The Benefits of Playing with Your Dog
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One of the best parts of a being a dog owner is playing with your dog. Not only is it fun to indulge your inner child and get a little silly, but playing together will also build your bond and improve your relationship with your dog. Playing with your dog makes life better for both of you!
Adulthood traditionally takes away a lot of the fun and silliness and true play. Sure there are things we enjoy, but as we grow up we forget how to play. If you need a little help remembering how to truly play again, this blog post is for you 😊
Physical Benefits of Playing with Your Dog
I love playing with my dog! One of our favorite games to play together is tug, and the West Paw Bumi is one of our favorite tug toys to use!
It’s no surprise that playing with your dog has many physical benefits. It’s pretty standard cardio exercise, which means it can be a great activity for weight management and preventing obesity in your dog.
And depending on the game, it can also be great exercise for you too! My Golden Retriever’s favorite game is tug. She is a strong and excitable dog and very mouthy – none of that is surprising given her breed!
So when we play, I push her around and really give her a challenge. We both growl at each other and are genuinely trying to get the toy from each other. Within a few minutes, I have worked up even more of a sweat than my dog. Tug is not a game for the faint of heart! You can find our favorite tug toys here.
Another physical benefit of playing with your dog is improved joint health. Activity and exercise helps keep your dog moving long into their senior years. A little physical play here and there can keep your dog feeling young, energetic, and limber!
Mental Benefits of Playing with Your Dog
Of course, the benefits of playing with your dog are not only physical. There’s a slew of mental benefits as well!
Cognitive Development
I’ll admit that I am not an expert at mammalian cognitive development, like, at all. But according to this Little Tikes website, play has many benefits for human children’s cognitive development, including improvement of communication, learning through exploration, strengthens problem solving, introduces patience, and reinforces memory and attention.
I have seen all these benefits from playing with my own dog. One of the most significant benefits has been improving her patience and impulse control. Even though we work on these most often with play, my dog has generalized them into other contexts as well!
My Golden Retriever struggles a lot with resource guarding around food. Part of working on that has been teaching her patience and impulse control so she knows she doesn’t have to escalate a situation where there are other dogs and food.
Playing with your dog can be a great stress reliever for both of you!
Playing tug together and specifically dropping the toy and waiting a short time to keep playing have really improved her patience and impulse control in many situations, including around food.
Stress Relief
Dogs whose biological needs aren’t regularly fulfilled often experience a variety of mental and emotional struggles, including stress, anxiety, and boredom.
One biological need for many dogs is the opportunity to bond with their owner. Dogs and humans co-evolved, so it’s only natural that many dogs would have a deep-seated need to bond with their humans.
Satisfying this biological need by playing with your dog can keep stress and anxiety at bay. And if your dog is already stressed or anxious, engaging in play can help relieve that stress.
Let’s also touch on stress relief for humans. Play, especially more physical play, releases endorphins and relieves stress, just like other forms of exercise.
Humans are fundamentally social creatures too, so playing with your dog helps satisfy your own social biological needs as well. If you’re having a rough day, I guarantee a game of tug with your dog will help relieve some of your stress too!
Behavioral Benefits of Playing with Your Dog
As discussed above, playing with your dog satisfies some of their biological needs. A fulfilled is a good dog. When your dog’s needs are fulfilled regularly (not every day, but regularly – sometimes life gets in the way!) they are less likely to exhibit undesirable behaviors.
Because playing with your dog fulfills some of their biological needs, it can reduce destructive behavior. A dog that has had its play need fulfilled is way less likely to start chewing on furniture, for example.
Playing with your dog also channels their energy into a fun and enjoyable activity. Burning off a little energy generally leads to calmer behavior. That goes for human children and dogs, actually!
Tips for Effective Play
Let your dog pick the game
I don't literally mean let your dog pick the game each play session, but pay attention to your dog’s preferences. For example, my Golden Retriever is very engaged during games of tug. Nothing else exists during tug, just her and me and our toy.
Since she is a retriever, she’s genetically hardwired to enjoy being mouthy and, well, retrieving. So it’s no surprise that she also is very engaged in fetch. She’s satisfying that biological need to retrieve!
My American Foxhound, on the other hand, seems to prefer jumping around and dancing with each other. She likes tug okay, but she doesn’t really get into it the way she gets into jumping up and down with each other.
I don’t always play their favorites – there’s benefits to versatility – but it is something I’m mindful of. Paying attention to your dog’s favorite ways to play is a great way to engage them and really take advantage of the bond that comes from playing with your dog.
Choose the right toys
Hiking isn’t quite the same as playing with your dog, but it is an amazing shared activity to help you bond with each other! Starsky, my American Foxhound, loved hiking together so he could sniff all the cool trail scents.
Different toys are designed for different types of play. A ball is a great toy for playing fetch, but you wouldn’t want to tug with one! It would be difficult to get a good grip on it for a really intense game of tug, and your hand being that close to your dog’s mouth increases the chances of an accidental bite.
For tug, you want something like the Puller ring or a rope tug that allows both you and your dog to get a good grip. Because tug can be an adversarial game, you want something that will allow you both to get into the game and harness your own strength! In other words, you both need to be able to get a good grip, although hopefully your dog is the only one using their teeth for it!
Fetch is a little simpler: a regular tennis ball will do just fine. If you want to give your dog some added enrichment, you can change thee game up by rotating through different fetch toys. Sometimes I throw our tug toys. You can also try throwing a disc, bumper, fetch stick, or even a bird toy!
Keep it safe
Keep safety in mind when playing with your dog. Monitor your dog’s emotional state; if they become too aroused during play, they may cross a threshold where it’s no longer play and is not fun or fulfilling for the dog. Overarousal may actually cause stress and behavioral problems.
Make sure to keep an eye out for potential hazards during play. This could be anything from loose pieces on a toy to bumpy terrain while playing tug. Do a quick scan of the area and the toy before beginning a play session so that you are aware of any hazards to avoid!
Play Ideas for Different Breeds
As I discussed above with my own dogs, different breeds may be predisposed to different types of games. You also may want to adapt playtime based on the energy levels of different breeds and your individual dog.
If you are looking for games to start with, try some of these:
Retrievers: These breeds were historically bred to retriever game in their mouths, so try retrieving games like fetch, and mouthy games like tug.
Scent hounds: As the name implies, scent hounds were originally bred to sniff out game, so they will enjoy sniffy play. Try playing a treat search game where they look for yummy treats, or even “play” the game of a sniffari, where you let your hound lead you in whatever direction they want to sniff!
Herding breeds: Border collies, shepherds, and other herding breeds were bred to help ranchers round up their livestock. That means your herding breed dog might really gravitate towards chasing games! Try playing a game of chase with your dog, or getting something like a Jolly Egg toy that can simulate the erratic motion of livestock.
Huskies: Siberian huskies were literally bred to pull sleds long distances, so they will usually love the pull. These are less games and more sports, but some shared activities that huskies will love doing with you are mushing, bikejoring, and canicross.
Remember, playing with your dog is just that: PLAY. It needs to be fun for both of you! Playing with your dog is an amazing way to strengthen your bond, but only if you are both having a great time.
How do you like to play with your dog? What is your dog’s favorite game?
Frequently Asked Questions About Playing with Your Dog
Can dogs get bored of playing?
Sure. Most dogs will stop engaging when they are tired or finished with playing. I’m not sure whether I would call it “bored” of playing because playing is an activity to combat boredom in dogs. But they can certainly feel finished with the activity and will usually let you know!
How much should you play with your dog?
This is soooo individual! Some dogs might thrive on an hour of play or mental stimulation a day. Some might just need a few minutes to be satisfied. Ginsburg, my Golden Retriever, would play tug all day if I had the stamina for it. My last American Foxhound, Starsky, played a lot less even when he was younger, and when he was older, mostly wanted to cuddle and do puzzle toys.
Can I wrestle with my dog?
This is a form of play to be careful with! It’s not that wrestling is inherently bad, but it is a high arousal activity with a lot of physical and strength aspects. Your dog may become overaroused to the point that the game is no longer fun, or they may learn that using their body that way is acceptable, which can lead to unsafe behavioral issues. This isn’t a carte blanche condemnation of wrestling with your dog, though. Rather, my answer is “it depends” and you will need to consider your dog as an individual when determining whether you want to wrestle with them.
Should you let your dog win tug?
Sometimes I let my dog win tug. Sometimes she wins fair and square because she’s super strong. And sometimes I win! I personally believe it’s healthiest when you are playing authentically and are both invested in the game – and that means both of you get to win sometimes. But remember that no one likes playing a game they never win, so you definitely should let your dog win occasionally.
Is it ok if my dog growls when we are playing tug?
Probably! Growling isn’t always aggressive! Your dog may be growling because they are excited and really invested in the game, or they may just be more vocal. Growling during tug can also be a biologically fulfilling activity for some dogs, especially those with more prey drive.
What if my dog accidentally bites me when playing tug?
There are different approaches to this. I often exclaim “ow!” naturally without even thinking about it. I think end the game. I want my dogs to know that I am excited and invested in the game and it’s ok to play rough, but they still have to be aware of where their teeth are. After a short break of the game being over, I begin playing tug with them again. A short break of a few minutes is plenty of time for them to learn that the action of an accidental bite has the consequence of ending the game.
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GET TO KNOW CHARLOTTE
Charlotte Lehman is a passionate dog mom, a dog sports photographer, and enjoys sharing her experience from a decade of dog ownership through her blog.
Based in Geneva, New York.
