Try edible chew toys when a puppy won’t play
Toys with a treat inside keep dogs busy and active and help puppies learn to chew. These toys dont let a dog quickly empty them, so your dog might come back to the toy several times during the day. If you have a pet sitter who visits, ask her to check the toy to see if its been used or emptied and if it needs to be refilled.
Make sure your dog has plenty of options for play toys. These can be as simple as a blanket she hides under or hides things under. Toys that move, such as a ball or toy on wheels, provide more fun.
Pets love to go into and through boxes, so keep a large cardboard box available. If possible, set up a small obstacle course your dog can navigate. Make sure the two of you play with the course first so she knows shes supposed to go up the stairs, through the box, and between the chairs or other items youre using.
Depending on the view from your house or apartment, leaving drapes or blinds open lets your dog see whats happening in the outside world. This can exercise the dogs mind as he wonders who those people are or what those squirrels are up to or as he just watches leaves, raindrops, or snow falling. Even a slow-walking bug moving across your deck can provide many minutes of entertainment.
Dont try leaving the TV or radio on or leaving white noise playing (like a gentle rolling surf or a rainstorm) without first seeing how it will affect your dog. If the sounds irritate the dog, she will feel trapped and become agitated. Introduce audio or video when youre around to see how she responds. If she likes them, try putting them on a timer and have the sounds or videos start when the two of you are in another room.
If she gets up and goes into that room and stays there, you might have found a babysitter. If possible, set the audio or video to go off for just 15 minutes or so in the event that your dog doesnt like it when youre gone.
You might try introducing some up-tempo music when you play to associate it with playtime. Use the same song each time you play. Later, when your dog is lying around, turn on your playtime music and see how she reacts. If she jumps up because she recognizes its playtime, youve conditioned her. If you have the know-how, have the song play once in the morning and once in the afternoon to stimulate her desire to play with her toys.
Dogs are a man’s best friend, and when they play by themselves, they’re their own best friend, too. Give your dog lots of toys for when you’re out of the house. Even if he has played with toys all day, he still thinks playing with you is the best thing, so make sure you throw a ball when you get home.
A dog playing by himself is great, but make sure he’s safe. Remove toys that are damaged or have pieces he can swallow easily from his reach. If he’s adopted a stick or piece of wood as his new favorite toy, make sure that it doesn’t have splinters or nails sticking out of it. If you have an interactive toy with food, make sure you balance the rest of his nutrition with it. If you notice he’s gaining weight, limit how often or how much food you put in the toy. If your dog doesn’t play by himself and you want him to, you can try to work with him yourself or take him to a trainer for some techniques. To start, praise your dog when he is playing with his toys and make sure he has a variety of toys. Keep his environment safe and clean and ready for play.
For dogs to play by themselves, there should be plenty of toys and a variety of toys around. A stuffed fabric toy is a classic toy, and squeaky toys are good because they make noise, which entices another sense. Interactive toys are an excellent choice because your dog can play with it for a long period of time. Some toys that have treats inside are a great motivator and will keep dogs playing. Puzzle or IQ toys can provide a lot of engagement for your dog; he won’t have to toss the ball for himself with those. Make sure you keep toys in rotation because a dog can become bored with the same toy. If you notice he starts leaving one toy out, it’s probably because he’s used to it and the novelty wore off. Take it away and replace it with something new.
Just like you need a balance in your life otherwise you’ll feel off, your dog does too. According to a study from Bristol University, dogs who don’t play regularly can suffer from problems like anxiety, aggression, whining, and not listening, among other problematic behaviors. Dogs playing by themselves should be encouraged. If you have a dog who can entertain himself, it’s a sign of intelligence. Your dog is getting out energy, chewing, chasing, challenging his mind, and practicing skills when he plays.
Playing is an important part of a dog’s daily routine and the ability to play happily all alone is a useful one. Dogs learn to play when they are puppies in the pack, and often playtime in social groups gives them useful life skills, like play fighting, hunting, or chasing. Eventually, most puppies leave their littermates and mom and need to figure out what to do on their own. Think of your dog as a child. Some children can play well by themselves, self-soothe, and occupy their time with toys and imagination. Other children are not as good at that, but they all have to learn the skill at some point. The ability to use imagination, problem-solving skills, and energy while left alone makes the time go faster and it is healthier than sitting around doing nothing.
How do I get my dog to play by itself?
Use toys that dogs can play with by themselves to get them into the habit of doing this. You can encourage your dog to do this by playing with her for a few minutes using another toy, introducing the new toy, and then sitting quietly while the dog plays with the toy.
Why Won’t My Dog Play With ME – Avoid These Biggest Mistakes
You’ve probably heard the expression, Life Is Short: Play With A Dog. “Okay!” you think. “I’ll do it!” After all, dogs play together until they are gray in the face. Dogs also play with people, although that’s not always a given. Have you ever tried to play with a dog and it just doesn’t work? “The dog’s not playing right,” you may think. “This stinks.”
Don’t be so quick to blame the dog. Recent research suggests that it might be you who is not “playing right.” I initially found the implications of this research rather benign, extending no further than a particular dog-human duo. But a study published in 2014 found that whether or not a dog plays with a person can be life-changing.
In 2001, animal welfare and behavior researcher Nicola Rooney — now at the University of Bristol — had a simple question about dog-human play. She and her colleagues wanted to know whether dogs respond to peoples’ play signals. In the study, volunteers played with their dogs for 5 minutes in the comfort of their homes, and the play sessions were videotaped. Owners were asked to play with their dog “as they usually did,” but here’s the key: they were not allowed to use objects or toys.
After the play sessions, the researchers watched the videos and noted which behaviors owners used to initiate or maintain play. They identified 35 common play signals, including patting the floor, clapping, shoving, hitting or tapping the dog, and of course, play bowing. People also blew at dogs, barked at them, and grabbed their paws. And who can forget my favorite behavior, ‘hand spider,’ where the “person moved their hand or fingers simulating movement of an insect or other creature.”
Identifying peoples’ play behaviors was just the first step. The real goal was to understand the effect of these signals: did peoples’ play signals lead dogs to play with their owners? And more specifically, did the commonly used signals elicit play more often than the rarely used signals?
Before spilling the beans, I want you to think for a moment how it feels when a dog plays with you. AWESOME is the obvious and only answer. It feels AWESOME when you are on the same page with a dog and engaging in mutual, reciprocal play. I remember a dog who was a bit wary of me when we first met. I’d walk into a room where she was sitting, and I’d receive a sideways glance as she slunk out. Ouch. Over time, ignoring her, letting her sniff me, and dropping treats on the floor paid off. The slinking and leaving decreased, and one day, we were sitting on the floor, and I got a play bow! A full-on play bow! IT WAS AWESOME! That is, until I felt a huge thunk of responsibility. What should I do next? What would be the best type of playful olive branch to extend to her? Many play behaviors involve touching, but surely we weren’t at the playful touching stage yet. Clearly I was overthinking this.
I think I responded with a play bow, defined as a “posture similar to a canine play bow, with palms and knees in contact with the ground, forequarters lowered and arms outstretched.” Or maybe an “abbreviated” play bow, with my hands on my thighs. I didn’t want to be too loud or too sudden. Knowing me, I definitely had on a play face. Much later, when we were in the ‘touching is cool’ phase, I remember responding to a play bow by head-butting her side. I remember thinking, “I don’t know if this will work, but it’s worth a shot.”
Now that she and I are well into a stage of playing together, I have a better perspective on what our no-play days were like. Those days are marked by a haze of trepidation, the realization that we were figuring out what play would look like for us, and the awareness that what I threw out there would not necessarily be well-received. I wanted things to move forward, but even more importantly, I didn’t want things to move back.
I was right to be concerned. Of the 35 most common play signals, Rooney and colleagues found that a signal’s popularity “was not related to its success at initiating or sustaining play.” For example, patting the floor was used the most often, but play followed only 38% of the time. It appears patting the floor was not very successful at initiating or increasing play with a dog. Sad face. Other not-so-successful but commonly used play behaviors included scruffing the dog and clapping. Some things people did even elicited play 0% of the time! These included picking up and kissing the dog as well as stamping one’s feet. These “play” behaviors produced a net gain of zero.
All is not lost! A few behaviors were incredibly successful at eliciting play with a dog. Rooney and colleagues found that chase-and-running-away as well as lunging forward were associated with play 100% of the time! “Signaling up” (tapping one’s chest to entice the dog to jump up), grabbing or holding a dog’s paws, and of course, play bowing were also successful at eliciting play.
The researchers’ conclusion is somewhat somber: “We suggest that humans often use ineffective [play] signals.” Instead of blaming dogs for “not playing right,” people could look at their own behavior and evaluate its effect, acknowledging that certain play signals are more effective at eliciting play than others.
Sometimes we hold dogs responsible when we don’t get the type of play we want, even subconsciously. One way to explore this phenomenon is to look at whether a shelter dog’s play behavior affects whether it will be adopted. Alexandra Protopopova and colleagues at the University of Florida Canine Cognition and Behavior Lab and Arizona State University Canine Science Collaboratory found that when a potential adopter takes out a shelter dog for a one-on-one interaction, only two behavioral variables predicted whether that dog was leaving the shelter: 1) lying in close proximity to the person, and 2) responding to the person’s play solicitation.
You heard me right: of all the things a dog might do when first meeting someone, only two things were associated with whether a dog was adopted: dogs lying close to the person were about 14 times more likely to be adopted, and a dog who ignored a person’s play initiation was unlikely to be adopted.
Taken together, these two studies paint a potentially scary picture for shelter dogs: people do not always use play signals that result in play, but people are unlikely to adopt a dog who does not respond to their play signals. Nobody wins.
When I think about dogs in the shelter going up for their one-on-one interviews, I hope potential adopters cut them some slack. The list of factors that could contribute to whether or not a dog will play with a new, strange human they just met are endless. On top of that, the shelter environment is often a weird, chaotic land (a complex topic for a future post). Go slowly. Keep your expectations in check. For shelter dogs, like speed dating, a lot is riding on the first encounter. Reflect on your play behaviors just as much as you think about theirs.
Keep up with the researchers whose work is mentioned above: Alexandra (Sasha) Protopopova (Twitter), Clive Wynne (Twitter) and John Bradshaw (Twitter).
Protopopova A. & Wynne C.D.L. (2014). Adopter-dog interactions at the shelter: Behavioral and contextual predictors of adoption, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 157 109-116. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2014.04.007
Rooney N.J., Bradshaw, J.W.S. & Robinson, I.H. (2001). Do dogs respond to play signals given by humans?, Animal Behaviour, 61 (4) 715-722. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2000.1661
Todd, Z. (2014). Adopting Shelter Dogs: Should Fido Lie Down or Play? Companion Animal Psychology Blog.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
Julie Hecht is a Ph.D. student studying dog behavior and writes the Dog Spies blog at ScientificAmerican.com. Follow Julie Hecht on Twitter