Let’s Play! A Word About Dog Play Styles

By Barbara Cannon

We often discuss the importance of understanding body language here at BAXTER and Bella.  Understanding body language is key to communicating with your puppy. Sometimes, when watching your puppy at play, you may be concerned by your pup’s rough play, growling, or barking. You may think that what you see during play isn’t what you expected and wonder if your puppy is too rough, aggressive, or possibly too laid back. But did you know that puppies and dogs can have different play styles?  It can be helpful to understand how your puppy likes to play to put this into context for you, as well as to know the rules about safe play.

In general, safe play between dogs should be loose and bouncy. Faces are happy, eyes are bright. You may see play bows and hear playful vocalizations. In healthy play, dogs take turns leading the activity and being on top of a tussle, although some more submissive dogs may prefer being on the bottom, most of the time, as long as they aren’t being bullied.   Dogs should not be trying to scare or injure their play partner.   In healthy play, dogs “self-handicap” – that is, they actively decide not to pursue rough play with a dog who isn’t playing at the same intensity. Safe play is usually made safer when dogs are of similar size and age and fewer in number. Larger groups of dogs playing can be a powder keg of emotion and adrenaline.

Here’s what you may see in a healthy doggy play session:

Wrestling:  Some dogs love that body contact and enjoy rolling around with other dogs.  Nothing is more fun than tackling and rolling on the ground with a play partner.  Wrestling could also include some mouthing, usually around the neck area, but no biting! Hopefully each dog will get a chance to be on top, but as mentioned, some dogs prefer the bottom position. With wrestling, you should see frequent changes in position and lots of stops and starts.

Body slamming:  Along with wrestling, you may see some body slamming, but you may also see this play behavior independently.  A body slammer will usually throw his body against another dog and then engage in mouthing behavior that may or may not turn into wrestling.  You will see body slamming more often between dogs of similar size.   Smaller dogs usually don’t appreciate this activity.

Chasing:  This behavior could lead to rougher play, but some dogs just really love to run!  It’s way more fun if someone is chasing them and usually you will see that both dogs enjoy the chase and will change positions as the leader so they each get a chance to be the chaser or the chased. Some dogs enjoy running so much that it doesn’t even matter if there’s a fence between them, they just enjoy having someone to run with and will do endless repetitions until one or both get worn out.

Referees:  Some dogs don’t want to engage in rough play, but they sure want to have something to say about it! These dogs will approach a few playing dogs, stand on the sidelines, and vocalize.  Sometimes, they will even interrupt, which is usually not appreciated by the players, but mostly, they are happy just carrying on the commentary.

Tugging:  Dog who are tuggers like to have a toy involved in their play so they can get others into the game. They aren’t necessarily trying to win; they just enjoy the activity of tugging.  If there is no resource guarding, this can be a great game for some dogs. 

Soft touching:  In some cases, a dog will want to give soft touches to a person or other dog to show that they are engaged with a toy or an activity.

Playing alone: Some dogs just prefer to play alone and are perfectly happy to be alone with a toy, a ball or a chew, even when other dogs are around.  These dogs may also prefer to play with people rather than other dogs, and that’s okay!  It’s just their play style!

When dogs are not safe players, things can go wrong.  Here’s a list of behaviors to watch for to avoid fights: snapping, snarling or lunging; nipping; stiff body language; raised hackles; loud continuous growing; pinning down; yelping or whining.

If you ever have questions about your dog’s play behavior, we can help!   If you are a member, you can send us a video or schedule a session with one of our trainers.

Happy Training!