As you’re cleaning up the confetti that used to be a favorite book, sopping up the newest puddle on your rug, and canceling a dinner date so your puppy won’t be lonely, you may ask yourself: "Now, exactly why was it I got a puppy?"
Because puppies are fun! But you have to play with your puppy to get your fun’s worth out of him. Come on, get in the spirit! Play is one of the reasons we have dogs; it cements the human-canine bond and perhaps more importantly, gives us a reason to act goofy. Play is good for both of you. It’s a powerful tool for making friends. It provides a safe arena in which puppies can learn new behaviors and self control. And because roles are easily reversed during play, it creates an ideal situation in which to help an insecure puppy gain confidence or teach a puppy with overly competitive tendencies to cooperate. Your puppy is used to playing with his brothers and sisters. Now who will he play with? You! Unless you give your puppy the chance to play with you, he can grow up not knowing how.
So get up and get playing! But what games should puppies play? Fetch, for sure. Fetch is a fun game to play, but unless your puppy is exposed to it early in life, he may never catch on to the whole concept. Try different sized balls or toys if he doesn’t seem to understand, and roll them rather than throw them. Bounce them against walls. Still no interest? Give him a treat for just touching, then picking up, a ball if he doesn’t do it naturally. You can train him to fetch, bit by bit, and he can actually come to find out fetching is fun!
Fetch is a good game for dogs of all personality types, but not all games are good for all dogs. Insecure dogs may do better playing cooperative rather than competitive games. Cooperative games are ones where the two of you work toward the same goal. Fetching is cooperative (unless you chase him around or try to get the ball before he does). So is hiding treats and then having him search them out. Even learning tricks is a type of cooperative game. Cooperative games can gradually build to more competitive games, perhaps starting with cat toys dangled on a string that can then be used for a low key chase and tug game.
Pushy dogs may also need to focus on cooperative games, although your rules may have to be stricter. Searching and learning games are very good for dogs that feel the need to control. If you play fetch, chasing him around for the ball he refuses to give you is probably just what he wants you to do. Just say no. He needs to learn that if he doesn’t bring you the ball, it means "game over."
Competitive games are ones in which the two of you are both in it to win. Tug of war is a prime example. Playing keep-away with a toy or even trying to run away from your dog yourself are also competitive games. Competitive games should not be played with dogs that seem to want to rule the roost, and they should only be played if your dog has already been taught a release word. A release word is something like "out" or "game over" that tells him if he releases the toy on cue, he gets a treat. What if he doesn’t? You are in a difficult situation of either continuing the game (just what he wants), letting go (so now he’s the winner), or prying it out of his jaws (potentially not safe in an adult, and besides, he thinks it’s just another great game!). Your best bet? Game over, once again. Just walk away.
Don’t forget the educational toys! Parents of human children know the value of early stimulation of all the baby’s senses and curiosity in furthering his development. Puppies are no different. Studies of puppies’ brains show vast differences in size and development in puppies reared in stimulating, complex environments compared to those reared in deprived, boring environments. Make sure your puppy has toys that stimulate all his senses, and that he can manipulate in different ways. Toys that make him work for prizes are excellent educational toys, especially for older puppies. Timid dogs may not do as well with big toys, so consider cat toys or other toys that can be easily squeaked or manipulated. Who knows? You may have the next puppy Einstein in the making.
Play is an important component of learning. Few things can motivate as strongly as fun and games. Many top drug-detection dogs work for a chance to tug a toy rather than to eat a treat, and many top trainers train with games. Don’t be so preoccupied with the work of raising a puppy that you forget to have the fun. It’s just as important. Maybe more so. Well, what are you waiting for? Go fetch!
