-value food (even regular kibble) because the point is not the food; it’s the game. First you’ll need cues to build a strong game. It doesn’t matter what word you use. Just be consistent. Build Your CuesReady? This cue tells your dog it’s game time. Have the toy or food available, but the dog is not allowed to go for it yet. Yes! means the toy is on you and play starts now. Use Yes for games like Tug, Prey Hand & Look! Catch Me. Get It! means the toy is away from you. This cue is used to start games like Fetch or Find It. Enough ends the game. The Ready window is closed, drive is off the table; calm liberty is expected. Again, the toy can be in plain sight at your side, but be clear that it is not available. Play, play, play. When someone wins, be sure to celebrate (important): cheering, pats, and a victory lap. Each player should be able to win sometimes. Each time you start a new round, you use Yes or Get It because the Ready window is already open. Do one type of play per session until the dog understands each cue. Yes, Good, Nope, and No. Use consistent words to provide feedback for 1) the right response 2) you’re on the right track, keep going, 3) not like that, 4) never do that. Again, choose any words you want and use them consistently. Out – After a few sessions when the dog understands the basic commands, add “Out” — a pause with the promise to continue. Teach the cue means yield the toy. You can use Out to pause, decelerate, fit in some obedience, or just to get eye contact. Build the duration of the out gradually. Because you always keep your promise to continue, the dog is riveted on you, waiting for you to restart the game with Yes or Get It. Choose Your Game Most play involves parts of the predatory sequence: orient/stalk – chase – catch – struggle – shred/consume – celebrate/retrieve. Expressing these drives is a primal need built into your dog’s genetics, and finding healthy ways to “spin those dials” is fundamental to reducing stress and supporting your dog’s emotional health. A game does not have to be rowdy. The chess master is just as competitive as the rugby player; just in a different way. Dog games are similar. Find the game your dog can be passionate about. |
| Dive DeeperYou can add finesse and depth of meaning to your gameplay. Fine-tuning your accelerating and decelerating of the game improves your dog’s skills of thinking in drive and changing gears. You can concentrate on building focus: the game can teach your dog to ignore distractions and follow a complex behavior chain to completion. It can build enthusiasm for Work – or make it seem not like work at all. Troubleshooting – Every dog is different. There are ways to bring out the game in the dog who is blah or who has avoidance. Some dogs have issues dealing with conflict, competition, frustration, or possession. All these dogs can improve, and your relationship with the difficult dog can improve. Contact us for resources for troubleshooting gameplay. |
Engagement Games
By Elli Gull 12/28/2024
Six Foundation Games and four ways to take your game to the Next Level!
See the end of this article for basics on opening the game window, starting, pausing and ending the game. Always remember to celebrate when someone wins a round!
Foundation Games
Tug
Super popular for many reasons. Your bulldog expresses his or her love of conflict while you instill rules and a dependable off switch. Animate a sturdy toy, tug or rope. The dog grabs it, and tug! No teeth on skin, even by accident – that ends the game. Safety – pull straight toward you – don’t articulate the neck. The player who ends up with possession of the tug wins. Victory lap!
Up your game: use tactics and obstacles to try to gain possession: use your other arm, furniture as obstacles, different positions. Conversely, you can make it easier for the hesitant dog to win by holding the tug with your fingertips instead of a full grip. Decelerate the game by making the tug go limp, pet with long smooth strokes on the dog’s back. Here is a video about getting started with Tug.
Prey Hand
Get competitive with food play! Take a low value treat and wedge it between your fingers in your palm. Animate your hand, getting the dog to pursue the food. Build up to using props, furniture, etc as obstacles and get the dog really shoving into your palm to get the food. Eventually he’ll get the treat, after overcoming and pushing through.
Fetch
The item can be a ball, frisbee, stuffie, whatever your dog likes. If your dog is not good at bringing the item back, do Two-ball: have a second, identical item and lure them to you, backing away and getting them to pursue you. You can also have the dog on a long line to help guide them back to you. Get eye contact before the next “Get-it” so it is about you, not pure toy focus. If your dog takes joy in the retrieve, the win is after each retrieve. If your dog takes joy in possession, you can end with a game of tug (ball on rope) or just let the dog have possession of the ball while you celebrate together before the next round.
Treat Toss
This game gives your dog muscle memory for fetch, send out and recall to front – great stuff to have! Start with short distances, tossing a treat (get-it!) for your dog to chase and eat. Immediately lure the dog to you with another treat. Animate the treat as in Prey Hand, but have the dog finish in front of you, sitting. Work toward eye contact before giving the second treat. Work up to longer distances and a nice crisp recall to front.
Take it to the next level by adding obstacles (jumps, can curtain, etc.), more obedience, tricks, etc. But keep it fun!
Find-It
A focus game that can still be quite exciting. Great for indoors or out. The dog must wait while you hide one or more treats. He is then released to “get it” (or find it). If you want to get into scentwork sports, you’ll want to read up and follow the conventions for that sport, otherwise, make your own rules. Start easy, then work up to multiple hides out of sight of the dog.
Look! Catch Me
This is a type of personal play (no toy or treat). Use a long line (15 ft or so). The dog learns to keep an eye on you, leash skills and eye contact. Open the ready window. Say yes and start moving in a direction. You can be animated or calm, your choice. If the dog doesn’t follow or goes in a different direction, keep going until the line encourages the dog to follow. If he lags, keep speeding up. As he catches up to you, praise, pats and celebrate, pause for a few moments, then take off to another point. If the dog runs past you, stop or turn around in the previous direction. Again, as the dog joins up praise and pets. As you play, you may find your dog sticking to you like glue. This is great! You can start practicing off leash as well (in a yard).
Take it to the next level by adding cues and practicing window shifts: add a cue for loose leash walking. When you’re in this window, you either walk or play the game (if the dog is not beside you loose leash). Add a release cue. When you pause, give the release. The dog can either spend a few minutes sniffing, or if he or she stays near you / eye contact, say the loose leash cue and continue the walk. The best way to have a loose leash walk to always use a release cue!
More Ways to Take it To the Next Level
Steal Your Dog
This game is great for proofing your dog around distraction, and teaches the reactive dog to focus on the owner instead of a trigger. Have your basic game play cues down. Have a helper with a similar toy. You start your game, then the helper tries to lure the dog away to play with them. You say your “not like that” cue (such as “unh-unh) and the helper immediately “goes dead” (fun stops). You give the dog their play is on you cue (“Yes”), and the dog is rewarded with play for returning to you. Play, play, play. As you repeat, the dog learns to ignore the helper. Then you can build on that. Here is a video.
Hide & Seek
Take Find It to the next level by using other items instead of treats to find (antler, your personal items, or even other people or their items. Check out UKC Nosework or NASDA Dog Sports to find more on scentwork games, clubs and competitions.
Courage Building
Use props to provide challenge. Start with simple obstacles or props to block play, such as a chair or bench. Gradually up the obstacles, props or distractions. Go to different locations. Higher level items might include agility equipment, a can-curtain or things the dog may feel a bit sketchy about (vacuum, for example). But keep it fun.
Here is an example of working a puppy with a flirt pole and the can curtain (at about 47 seconds)
The Distraction Ladder
A good flow is to start with feel-good distractions or ones that trigger mild interest. Examples: other toys, food, known people ignoring the dog. Then go to moderate distraction: this may be a more distracting environment, food on an elevated platform, a neutral stranger, a dog leashed nearby.
The same game play rules apply – if the dog disengages or leaves the game to go to the distraction, you win that round and there may or may not be a penalty (time out or game over). You want to choose things where the dog can be 80% successful. Be fair – don’t have a family member lure the dog away for example. You want to work through feel-good and neutral distractions before you start adding any the dog may feel sketchy about. Eventually work up to high level distractions – crowds, multiple dogs, whatever a compelling distraction may be for your dog. Set up your scenarios and keep it safe.
And just gotta say — Getting involved in dog sports is a great way to play (from your dog’s perspective) in a controlled environment around likeminded dog people motivated to keep things safe.
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Setting Up Your Game Window
Here is how to set up your basic game (from the Newsletter). Remember to figure out the rules, boundaries and how someone wins. Simple is good, and remember to make it fun for both of you!
Put toys used in gameplay away when not in use. This keeps them high-value. Another type of play involves food – surprisingly, you generally use low-value food (even regular kibble) because the point is not the food; it’s the game. First you’ll need cues to build a strong game. It doesn’t matter what word you use. Just be consistent.
Build Your Cues
- Ready? This cue tells your dog it’s game time. Have the toy or food available, but the dog is not allowed to go for it yet.
- Yes! means the toy is on you and play starts now. Use Yes for games like Tug, Prey Hand & Look! Catch Me.
- Get It! means the toy is away from you. This cue is used to start games like Fetch or Find It.
- Enough ends the game. The Ready window is closed, drive is off the table; calm liberty is expected. Again, the toy can be in plain sight at your side, but be clear that it is not available.
Play, play, play. When someone wins, be sure to celebrate (important): cheering, pats, and a victory lap. Each player should be able to win sometimes. Each time you start a new round, you use Yes or Get It because the Ready window is already open. Do one type of play per session until the dog understands each cue.
Yes, Good, Nope, and No. Use consistent words to provide feedback for 1) the right response 2) you’re on the right track, keep going, 3) not like that, 4) never do that. Again, choose any words you want and use them consistently.
Out – After a few sessions when the dog understands the basic commands, add “Out” — a pause with the promise to continue. Teach the cue means yield the toy. You can use Out to pause, decelerate, fit in some obedience, or just to get eye contact. Build the duration of the out gradually. Because you always keep your promise to continue, the dog is riveted on you, waiting for you to restart the game with Yes or Get It.
Dog Tricks
Luring and Shaping
Scentwork
Agility and Other Drive Sports
Finding the right Drive Activity for Your Dog: The Predatory Sequence
Cost vs. Benefit
List of Drive Sports