The Power of Play
Motivational Play—Your Dog’s Way
The Power of Play
A worthwhile relationship of play is one of the foundational requirements of engagement and utilizing reward resources in training. It is the foundation that defines our dogs’ energy in their work, their general attentiveness to us and most certainly their engagement amidst distractions. Play is used to nurture sustained focus during arousal periods for purposes of competition or just day to day pet challenges and arguably more importantly as a tool in overcoming fears and other behavioral obstacles.
Ponder for a moment, what exactly is play to you? In what ways do you think your dog enjoys play? With you? With others?
Play is an activity engaged in for enjoyment whether alone or with others. If the play is not done alone, it typically happens between parties with mutual comfort or trust--or like minded play style. There is a certain complexity of play when it comes to our interaction with our dogs. We must understand what makes our individual dogs ‘tick’. What motivates our dog? What are competing motivators (outside forces) for our dog? Is our dog currently playing in an environment where they can be successful with the play we are engaging in?
And lastly...Are. You. Fun?
Considering the Dog in Front of You
Play styles vary greatly depending on breed(s), life stage and individual preference. Genetics is the first and foremost governor of the things our dogs deem fun in play. Differences in play style depend on physical play/stimuli and motivator preferences: food vs toy reward value, preferences for rough and vigorous tug play, preferences for more passive play with bigger consistent wins and less ‘fight’, natural spacial pressure comfort of individual dog, movement activation, preference for chasing vs stationary reward, ‘dead toy’ vs active toy. Our job as trainers and owners is to determine what our dog’s preferences are and develop a play strategy that caters to that preference to get our dogs to buy in to the practice.
Where to Start with Play
Now that you have identified what your dog values, it’s time to put it into action! Play with food and toy do not have to be exclusive of each other, many dogs are motivated by both. What we want to start with-food vs toy-depends on what form of play you’re working on and the arousal level you want your dog operating at. Before I am concerned with the actual exercises I am trying to teach a dog, I want to build the play relationship with me and the reward resource I am using.
To initiate with a dog that is new to this or relearning, I want to invite the dog (not beg) to play! I choose an environment where the dog can be successful with minimal competing reinforcers. I initiate play by being dynamic with my reward systems--this means a lot of movement on my part, encouraging my dog to chase me with the food or toy and lots of verbal praise-think cheerleader for your dog. I can throw a piece of food a short distance away from me and encourage my dog to power back to me for another piece of thrown food in the other direction or a quick treat from me and repeat the process until my dog is happily engaged.
Food for thought: From an energy standpoint, are you the college professor teaching a kindergartner or a dynamic, excited grade school teacher? MAKE IT FUN! We may have a ton of internal dialogue happening, processing through expectations and ‘if this, then that’s’ but we need to be sure we have our fun face on for our dogs. We may think we are exciting on the outside but in reality our dog is really not getting feedback!
For dogs using toys as play, remember to tap into that style of play your dog prefers and with a toy that caters to that play. Does your dog like to chase and retrieve a toy but not tug? Does your dog like a more forward and vigorous game of toy play with you or are they a little sensitive to rough housing and spacial pressure? Does your dog need to win the toy more times than they lose in order to keep them engaged? Is the texture or firmness of your toy undesirable for your dog?
Your training sessions should be short, motivating and fun. We should consider that our dog’s energy toward play or a given training session can be variable from day to day so we must train the dog that showed up to the session today. Be willing to change your training plan as a response to how your dog is presenting to you. Don’t allow yourself to get mired down in the details of your expectations for your session--some of the most brilliant training sessions are unplanned.
Outside Influence to Our Play
The biggest outside influences to our play at home are considered competing reinforcers. Competing reinforcers are those behaviors, objects, people or animals that’s value competes with the reinforcers we possess--our game of play and the value of our reward. Huge factors to consider when we are having challenges with our play and offered rewards is the availability of accessory resources. Not only is it important to identify those factors but how can we use management of the factors to our advantage in our training.
-Does your dog have food available to them at all times? Free feeding and consistent availability of resources can directly conflict with our dog’s motivation for our food reward, no matter how high value. If our dog’s expectation is that they can have food freely available whenever they want it, the incentive to work for our food is greatly diminished.
-Did you feed your dog a meal prior to your session and he is now satiated and disinterested in your treats? Physical satiation will significantly decrease a dog’s motivation for resources or even energy to put forth into play. Even the dog that could eat a treat any time of day, no matter how full, may not be willing to engage if there is something else worthwhile.
-Is your dog your shadow 24/7 with no independent time? There is no harm in being a constant companion so long as it doesn’t negatively impact their willingness engagement with you during training and play reward. If we are noting our dog constantly disengages from us ‘the old news’ for the ‘new fun’ we have to make sure that constant companionship isn’t a negative influence. This may mean just even crating or confining my dog for a short period of time prior to work or crating them at a trial instead of having them constantly wandering about. We, too, need to be a valuable and worthwhile resource!
-Do you consistently reinforce the value of your dog being with and interacting with others? Are you committed to your dog park dates? Does your dog get to engage everyone and everything she encounters on a walk? If your answer is yes, we may be directly repeatedly rewarding our dog for the interaction with others outside of ourselves and contributing to the value they have in seeking out that interaction. If such interactions are never on the ‘menu’, we do not have to actively compete against them! You and I can never engage and play with our dogs in a way that other dogs can, so we have to find a means to play with them in the most valuable way we can provide.
Playing with Your Dog at Home
To set your dog up for success, it is ideal to introduce new concepts in a learning environment where you know they can be successful. Home is typically the best place to initially build your relationship of play because we can-for the most part-control the things happening in the environment and it is the place where they feel most comfortable. At home we can incrementally set them up for challenges as our play relationship continues to evolve. We can use different forms of play (food vs toy) at home to create different levels of arousal with our dogs. Creating a high level of arousal in a controlled environment allows us to challenge our dog with thinking while still playing, this sets them up for success when we challenge them with new environments and distractions because they have practiced thinking while stimulated.
Playing with Your Dog in New Environments
New environments and environmental influences are some of the biggest competing reinforcers to our play success. When choosing new environments to practice play and training with my dog, I have to consider where my dog’s value for our play relationship is. Also, I must consider my individual dog’s level of comfort in new places--or are they even affected by changing environments? Typically, we want the initial play in new places to be with only minimal or moderate distractions. I initiate the same game of play in the new place as we have rehearsed at home so many times. My dog’s commitment to the play in the new place is the litmus test for my dogs engagement and comfort in a changing environment. I want to keep these initial sessions very short and dynamic especially if I have a worried or less overall motivated dog.
Using Play with Anxious or Fearful Dogs for Behavior Modification and Environmental Desensitization
Dogs that lack confidence, are sensitive and prone shutting down during problem solving, are sensitive to changes in environment, fearful, nervous of external stimuli or any combinations of these things, can hugely benefit by the incorporation of play to their training and desensitization. I use movement and incorporation of play with food to allow them to loosen their bodies and focus on a dynamic reward rather than worrying or fixating on the concerns around them. We can do the same for dogs that perceive pressure in the training process even if only positive reinforcement and luring are presented. These dogs can be sensitive and shut down during the training process even without usage of pressure, we can use tossing treats, dynamic reward presentation and praise to incorporate play into the work.
Our Long Term Relationship of Play
Our relationship of play with our dogs should be sustained throughout their lifetime. The style of play and the level of dynamic reward we must provide for buy in will change over time and experience. As our training and management routine with our dogs continues to evolve, we will find our level of intermittent reinforcement where our dogs remain happy, engaged and successful listeners and participants.
