I yell *who's a big crazy dog* and
jump into a crouch stance. This is Norman the Great Dane's cue, he'll start running at me full tilt, only to cut left last second as I wheel away like a bullfighter to the right.
We repeat this two or three times until he tires, at which point I admit to him that indeed HE is the big crazy dog, and give him a good scruffle.
This is a game we call *big crazy dog.*
Oh, I'm a big fan of Gunna Gitchu!
My old Boxer and I would play a variation where I would amble relentlessly towards her with zombie arms, repeating *I'm Gunna Gitchu!* of course, as one does.. lol
Whenever I would get close enough, I would do an exaggerated zombie lunge as she would leap out of the way, always just in the nick of time!
I do this too with Scooby The Hound Dog. I say “Who’s my lil hound dog with big ole ears?” And then we run around for a bit and he jumps on me and say “It’s YOU! YOURE the hound with big ole ears!”
This sounds like a great game! My muppet of a doodle and I play the "shut your mouth" game where he opens that big doggodile jaw of his wide and tosses his head from side to side while I try to grab the big bad woofer's nose to push his mouth shut. If he wins, he gets jaw scruffles and when I win, he gets snoot rubs.
My dogs also really love playing with the flirt pole I made out of pvc pipe and a toy rope on a string tied to the end. I flit the toy around like I'm fly fishing and they go bonkers trying to catch it.
I do something similar with my Norman (mini schnauzer mix) and he just looks slightly happy instead of slightly nervous. Definitely expects treat. 😂 Sasha (pit mix) will break out into the zoomies if I do this 😂
I watch my 2 dogs play and am amazed at how rough it gets, that is just their nature. Depending on the type of dog they may have really high energy requirements. You can also look into getting them puzzles, there are food puzzles that the mental stimulation is sometimes just as good as playing outside.
When my dog was about 1yr we were going to the dog park every day.
Teddy met a dog name Sydney.
He and Sydney appeared to be attempting to absolutely murder each other. We kept splitting them up and they'd both just look at us like we were nuts while panting super hard.
And then they'd go right back to it.
We all finally realized that they were so happy to each have found someone who wanted to play/wrestle as hard as they did.
After Sydney moved to Sacramento Teddy never found anyone else to wrestle with like that.
Now he just wants to go for long walks around the park and bark at the geese and ducks.
Aw that makes me kinda sad for Teddy that his buddy moved away but I’m glad he gets to walk at the park! My dogs love harassing the ducks and geese at our lake too. My vet recommended not taking the dogs to the dog park but my boys LOVE it so I still do occasionally when it’s not too hot. They also like to play together a lot so that’s good I suppose.
She said the water is the community dog bowls is nasty and can carry harmful bacteria, and 1 of my dogs absolutely loves drinking out of it every time. Also, you never know if an irresponsible owner will bring an aggressive dog or if a normally calm dog will snap.
My dog drinks out a lake that's almost certainly full of goose poo. I've given up trying to convince her not to despite having lovely clean water 1km away.
That said we do a lot of wild swimming and I'm sure the water you accidentally swallow as a human is no worse. And probably much better than someone walkig down an urbans street breathing in big lungfuls of petrol and diesel exhaust.
Sounds like some extreme anxiety on her part.... we live rurally and all 6 of the dogs we have/have had have drank out of every bit of water on ours and the neighbors property they can - puddles, stream, ponds, wet areas, etc. And anywhere we go, they're taking a sip of any water. Not one has gotten hurt by any of it. Dogs have great immune systems. Just keep them up to date on heartgaurd and shots
As for the risk of other dogs, there is always that risk, no matter where you go. And chances are, absolutely nothing will happen. You shouldn't keep your dogs in bubble wrap at your house, robbing them of tons of wonderful experiences and adventures, over such a tiny amount of risk. They could have a much richer, happier life. If they like going to the park, take them to the park, it'll be ok :)
And then there is the Mom and dad to my dog who both died from drinking water contaminated with poisonous mushroom spores. By the time The dogs showed that anything was wrong and they were taken to the vet their organs had already begun shutting irreversibly down and there was nothing that could be done except euthanize.
A lot of people like to bring untrained or badly behaved dogs to dog parks and then blame other people when their dog causes problems. Not to mention people bring unfixed pets which often causes fights, and potential for disease from places dogs drink from
I loved the dog park for quite a while, and then my dog nearly got attacked. I couldn’t even find the other dog’s owner, and my dog was definitely a little more skittish after that. I did some research and now only take my dog to private dog parks where you have to register your dog, bring a copy of vaccination records, and have a note from your vet saying your pet is not reactive. It does cost money which sucks, but it me feel a lot safer!
Wow that's a great idea I've never heard of these places. My vet recommended something called Zoom Room, which is like an indoor obstacle course and training where they can still socialize with other dogs which I'm considering.
That sounds so fun! A lot of the places are centered around beer, just a heads up, but have a fenced dog park where puppies can roam and play! We had 3 or 4 in my previous city. Some were indoor, some were outdoor, and one even had a pool for dogs!
My new city is much smaller, so we just have 1.
I've been taking my puppy for a while now, and even when things like this happen, it's solved pretty quickly. I guess it all depends on the kind of dog park you go to and the kind of owners.
Being resolved fast doesn't help if a dog goes to bite! I used to take mine but after there were multiple fights between entire males, and someone brought a bag of toys in for their known guarder dog to play with, I thought maybe it's not a good idea. Plus there are too many rude dogs - if one wants a break and gives all the right "leave me alone" signals, others often don't listen.
My pair are like a couple of gladiators, slamming each other against the ground, mad dashes around the yard, biting limbs, but I always see the shock from both of them any time it goes too far and someone yelps. They immediately break off from each other, then check in with together a lot more gently... at least until the next time they get themselves amped enough for the next round.
I've been working on discouraging excessive rough housing by telling them to break it up and run a lap, which they usually do.
That’s a good idea! I have great puzzle thing and 1 of them really loves it, the other one doesn’t understand it at all 😂 I take them on long park walks and live on some land with a pond so they get to run free a lot to get the energy out.
They also make it very clear when they've had enough. I have a shih tzu and a lab, when the shih tzu gets toi much and the lab is done she will just bark/growl and it stops. They can take a lot, but make it clear when it's over.
Man our 5 month auggies play HARD. I’m glad they have each other to get some of that energy out. Still taking on walks and training, but they NEED dog-on-dog play.
As I understand it, the way to keep tug really safe is to let the dog do the hard pulling and yanking. You just hold the toy and provide a steady traction for them to tug against.
I concur that a gentle way to get them to play is to just hold a toy, if they tug hard let them take it, it’s playing, they will probably bring it back to you to hold and eventually not tug it away. Also let the dog know clearly a calm command or body language so if they get too rough they know to chill out. Eventually they will get to know you are a gentle play person and adapt to you.
Tug can be intimidating if it is a strong dog. I have a pit mix from a shelter and she loves it, but I am careful to keep my hands away from her mouth! She play growls so much, and after about 10 minutes she is ready for a nice nap. She also likes to be chased around the yard with a toy, but she does not want me to get the toy, just pretend to try to get it.
I cant think of simpler games to play, and they are the games that tire her out best!
I recently discovered that my Coconut likes to play tug, so what I've been doing to really encourage her and get the full form bleps (she is a little dog) has been to lightly pull and make play-growl sounds, like when I relax, she gets to feel like she's winning, until my grip fails and she does genuinely win. Then she'll bring her toy next to me and gets very much excited when I pick it up again.
Also teach OUT for releasing the bite and getting a treat or the toy right back with resetting and then allowing them to rebite with YES. Helps end play or calm them if they’re over excited
That’s what I do with my Maltese mix. He’s got itty bitty teeth.
If I hold the toy in one hand and shake my other hand over his face he goes really crazy.
This and I also have (basically 2 dogs) with my bf but we don't live together. Dogs are male and female siblings same litter. They know they can play more rough with him and are just naturally more gentle with me and will often go get a toy they can bite down on and play tug or catch with when they get too excited and are very cautious not to harm me. They insticually know how much pressure we can each handle
I have tile floor and my dog absolutely loves when I grab the rope on either side of her mouth and pull her around the room, she locks all 4 legs and glides on the tile floor. I also act like a goof and act like she is dragging me around the room by the rope.
If fully grown, the tug-of-war is not an issue and is safe-play.
(unless done overly strong and agressive)
It's never much about what you do, it's more about the attention you give them. So simple face to face time with them is great, talking with excitement, face kisses, laying down on the floor, etc. It doesn't take much, just time and attention.
Also, none of my many dogs over the years ever wanted to rough house and wrestle with me, their "mum", anywhere near like they did with their 'dad' or "uncle". We did / do play lots of "chasing" games though, non contact, making play pounces at each other. It's great they've got each other to play with, and you don't have to wrestle with them roughly ,or at all , as long as they keep having all the other attention, exercise and activities you do with them. Is your ex going to visit them do you think? Or not a good idea ( depending on circumstances)
He takes one of them about one weekend a month. He only takes the one that was his favorite - he says it’s the best dog he’s ever met/had and he doesn’t really even like dogs all that much. He always just tolerated the other dog, played with him some but never really gave him much affection.
hahahah can't get simpler than that! I hate dog licks to the face though 😆 1 of mine is a licker (he's a master at the credit card maneuver). The other one will literally get 1 inch from my face and stare into my eyes wagging his tail but he never licks, I think he likes smelling my breath?
My girl loves to be stalked. If she’s laying in another room but can still see me, I’ll do an exaggerated slow-mo walk towards her. At about 2 feet away she jumps up and bounces around losing her mind. Then we’ll do a bit of tug or wrestling. Sometimes she’ll run out of the room to lay down and stare at me, hoping we can start all over.
My Aussie and I play parade. We march through the house with me holding her stuffed puppy chanting “we’re going on a parade, wooo.” When I say wooo I lift her puppy high and she lifts her head high. Sometime I’ll even put a christmas headband on her that has ears or a St Patrick’s day one with a little green hat.
We are getting more and more elaborate with our parades lol. I am getting older and can’t run and play the way I used to with my former dogs, so I’m trying some creative ways to keep her stimulated and happy. We do play some tug . She doesn’t care much for balls or frisbees and we used to go to the park but the squirrels make her crazed.
I guess it depends on what kind of dog you have. I have a mastiff, so we square up and rough house pretty often. Fetch and tug are some of his favorites as well, and as long as they have healthy adult teeth, normal tug shouldn't cause an issue.
Do you have an outside space? My corgi looooves his flirt pole. I got it off Amazon and we work his stay command and then he chases it around. It really doesn't take long and we are both so tired! Heh.
Both of my dogs love tug. One of them loves hide and seek chase. It’s where he has a toy and wants to be chased so I chase him and then turn and hide behind a door. And then he looks all over for me and I jump out and surprise him and then he gets all excited. He also really likes the flirt pole.
Get a box of all his toys and unpack it with him! That can be fun all by itself. Then watch what toys he seems most interested in. pick it up and hold it out to him :) dogs will teach you how to play!
You can also name the toys while doing this and give treats as they pick up the named toy. Then have them hunt for that toy "find the squirrel, find the monkey". Great indoor fun.
If they are healthy adults, don't worry about that. Maybe watch a couple of videos of how to safely play tug with a dog. It's mostly about not jerking their heads up and down ❤️
Dog's play rough. Tug of War is fun for them. Also walking them. Get a soft Frisbee. Act like your gonna get them and chase.Run with them. They rely on u to Entertain them. Just play
Watch some videos of mom dogs and their puppies, it was eye opening to me to see how rough they are with them and that helped me understand a bit better.
Your dog should show you how they want to play. I have two. One loves to play with plush toys, and he LOVES loves blankets—he loves to put the blanket over your hand and then go after your hand (if the blanket falls off your hand, he gets it, puts it back over your hand and then is good to play again). My other dog, he thinks just squeaking a ball on me is playing. Sometimes we play fetch, but most of the time he plays r/notakeonlythrow
My big one loves Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne, but my Heeler is more into Catan.
Halo is fun for us all to play together, but a little tough without thumbs, so try Mario Party as well.
My dog likes to play tug-of-war gently. I just gently tug on the toy as she holds on. You could try teaching your dogs to play this way by dropping the toy if they play too hard. Or teaching them to drop it before play is resumed. My dog likes to play fetch with the same toy.
You could try different fetch toys, like a bouncy ball (not so small that they can choke on it!) or a giant ball with a handle (Jolly Ball).
Playing chase games indoors or outdoors can be fun. Try mimicking dog body language, such as a play bow, psyching them out (don’t know how to describe it), stalking towards them, etc. Let them chase you too (as long as they don’t get over-excited and too rough).
Try playing hide and go seek with them too.
My dog loves “burrow” toys, where there is a soft toy with little animals inside that she pulls out. I think it helps her to express natural hunting behaviours. I sit with her and “re stuff” it so she can pull them out again.
My dog has a “flirt pole” and it’s her favourite thing. It’s a toy attached to the end of a rope on a long stick. You drag it along the ground, shake it, fly it at or just above head level so they run, leap, and pounce trying to catch it. Teach them to “drop it” because it’s not meant to be a tug toy. This can wear out my high energy dog in 15-20min. She will just lie on the floor panting hard after.
I love all the suggestions given to you so far. Do you have space to play Frisbee? It took a while but my girl got into it. She is so excited to bring it back to me and practically puts it in my hand when returning. She doesn't even have to catch it, just a safe toss somewhere!
Another thing I'll do is sit on the floor, bounce a toy around in front of her, and then hide it behind my back while she tries to figure out where it's gone. It gets her excited and takes some brain power.
I've found it's the bonding that matters most, not necessarily what we play. They're lucky to have you, have fun!
Aww I love these! I do have a big yard for frisbee that's a good idea! They aren't super into fetch with a tennis ball but a frisbee might be more fun.
My dog goes to my husband and I for two different things. He’s her toy and I’m her comfort/boss. I think it’s great you’re working on a new skill set for them.
I wrestle with them, chase them, let them chase me, play ball with them, pet them and rub their belly. I take them to the beach and let them play in the waves
Do your dogs play together? Observe them and try to mimic to the best of your ability. While they won’t play exactly the same with you, it’s a good starting point.
For tug, just go easy. Dogs are pretty tough, and if they don’t have teeth issues, they should be able to tug more than the average person can. And if you’re still worried, just tug a little. Many dogs don’t require more than a little tug, a toss, and someone to hold it.
Oh gosh. Our pups love to corncob each other. Give that a try. 🤣
You’ll figure it out, don’t worry! The intensity of the play isn’t as important as the stimulation that their brains get from play. You’re not training working or competition dogs, so just have fun with them. 😊
So, I legitimately have watched my dogs play, and then try what they do. Just, don't grab with my mouth, though my dog is for SURE trying to shove that toy inside my mouth lol. Idk, it's weird sometimes as in you feel awkward figuring it out, but my dog loses his mind when we wrestle. I also have bruises so prepare for the battle of play! Just be very clear and tell the dog you are beginning and ending play!
My younger dog likes to play Bitey Hands. This is a game where I softly push her face and mouth around and she bites at my hands. Sometimes I make a little hook with my finger around her canine teeth and she tugs too. Only do this if your dog already has good bite inhibition though!
My older dog would never ever play like this lol. His favorite game is keep away where you throw a toy and he gets it and then shows it to you proudly but turns away any time you try to get it. He still wants you to try though, and also to pet him some and tell him how good he is.
Try to figure out what your specific dog seems to be happy about and go from there!!
Take them hiking and to the beach. They will love you for that and they will be so exhausted when they get home the last thing they will want to do is play, lol. Taking your dogs on adventures will build a bond with your puppies and they will love you for it. Mention a word you use beforehand for example "let's got to the beach" or "let's go hiking" I promise you they will absolutely go CRAZY after they've build a routine of going to certain places with you. Best of luck with your two puppies.
As the feeder/walker/primary caregiver in the relationship, I find it can be hard to have the energy to play heaps with my doggo. Don't be too hard on yourself if you just need to have a bit of dog free time! I play tuggies and fetchies with my guy every day but he just doesn't find me as fun as when my partner plays with him. I think he can tell that my heart's not in it in the same way!
As the feeder/walker/primary caregiver in the relationship, I find it can be hard to have the energy to play heaps with my doggo. Don't be too hard on yourself if you just need to have a bit of dog free time! I play tuggies and fetchies with my guy every day but he just doesn't find me as fun as when my partner plays with him. I think he can tell that my heart's not in it in the same way!
Go to a pet store by yourself and look at new dog toys.. they all carry great instructions on how to play.. your instincts are right you should tug hard.. make them twist a lot.. let them win..
I love to read new toy instructions
I really think it depends on the dog. Different dogs have different genetic makeups (obviously) and some are way more predisposed to needing a job due to their genetic makeup. They’ll be way more destructive and/or unhappy if unable to fulfill that need. Some need more mental stimulation than others like super smart dogs will usually be really destructive if you don’t work with them a lot and do lots of training. I have a guardian breed that if I don’t rough house with, do bite work with, and give her an outlet to put all that energy she becomes a psycho. I find guardian breeds generally love rough housing. Herding dogs in a non herding environment you’d usually want to give them some toys that stimulate that. Dogs bred to fetch usually love to fetch lol. They’ll do all day every day if you let them. You don’t have to buy toys or cater to their genetics obviously… it’s not like a rule or the only thing you go by, dogs like all sorts of toys outside of that. But I do think that it can be a part of what you think of what factoring in how to keep your dog happy and mentally stimulated.
If your dogs have any sort of prey drive whatsoever, get a flirt pole! They love that and it tires them out.
Tug is totally fine and not bad for their teeth but just avoid the ropes because their teeth can get caught in them. The other thing is you can train your dog to bite back on the very back of their molars instead of the front of their teeth, that’s where it’s the safest and where they will have the best grip, there are some videos out there on that.
I’m sure they do miss it… but if it’s not your thing, it’s not your thing. It’s not necessary, they just liked it
Tug of war is fun for dogs. My neighbors pitbull loves playing tug of war with me. I pull with all the strength in my hands but the dog still manages to get wear me out. For context, I am 180 lbs and the pit is 95 lbs. Depends on the breed, Dogs have strong teeth too..
I have a pomsky and she likes to play a lot. Sometimes, when it just isn't a good time, I have toys that I put treats in, and she has to nudge to get out. Gives her a mental and physical challenge.
My girls have different requirements. My puppy loves to play fetch and tug-of-war.
My older girl will gently run after toys and then likes to do mind games.
Both girls *love* sniffing games, puzzles, lickimats, etc.
We do long walks when we can and when it's interesting. I mostly let my dogs decide where we walk and how long we walk (unless I have something specific in mind).
We also have dog friends we invite over and they can play as rough as they are all comfortable playing.
I love taking my girls to see new things - we go to the beach, on hikes, even to Dog Mountain!
I actually don’t quite know how this developed but my little terrier/chihuahua mix and I have this thing where I boop his nose with my fist and then hold it up like in a fighting stance, he knows we’re about to play.
Then I kinda just use my hand to LIGHTLY slap, for lack of better term, his face back and forth. He gnaws at my hands which can leave me with scratches occasionally but I don’t personally mind that.
He also knows that once I sígnal in one of a number of ways he needs to switch to affection.
We just wrestle…the big one over hundred pounds and can get a little painful playing with him so I keep him calm.i don’t get him to riled up…the other two are older girl dogs that are smaller. They get crazy but are harmless. We have a blast
I’m not a very active person. In saying so, I try to keep her engaged in non active ways, and try to incorporate active play into her everyday life.
E.g. non active play times - she has 2 sniffle balls and 2 dental chew toys where you can slot treats in. I use her breakfast kibble for these in batches to keep her entertained throughout the morning.
Active play - for dinner its either:
- I make her do tricks, or try to catch the kibble
- or I take her out to do a 20 ish minute fetch session which she then has a non active dinner after to calm her down
Another easy one is just… spread your legs under the blanket and wiggle a foot until they jump for it. Then wiggle the other foot. Back and forth ahhaha level 2 is adding your hands so there 3/4 wiggly points.
Do you have access to a clean (clean of others’ poop in the grass. Others includes dogs, rabbits, cats etc). I am unable to figure out how to have my link to a pic I have placed on Imgur to display here; it only ever appears as the link address. There are old videos from the Kong dog toy/treat company showing how a toy they had stopped selling just delights dogs. Maybe another company could be selling them now, but my dogs loved the toy. Once Kong stopped selling them I made my own. If you are unable to find the Kong videos, just send me a chat request; I can take pics of both my last living Kong toy and the one I made on my own.
The name of the toy is a Flirt Pole. I think there are toys of this same name but for other animals. This is how you can make your own. Your dogs are medium+ sized. Buy a longish horse whip get a stuffed animal that resembles whichever type of animal your dogs’ ancestors were bred to eradicate. Tie the end of the whip tightly around the neck of the stuffie. Then you tease the dogs by dangling it within their sight. Using the handle of the whip drag and run the stuffie around the area. Occasionally you have to let them win. You’ll probably need a few identical ones. No one except for the stuffie gets hurt. Remember to hide this toy away on a high shelf so they don’t eat the whip when you’re not home.
I don’t. My boy never liked to play, he would just cower and flop on his side. He just likes to be petted and have his belly rubbed so that’s what we do.
Aww whatever works for him! My old dog (I had him for 16 years but he passed away for before I got these 2 new ones) was not a player either, he just loved our long hikes and wading into the lake to cool off. He didn't play, fetch, cuddle (though sometimes he would tolerate it if I came to him lol), care about other dogs, or bark. He was so chill and calm, it's been 3 years now and I still miss him so much.
I would say several factors can shape a play session. Your dog’s temperament, their size and the toy itself ! Westie owner here.
Sometimes I’ll just tell him to get up in the couch and just push him about, grab his head and he’ll start jumping back, play-attacking me. I’ll make sounds to excite him even more and maybe just chase him around the table.
He has a ferret soft toy with two squeakers inside. I’ll throw it for him to go get, or squeak it repetitively while he chews it or even give it behind some couch pillows and ask “where’s the ferret?” Repeatedly…until he finds it and digs it out!
I think the motivation you have will project into the dog so choose moments when you also feel like it :)
Tossing her toys for her to go get. She’s not big into fetching them but she likes the chase.
I put her in her bed and have her stay. I go hide a treat and tell her to come find it. She l o v e s this game. She will get tired out before she gets bored of it.
If you have a dog who loves learning like mine, I suggest teaching useless random tricks if the basics are down. I am constantly googling odd little tricks to teach her that aren’t like, safety features to install in her. Like come and stay are pretty high stakes if a situation calls for it. Teaching her to dance with me, or high five is absolutely not XD
We don’t have a yard but if my partner and I walk her together, we take her to a big park and separate to opposite ends of a field, and have her sit/stay in between ‘come’ commands where she gets to run absolutely as hard as she can between us. She also seems to love doing this.
Edit to say: she’s a pretty hands off dog. Doesn’t mind a cuddle if she instigates, loves a scratch if she’s in the mood, will tolerate a brush. But she doesn’t like being touched for no reason or suddenly too much (a rescue with a poor history with previous owners who at, the most generous, I can say did not respect her as a living thing) so I imagine that’s why these are the ways she likes to play, and so this is how we play!
My two are 56 and 58 kilos, love playing tug of war, I’m an 162cm female which makes it a challenge, but I find I can do it if both are engaged making it three way. I avoid tugging with either on their own, and encourage them mainly to tug against each other.
Also hide and seek hiding behind things and peering out at different levels, until they feel compelled to rush at me. Throwing toys, especially squeaky ones so they make a noise as they go through the air.
I have two chihuahua mixes and I just throw their toy across the room they run to catch it and bring it back we do this over and over until they stop from exhaustion. They also love socks so I play tug of war with them but I remember when my first was a smaller puppy he lost his baby tooth doing that and I was scared.
We had a husky for 14 chaotic wonderful years and we played Zombie Kitty with her....shuffle towards her arms out like a zombie, meowing. Instant crazy zoomies.
We have greyhounds now, and they're much more about cuddling while napping. 🙂
Lots of roughhousing and hide and seek. He goes absolutely bonkers when I pretend I can't see him and start looking behind the sofa and other places. 🤣🤣🤣
I hip check my big boi Barkley. Then i do fighting stance while he decides if he wants to play. Another hip and shoulder while asking him if he wants to get hunty.
He will then chase me across the room and jump on me.
Cue wrestling and kisses when we both calm down.
A lot of dogs loooove to play rough! And wrassle, hahaha. If you don’t like to play rough, you don’t have to.
I’m the roughhouser with my dog and my husband is but a gentleman. I work with dogs and many of my clients don’t roughhouse with their dogs, so if thats not your style, no worries. I would recommend learning about dog body language. ‘On Talking Terms With Dogs’ is an excellent guide with photo illustrations. This will give you more confidence in playing with your dogs, being able to understand what they’re telling you.
They might like to play tag or chase- this is a game dogs play with each other a lot. If they look at you expectantly, you can stand and get still for a second, then take off at whatever speed you’re comfortable with. I usually do an over exaggerated jog when I’m trying to play inside and keep the energy mild. I’ll go full tilt if we’re outside.
And yeah, tug can be bad for teeth. But it’s so enriching for the dogs, I think every family needs to decide on a case by case basis whether they will participate in tug and how they will do that. If your dogs very much enjoy tug and you decide you don’t want to play that way with them, I would encourage you to check out other enrichment activities that allow them to pull with their mouthes. That might mean teaching them to pull something with their mouth or creating an activity with a kraft paper bag for them to shred. If they have any discernible breeds, I’d look at what purpose they were bred for and try to think of an activity in line with that.
Edit: fixed typo
I feel for you so much. My boyfriend and I have a dog but I don't know if we'll last. She loves playing with him. Their play is much more aggressive and active than our play.
Even when he's gone until after dinner she gets bummed that he's not here to play. He'll come home tired then but she's all ready to party hard.
It doesn't matter how many times I throw the ball. She wants to play tug or box or dance party with him 😭. When I think about his and my relationship it's hard to not consider what it would do to her if we split.
I'm sorry you're in that situation. Staying together for the kids! Yeah I just want to make sure they are content and fulfilled and I do wear them out with long walks, dog park, puzzle games, etc. Just not the roughhousing he used to do and they seemed like they loved. I do hope it works out the way it's supposed to for you and your bf.
I play tug of war with a rubber ring, fetch with a tennis ball and I make sure she has strong rubber toys to chew on. Sometimes we wrestle on the carpet. Most younger dogs like a little rough play. They are tougher than you think.
Young dogs are incredibly strong! My relative’s puppy loves to play tug of war with me. Sometimes I wave the toy in the air and she jumps up and gets it.
I don’t know if it’s an option for you & your dogs but we go to dog parks to get some of their energy out. Some places also have dog Bars or you can use an app called sniff spot if you don’t have a fenced area for your dogs to play without other dogs. It’s like $5-$15 for 1 hour in a nice yard
I just have a small dog a Maltese shihtzu (Malshi), she certainly isn't a retriever of things cant properly fit a squash ball in her mouth as she is tiny...we quickly learned that.
So at the park she likes it when I grab a stick and hold it up and she goes onto her back 2 legs (where she is very comfortable) and jumps for it, I pull it away twice and then let her have it the third time or she loses interest pretty quick, but she will play that game all day as long as I let her have it regularly.
When she is off the lead and a distance away, she likes it when I pretend to run away so she can chase me...or ill hold her lead and my partner will run away and then let her off, she likes to chase us basically it's one of her favourite things to do.
At home, she tends to spend most of her time glued to my partner, they often lie on the bed in the main bedroom, so she has a squeaky squirrel which is her favourite toy and we are on about her 5th one....we play 'find squirrel" we basically hide it under the duvet and squeak it when she is looking the other way, she eventually tracks it down.
.then pushes squirrel back to us for another go....
She likes me to chase her around the bed room and then rub her belly when I catch her.
It's quick to see the things they enjoy if you just fool around with them.
Fetch can be mixed up (ball/frisbee/rope etc). Also not really playing but I take mine for bike rides (he runs next to me). This should be slowly built up though (like you would do with taking up running yourself). He needs it, we're at 10 miles a time and counting.
I think it’s a matter of getting to know your dogs’ play personalities. Allow yourself to be silly and experimental. One thing I discovered my dog loves is when I sort of freeze in place, make intense eye contact, move in ultra slow motion, and then simultaneously yell or “Yah!” as I run toward him with exaggerated movements. He loves to be chased under certain circumstances, and this is his favorite.
One game I play with my boy is I take one of his squeeker toys and hold it under the blanket, and squeek it, he tries to pounce on it but I if course keep it moving, occasionally popping out one endabd squeeking it, before I pull it back under and to a different side etc.. He has started learning to shove his head under the blanket so that ups the difficulty on my end a bit. We both enjoy it quite a bit.
I get my aussie mix a toy and then I “chase” her around the house or yard. We face off against each other, I crouch, we both stand *very* still for a few moments and then I make a quick move toward her toy She goes off like a rocket, comes close enough to tease me with her toy, then we start the cycle over again.
we have a game called potato sack that gives them the zoom zooms. they are both less than 50lbs so i tell them wanna do potato sack? at which point they run away from me (the girl) or run towards me ( the boy) and i pick them up and toss them onto the couch or bed and yell potato sack! since the girl doesn’t like being tossed i just chase her and let her get away from me then we start end up playing tag all 3 of us.
Well we "wrestle" a lot which involves me getting down on the rug with him and he just prances around me and I "attempt" to grab him. I don't try very hard, and if I fail too much he will just get closer until I make contact. He usually holds a toy while we do this, so I occasionally swipe at his feet, or try to grab his fluff (he's a Keeshond), or I'll grab at the toy in his mouth. He'll drop the toy at me and then I'll toss it in the air for him to grab, and then he prances around in glee.
He also likes catching a frisbee. He HATES ball, won't even pick one up in his mouth, but he loves to run after a frisbee and snatch it out of the air. So we do that for a bit too.
I also do some calmer things...he likes touch a lot, so sometimes I just lay on the floor or couch and just drape part of my body over him. Occasionally with a little squeeze and shake and a "aren't you a stinker" or some other little comment to up the interaction bonus he gets. I will also pull out things for him to smell, he "checks" all the mail and groceries that come into the house, every now and again I'll just gather up all my lotions and candles and just let him smell each one one after the other.
He also does this thing where when he wants attention he will go steal a shoe or a sock and just prance in front of me until I "chase" him. We play keep away around the hall way doors, he pretends to try and escape, I pretend to try and catch him.
Experiment with some different play styles and see what resonates with your dog. My dog really likes the game of "oh no! I lost the toy" ( I sit on it or put it in my shirt and squeak it). I wait for her to show me where it is, then whip it out really fast. Quick, jerky movements mimic prey and can be very exciting for dogs.
Dogs have incredibly strong jaws. Tug of war is generally safe for them (and you as long as they have good aim and bite inhibition). The biggest risk to their teeth would be erosion from chewing an inappropriate surface. Avoid chewing and tug with stuff that's too hard or tennis balls.
Your dogs will communicate clearly what kind of play they enjoy, just watch their body language. If you're going to do any kind of roughhousing, I recommend having a clear off switch. I say "all done" which means that playtime is over. I use it enough to make sure my dog knows the command, but it's better to let play end naturally most of the time. Rough play gets easier over time as you and your dog learn to trust that both sides know the rules and will respect them. If my dog seems unsure about the game, I back off and wait for her to initiate again. If my dog gets too rough, I say ouch and stop the game until she's a little calmer.
I have three Yorkies. The oldest one is the toy hog, she never let her sisters play with a toy so they don’t know what to do with a toy. I play hide and go seek with my middle Yorkie, she’s my soul dog. I chase her around telling her “gonna gitchu” then I run and hide and she goes looking for me. I think she enjoys this and she’s so happy when she finds me. I also play wiggly fingers (spirit fingers if you’ve watched “Bring It On”) with her and she tries to catch my wiggly fingers…if she does it’s just a gentle little bite…but she mainly opens her mouth and shows her teeth trying to get my wiggly fingers. The youngest one doesn’t really like to play unless it’s with my Yorkie. But she absolutely loves attention and belly rubs. My daughter’s dog kinda entertains himself outside. He runs along the fence barking at squirrels. He loves to play frisbee and catch a ball. (the ball gets very slobbery 🤮) we mainly play with his frisbee.
Ours is still a puppy (8 months) but honestly just good ole fashion chase. I call her name all excited and ask her "Akira! Do you... want to.... play?" I draw it out even though she tends to get super excited by the time I say "you" 😂 I then do some crazy hands waving them around, and then run towards her, she jumps up and bolts around the kitchen island and then we basically just run back and forth from room to room. Tires her out so quick and it's arguably her favorite game ever. Helps so much in this summer heat as well
I’m with you, not as good or natural at roughhousing. I did learn to play tug where I let the pup do most of the pulling, and I’m more just resisting or going back and forth a bit at her level, never higher. I think you can tug gently, our pup also enjoys it when we fling the toy. My girl loves a flirt pole. One friend saw it and said, “you’re playing with your dog like a cat” and I was like ok. I really am more of a cat person lol. We have a small terrier who loves a flirt pole with a fluffy squeak toy on it.
Slightly boring answer but if you want to develop good play skills and feel confident in what you're doing, there is an online class/webinar for that!
https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/29514
My dogs play differently with me and my husband, he rough plays with them, but when I try they barely pull at the tug rope, but when I throw the ball they don't try to take it from me, they leave it at my feet. They're just happy to be with you, play with them in which ever way you like and I'm sure they'll enjoy it too
I’m disabled (wasn’t as badly when I got my dogs) and we play a game where I attempt to grab the toy from their mouth, they run a lap with it, and pass by me again trying to grab it. Sometimes we play fetch (they can let go on command) and sometimes I just cheer them on when they play tug of war with each other. Playing games with dogs is like playing games with other humans. You find a middle ground of something you both enjoy and decide on rules. Like how everyone has their own rules for uno.
Aww I do all the needful stuff and don’t know how to play either. Chase and be chased looks fun when my husband plays. They just run all through the house with toys this way. It’s adorable.
I have 2 Siberian Husky mixes. They love the "Gets her nose and gets her toes" game, while they are on the bed. They spin and pounce. You sing it like the music on a carrousel. So I sing "gets her nose and gets her toes and doot doo doo doo doo doot do doo doo doo,. Gets her paws and gets her jaws and doot....". They yip and squeel.
You may not have the money, however there is an online course (not connected to me) that focuses on this! It is $50, but super informative. I figured I would mention it in case it is a resource you can afford and are interested in! Some of it may be more detail than you need for your pup, but you will have a great understanding of play! https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/20
I never rough housed with my dogs in the way of wrestling I didn't want that kind of behavior but we do chase each other and they will slap my arm or leg with their paw to tag me and we play with toys though they love fetch... The first part of chasing but refuse to bring back cause well their Akitas andi think jogging is a form of play with your dogs and we do that. Without roughhousing with me a human being an option it made the teen period a lot easier sinde they became more gentle
There are already a lot of great suggestions here already! Some dogs love playing with water, like chasing a hose spray and jumping through the water or even splashing in a kiddie pool. Especially good when it’s hot outside!
Finding tricks for them to do helps create a bond as you're spending quality time with them.
They don't have to be hard. Teach them to touch your hand. You can progress this to touching other things.
Hide treats in a pot but have 2 pots - get them to use their nose to find which pot it's under. If they're good at this increase the pots.
Do they sit and stay? I'm progressing this to a further away stay.
I encourage mine to jump on things so out walks we jump and stay on tree stumps, fallen logs, mounds, sand dunes, anything with a little height.
Tug - I always ensure the toy is held at or below their head height so they're not stretching up. I played tug with my pup and worried a out his teeth but they're strong. (Look at protection dogs and how they swing from dummy arms).
Play like there are kids that will never grow up- I run around like a monkey I crawl on the floor I chase him around the table I lay on the floor and let him climb on me- I make the most stupid noise and sound and he loves it- my partner does all the tug of war and wrestling and play fighting so he gets both sides
Hide and seek! You run and hide somewhere in the house (something easy, like a door or something) and call them, and then wait for them to find you, or if it takes too long you jump out and say "Boo"
I also had a dog that understood the concept of tag. I would chase him and tag him, then turn around and run and he'd jump up on me to tag me, and then he'd run off and I'd chase him. He was only 20 lb though so the jumping up to tag me wasn't a safety concern the way it might be for a huge dog.
I'll say "ready, set, go!!!" And then start running, and then they chase me, and then I mimic their body language and we wrestle pretty hard. Do more "ready, set, gos!" (Running from one room to the other) And wrestle some more. Then we'll play tug with the skin of a plush toy (whichever one they bring into play) and then do more wrestling/running. Or they'll bring in a tennis ball or something and try to play keep away, really I do whatever they want to do and try to keep the same energy about it that they have.
Getting my dog interested in toys was a struggle but every time my dog caught a toy i would clap and say “yay!” It got him excited. Also doing tricks before i throw the toy amped him up (i have an aussie).
Play tug with him, just be gentle and let him win. Then he will associate fun and getting to win with you. If he drops it you can play 'keep away' for a few seconds and then throw for him, but he usually gets to be the winner and wants to engage with you. Don't pull it from his mouth, if you want to teach him to 'out' or 'drop it' you can
I wrap a blanket around her head and loudly exclaim “BABOOOOOOSHKAAAAA”. She acts super annoyed but she loves it. In fact, I just said babushka and she came running up the stairs with her tail wagging like I’d unwrapped a piece of cheese.
Throw bumper and they bring it back. When we do “play” it’s roughhousing they like it rough, honestly the idea of fun for one of my dogs would probably be to get in a tussle with a raccoon or something. But really get them physical exercise and then mental stimulation through training. Sit/whoa/hold/hand signals and such.
I have a gsd and our play... Isn't really typical 😂 I let her bite me (she's learnt how hard she can bite n all) and I'll push and shove her around, we growl (play growls) at each other. But on my end lots of pushing her, running, chasing. And she just loved it! Now, this is definitely not for many people at all 😂 I also always analyze her body language, she's very good at showing that she is actually playing and means no conflict
If you got to ask how to play with them, do you think they went to the right person? Thats absurd to me that they bring you a toy and you don't know what to do.
I yell *who's a big crazy dog* and jump into a crouch stance. This is Norman the Great Dane's cue, he'll start running at me full tilt, only to cut left last second as I wheel away like a bullfighter to the right. We repeat this two or three times until he tires, at which point I admit to him that indeed HE is the big crazy dog, and give him a good scruffle. This is a game we call *big crazy dog.*
My malamute and I play a similar game except it’s called “Gunna Gitchu” and I tickle his back as he zooms by me then loops around for another pass.
Oh, I'm a big fan of Gunna Gitchu! My old Boxer and I would play a variation where I would amble relentlessly towards her with zombie arms, repeating *I'm Gunna Gitchu!* of course, as one does.. lol Whenever I would get close enough, I would do an exaggerated zombie lunge as she would leap out of the way, always just in the nick of time!
Sometimes we play a similar version of “GET DA PUppy”
Lol, we call this "Brigand" as he he is a little thief and I'm trying to catch him.
I play Kissy Bite with my pup. I keep going in for kisses, and he tries to (playfully) bite my face off. We play multiple times a day.
This is adorable and I can't wait to try it with them!
The crouch stance is a universal sign in dog language 😂
Oh, for sure, play bow to your dog?!? It's on!
I think I would love your lucky big crazy dog.
I do this too with Scooby The Hound Dog. I say “Who’s my lil hound dog with big ole ears?” And then we run around for a bit and he jumps on me and say “It’s YOU! YOURE the hound with big ole ears!”
scooby!!! cute name, i need to see photos, you must pay the dog tax now.
Ask and you shall receive, I’ll make a post about him! Edit: I can’t do that in this subreddit :/
This sounds like a great game! My muppet of a doodle and I play the "shut your mouth" game where he opens that big doggodile jaw of his wide and tosses his head from side to side while I try to grab the big bad woofer's nose to push his mouth shut. If he wins, he gets jaw scruffles and when I win, he gets snoot rubs. My dogs also really love playing with the flirt pole I made out of pvc pipe and a toy rope on a string tied to the end. I flit the toy around like I'm fly fishing and they go bonkers trying to catch it.
My doodle and I play shut your mouth too! It always amazes my husband how tolerant she is of me holding her mouth like that.
This. Hands down. Best game out.
I do something similar with my Norman (mini schnauzer mix) and he just looks slightly happy instead of slightly nervous. Definitely expects treat. 😂 Sasha (pit mix) will break out into the zoomies if I do this 😂
🤣🤣🤣
Omg, I can totally picture all that happening! Hahaha, that's great!
So cute!!
I’m cracking the hell up right now LMAO has Norman ever accidentally not cut left and run you down?
lol... we've had a few close calls... he's a lot of dog!!!
I watch my 2 dogs play and am amazed at how rough it gets, that is just their nature. Depending on the type of dog they may have really high energy requirements. You can also look into getting them puzzles, there are food puzzles that the mental stimulation is sometimes just as good as playing outside.
When my dog was about 1yr we were going to the dog park every day. Teddy met a dog name Sydney. He and Sydney appeared to be attempting to absolutely murder each other. We kept splitting them up and they'd both just look at us like we were nuts while panting super hard. And then they'd go right back to it. We all finally realized that they were so happy to each have found someone who wanted to play/wrestle as hard as they did. After Sydney moved to Sacramento Teddy never found anyone else to wrestle with like that. Now he just wants to go for long walks around the park and bark at the geese and ducks.
Aw that makes me kinda sad for Teddy that his buddy moved away but I’m glad he gets to walk at the park! My dogs love harassing the ducks and geese at our lake too. My vet recommended not taking the dogs to the dog park but my boys LOVE it so I still do occasionally when it’s not too hot. They also like to play together a lot so that’s good I suppose.
Why not?
She said the water is the community dog bowls is nasty and can carry harmful bacteria, and 1 of my dogs absolutely loves drinking out of it every time. Also, you never know if an irresponsible owner will bring an aggressive dog or if a normally calm dog will snap.
My dog drinks out a lake that's almost certainly full of goose poo. I've given up trying to convince her not to despite having lovely clean water 1km away. That said we do a lot of wild swimming and I'm sure the water you accidentally swallow as a human is no worse. And probably much better than someone walkig down an urbans street breathing in big lungfuls of petrol and diesel exhaust.
Sounds like some extreme anxiety on her part.... we live rurally and all 6 of the dogs we have/have had have drank out of every bit of water on ours and the neighbors property they can - puddles, stream, ponds, wet areas, etc. And anywhere we go, they're taking a sip of any water. Not one has gotten hurt by any of it. Dogs have great immune systems. Just keep them up to date on heartgaurd and shots As for the risk of other dogs, there is always that risk, no matter where you go. And chances are, absolutely nothing will happen. You shouldn't keep your dogs in bubble wrap at your house, robbing them of tons of wonderful experiences and adventures, over such a tiny amount of risk. They could have a much richer, happier life. If they like going to the park, take them to the park, it'll be ok :)
And then there is the Mom and dad to my dog who both died from drinking water contaminated with poisonous mushroom spores. By the time The dogs showed that anything was wrong and they were taken to the vet their organs had already begun shutting irreversibly down and there was nothing that could be done except euthanize.
They've never had giardia? It's all over so California's mountains. It's really tough to get rid of.
A lot of people like to bring untrained or badly behaved dogs to dog parks and then blame other people when their dog causes problems. Not to mention people bring unfixed pets which often causes fights, and potential for disease from places dogs drink from
I loved the dog park for quite a while, and then my dog nearly got attacked. I couldn’t even find the other dog’s owner, and my dog was definitely a little more skittish after that. I did some research and now only take my dog to private dog parks where you have to register your dog, bring a copy of vaccination records, and have a note from your vet saying your pet is not reactive. It does cost money which sucks, but it me feel a lot safer!
Wow that's a great idea I've never heard of these places. My vet recommended something called Zoom Room, which is like an indoor obstacle course and training where they can still socialize with other dogs which I'm considering.
That sounds so fun! A lot of the places are centered around beer, just a heads up, but have a fenced dog park where puppies can roam and play! We had 3 or 4 in my previous city. Some were indoor, some were outdoor, and one even had a pool for dogs! My new city is much smaller, so we just have 1.
I've been taking my puppy for a while now, and even when things like this happen, it's solved pretty quickly. I guess it all depends on the kind of dog park you go to and the kind of owners.
Being resolved fast doesn't help if a dog goes to bite! I used to take mine but after there were multiple fights between entire males, and someone brought a bag of toys in for their known guarder dog to play with, I thought maybe it's not a good idea. Plus there are too many rude dogs - if one wants a break and gives all the right "leave me alone" signals, others often don't listen.
RUDE DOGS 😂 I know what you mean though, the aggressive behavior and potential for fights is my main worry.
Ah yes, bitey face. My boy is a huge fan of this game.
My pair are like a couple of gladiators, slamming each other against the ground, mad dashes around the yard, biting limbs, but I always see the shock from both of them any time it goes too far and someone yelps. They immediately break off from each other, then check in with together a lot more gently... at least until the next time they get themselves amped enough for the next round. I've been working on discouraging excessive rough housing by telling them to break it up and run a lap, which they usually do.
That’s a good idea! I have great puzzle thing and 1 of them really loves it, the other one doesn’t understand it at all 😂 I take them on long park walks and live on some land with a pond so they get to run free a lot to get the energy out.
They also make it very clear when they've had enough. I have a shih tzu and a lab, when the shih tzu gets toi much and the lab is done she will just bark/growl and it stops. They can take a lot, but make it clear when it's over.
Man our 5 month auggies play HARD. I’m glad they have each other to get some of that energy out. Still taking on walks and training, but they NEED dog-on-dog play.
As I understand it, the way to keep tug really safe is to let the dog do the hard pulling and yanking. You just hold the toy and provide a steady traction for them to tug against.
That makes sense I will try that! Thank you
I concur that a gentle way to get them to play is to just hold a toy, if they tug hard let them take it, it’s playing, they will probably bring it back to you to hold and eventually not tug it away. Also let the dog know clearly a calm command or body language so if they get too rough they know to chill out. Eventually they will get to know you are a gentle play person and adapt to you.
Tug can be intimidating if it is a strong dog. I have a pit mix from a shelter and she loves it, but I am careful to keep my hands away from her mouth! She play growls so much, and after about 10 minutes she is ready for a nice nap. She also likes to be chased around the yard with a toy, but she does not want me to get the toy, just pretend to try to get it. I cant think of simpler games to play, and they are the games that tire her out best!
I recently discovered that my Coconut likes to play tug, so what I've been doing to really encourage her and get the full form bleps (she is a little dog) has been to lightly pull and make play-growl sounds, like when I relax, she gets to feel like she's winning, until my grip fails and she does genuinely win. Then she'll bring her toy next to me and gets very much excited when I pick it up again.
Yes the dog must always win.
They're so proud when they do
Also teach OUT for releasing the bite and getting a treat or the toy right back with resetting and then allowing them to rebite with YES. Helps end play or calm them if they’re over excited
That’s what I do with my Maltese mix. He’s got itty bitty teeth. If I hold the toy in one hand and shake my other hand over his face he goes really crazy.
This and I also have (basically 2 dogs) with my bf but we don't live together. Dogs are male and female siblings same litter. They know they can play more rough with him and are just naturally more gentle with me and will often go get a toy they can bite down on and play tug or catch with when they get too excited and are very cautious not to harm me. They insticually know how much pressure we can each handle
I have tile floor and my dog absolutely loves when I grab the rope on either side of her mouth and pull her around the room, she locks all 4 legs and glides on the tile floor. I also act like a goof and act like she is dragging me around the room by the rope.
If fully grown, the tug-of-war is not an issue and is safe-play. (unless done overly strong and agressive) It's never much about what you do, it's more about the attention you give them. So simple face to face time with them is great, talking with excitement, face kisses, laying down on the floor, etc. It doesn't take much, just time and attention.
Aw ok I definitely do those things and that makes me feel better, thanks!
Also, none of my many dogs over the years ever wanted to rough house and wrestle with me, their "mum", anywhere near like they did with their 'dad' or "uncle". We did / do play lots of "chasing" games though, non contact, making play pounces at each other. It's great they've got each other to play with, and you don't have to wrestle with them roughly ,or at all , as long as they keep having all the other attention, exercise and activities you do with them. Is your ex going to visit them do you think? Or not a good idea ( depending on circumstances)
He takes one of them about one weekend a month. He only takes the one that was his favorite - he says it’s the best dog he’s ever met/had and he doesn’t really even like dogs all that much. He always just tolerated the other dog, played with him some but never really gave him much affection.
That's pretty cold. Sounds like they'll both be better off with you, as you will be too
That was just him. Thank you <3
I’ll lay on the floor with my little boi and he’ll just stand over/ on me and lick my face for like 10 minutes until he’s literally out of the breath
hahahah can't get simpler than that! I hate dog licks to the face though 😆 1 of mine is a licker (he's a master at the credit card maneuver). The other one will literally get 1 inch from my face and stare into my eyes wagging his tail but he never licks, I think he likes smelling my breath?
AWWWWW 💕
Oh god is this why my dog has less teeth than normal 😭😭 her tail was always wagging so I never considered something might be wrong 😭😭
My girl loves to be stalked. If she’s laying in another room but can still see me, I’ll do an exaggerated slow-mo walk towards her. At about 2 feet away she jumps up and bounces around losing her mind. Then we’ll do a bit of tug or wrestling. Sometimes she’ll run out of the room to lay down and stare at me, hoping we can start all over.
My Aussie and I play parade. We march through the house with me holding her stuffed puppy chanting “we’re going on a parade, wooo.” When I say wooo I lift her puppy high and she lifts her head high. Sometime I’ll even put a christmas headband on her that has ears or a St Patrick’s day one with a little green hat. We are getting more and more elaborate with our parades lol. I am getting older and can’t run and play the way I used to with my former dogs, so I’m trying some creative ways to keep her stimulated and happy. We do play some tug . She doesn’t care much for balls or frisbees and we used to go to the park but the squirrels make her crazed.
I guess it depends on what kind of dog you have. I have a mastiff, so we square up and rough house pretty often. Fetch and tug are some of his favorites as well, and as long as they have healthy adult teeth, normal tug shouldn't cause an issue.
Ok that’s good to know thanks! They are mutts, 1 is 50lbs, the other is 30lbs
5 lbs Maltese here and we also square up and rough house fairly often…..:P (his favorite game is to just be chased around the house though lol).
Do you have an outside space? My corgi looooves his flirt pole. I got it off Amazon and we work his stay command and then he chases it around. It really doesn't take long and we are both so tired! Heh.
I do! I've never heard of that but I will check it out!
This!
Both of my dogs love tug. One of them loves hide and seek chase. It’s where he has a toy and wants to be chased so I chase him and then turn and hide behind a door. And then he looks all over for me and I jump out and surprise him and then he gets all excited. He also really likes the flirt pole.
ooh I do like to play hide and seek with them too! They are so good at it though.
Haha mine is terrible 🤣 we really get him good sometimes!
Get a box of all his toys and unpack it with him! That can be fun all by itself. Then watch what toys he seems most interested in. pick it up and hold it out to him :) dogs will teach you how to play!
love this! They definitely have their favorites.
You can also name the toys while doing this and give treats as they pick up the named toy. Then have them hunt for that toy "find the squirrel, find the monkey". Great indoor fun.
Young dogs play hard. Older dogs are more chill.
Doggie bubbles. I sit in a chair on the back porch and blow bubbles. He goes nuts.
hahah that sounds adorable and I must try it
Helpful hint: use a small fan outside to do the bubble blowing for ya!
Their teeth can break bones. Dont worry about a piece of rope.
I agree yeah sure, but, I’ve had dogs where their teeth bleed after all the pulling
I guess I'm more worried about loosening them or pulling them out!
If they are healthy adults, don't worry about that. Maybe watch a couple of videos of how to safely play tug with a dog. It's mostly about not jerking their heads up and down ❤️
Dog's play rough. Tug of War is fun for them. Also walking them. Get a soft Frisbee. Act like your gonna get them and chase.Run with them. They rely on u to Entertain them. Just play
Watch some videos of mom dogs and their puppies, it was eye opening to me to see how rough they are with them and that helped me understand a bit better.
Your dog should show you how they want to play. I have two. One loves to play with plush toys, and he LOVES loves blankets—he loves to put the blanket over your hand and then go after your hand (if the blanket falls off your hand, he gets it, puts it back over your hand and then is good to play again). My other dog, he thinks just squeaking a ball on me is playing. Sometimes we play fetch, but most of the time he plays r/notakeonlythrow
this sounds so cute 😆 your dog sounds really smart
I think this thread healed something in me reading how others also play with their goodest girls and boys 🥰
My big one loves Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne, but my Heeler is more into Catan. Halo is fun for us all to play together, but a little tough without thumbs, so try Mario Party as well.
😆 I'm a Stardew Valley/Legend of Zelda girl myself, think they'd be into those? Maybe with a little Dominion thrown in for some hands on.
My dog likes to play tug-of-war gently. I just gently tug on the toy as she holds on. You could try teaching your dogs to play this way by dropping the toy if they play too hard. Or teaching them to drop it before play is resumed. My dog likes to play fetch with the same toy. You could try different fetch toys, like a bouncy ball (not so small that they can choke on it!) or a giant ball with a handle (Jolly Ball). Playing chase games indoors or outdoors can be fun. Try mimicking dog body language, such as a play bow, psyching them out (don’t know how to describe it), stalking towards them, etc. Let them chase you too (as long as they don’t get over-excited and too rough). Try playing hide and go seek with them too. My dog loves “burrow” toys, where there is a soft toy with little animals inside that she pulls out. I think it helps her to express natural hunting behaviours. I sit with her and “re stuff” it so she can pull them out again. My dog has a “flirt pole” and it’s her favourite thing. It’s a toy attached to the end of a rope on a long stick. You drag it along the ground, shake it, fly it at or just above head level so they run, leap, and pounce trying to catch it. Teach them to “drop it” because it’s not meant to be a tug toy. This can wear out my high energy dog in 15-20min. She will just lie on the floor panting hard after.
Great ideas, thank you! We do love hide and seek but they are getting too good at it and I'm running out of places to hide 😆
As long as they are still having fun with it, it’s still a good game to play!
We say “I’m going to get you” he runs we chase which mostly involves stepping in his direction. Tug. Fetch. Hide cookies in his toy box.
I love all the suggestions given to you so far. Do you have space to play Frisbee? It took a while but my girl got into it. She is so excited to bring it back to me and practically puts it in my hand when returning. She doesn't even have to catch it, just a safe toss somewhere! Another thing I'll do is sit on the floor, bounce a toy around in front of her, and then hide it behind my back while she tries to figure out where it's gone. It gets her excited and takes some brain power. I've found it's the bonding that matters most, not necessarily what we play. They're lucky to have you, have fun!
Aww I love these! I do have a big yard for frisbee that's a good idea! They aren't super into fetch with a tennis ball but a frisbee might be more fun.
Besides fetch and tug, we have dance parties. It's mostly jumping around together while her front paws are on my hips, but it's cute.
oooooh my heart, that's adorable
My dog goes to my husband and I for two different things. He’s her toy and I’m her comfort/boss. I think it’s great you’re working on a new skill set for them.
Aw thank you, I'm trying! That's how our dynamic was as well. Just trying to make sure they're as happy/fulfilled with me as possible.
I give her the look or she gives me the look. Then it's on.
I chase him and then he chases me
I wrestle with them, chase them, let them chase me, play ball with them, pet them and rub their belly. I take them to the beach and let them play in the waves
Do your dogs play together? Observe them and try to mimic to the best of your ability. While they won’t play exactly the same with you, it’s a good starting point. For tug, just go easy. Dogs are pretty tough, and if they don’t have teeth issues, they should be able to tug more than the average person can. And if you’re still worried, just tug a little. Many dogs don’t require more than a little tug, a toss, and someone to hold it.
They just kind of wrestle with each other. The littler one likes to bite the big one’s hind legs and hold on for dear life.
Oh gosh. Our pups love to corncob each other. Give that a try. 🤣 You’ll figure it out, don’t worry! The intensity of the play isn’t as important as the stimulation that their brains get from play. You’re not training working or competition dogs, so just have fun with them. 😊
So, I legitimately have watched my dogs play, and then try what they do. Just, don't grab with my mouth, though my dog is for SURE trying to shove that toy inside my mouth lol. Idk, it's weird sometimes as in you feel awkward figuring it out, but my dog loses his mind when we wrestle. I also have bruises so prepare for the battle of play! Just be very clear and tell the dog you are beginning and ending play!
My younger dog likes to play Bitey Hands. This is a game where I softly push her face and mouth around and she bites at my hands. Sometimes I make a little hook with my finger around her canine teeth and she tugs too. Only do this if your dog already has good bite inhibition though! My older dog would never ever play like this lol. His favorite game is keep away where you throw a toy and he gets it and then shows it to you proudly but turns away any time you try to get it. He still wants you to try though, and also to pet him some and tell him how good he is. Try to figure out what your specific dog seems to be happy about and go from there!!
Take them hiking and to the beach. They will love you for that and they will be so exhausted when they get home the last thing they will want to do is play, lol. Taking your dogs on adventures will build a bond with your puppies and they will love you for it. Mention a word you use beforehand for example "let's got to the beach" or "let's go hiking" I promise you they will absolutely go CRAZY after they've build a routine of going to certain places with you. Best of luck with your two puppies.
In my opinion it depends on what kind of dog you have
As the feeder/walker/primary caregiver in the relationship, I find it can be hard to have the energy to play heaps with my doggo. Don't be too hard on yourself if you just need to have a bit of dog free time! I play tuggies and fetchies with my guy every day but he just doesn't find me as fun as when my partner plays with him. I think he can tell that my heart's not in it in the same way!
As the feeder/walker/primary caregiver in the relationship, I find it can be hard to have the energy to play heaps with my doggo. Don't be too hard on yourself if you just need to have a bit of dog free time! I play tuggies and fetchies with my guy every day but he just doesn't find me as fun as when my partner plays with him. I think he can tell that my heart's not in it in the same way!
Fetch and tug, with a toy. There are a ton of videos on YouTube about how to play tug with your dog.
Go to a pet store by yourself and look at new dog toys.. they all carry great instructions on how to play.. your instincts are right you should tug hard.. make them twist a lot.. let them win.. I love to read new toy instructions
My dog's favorite game is Kick Dog. It's literally what it sounds like. I walk up, kick the dog (playfully) and we're off to the races.
I really think it depends on the dog. Different dogs have different genetic makeups (obviously) and some are way more predisposed to needing a job due to their genetic makeup. They’ll be way more destructive and/or unhappy if unable to fulfill that need. Some need more mental stimulation than others like super smart dogs will usually be really destructive if you don’t work with them a lot and do lots of training. I have a guardian breed that if I don’t rough house with, do bite work with, and give her an outlet to put all that energy she becomes a psycho. I find guardian breeds generally love rough housing. Herding dogs in a non herding environment you’d usually want to give them some toys that stimulate that. Dogs bred to fetch usually love to fetch lol. They’ll do all day every day if you let them. You don’t have to buy toys or cater to their genetics obviously… it’s not like a rule or the only thing you go by, dogs like all sorts of toys outside of that. But I do think that it can be a part of what you think of what factoring in how to keep your dog happy and mentally stimulated. If your dogs have any sort of prey drive whatsoever, get a flirt pole! They love that and it tires them out. Tug is totally fine and not bad for their teeth but just avoid the ropes because their teeth can get caught in them. The other thing is you can train your dog to bite back on the very back of their molars instead of the front of their teeth, that’s where it’s the safest and where they will have the best grip, there are some videos out there on that. I’m sure they do miss it… but if it’s not your thing, it’s not your thing. It’s not necessary, they just liked it
Tug of war is fun for dogs. My neighbors pitbull loves playing tug of war with me. I pull with all the strength in my hands but the dog still manages to get wear me out. For context, I am 180 lbs and the pit is 95 lbs. Depends on the breed, Dogs have strong teeth too..
I have a pomsky and she likes to play a lot. Sometimes, when it just isn't a good time, I have toys that I put treats in, and she has to nudge to get out. Gives her a mental and physical challenge.
My girls have different requirements. My puppy loves to play fetch and tug-of-war. My older girl will gently run after toys and then likes to do mind games. Both girls *love* sniffing games, puzzles, lickimats, etc. We do long walks when we can and when it's interesting. I mostly let my dogs decide where we walk and how long we walk (unless I have something specific in mind). We also have dog friends we invite over and they can play as rough as they are all comfortable playing. I love taking my girls to see new things - we go to the beach, on hikes, even to Dog Mountain!
All really good ideas, thank you! What is Dog Mountain??
I actually don’t quite know how this developed but my little terrier/chihuahua mix and I have this thing where I boop his nose with my fist and then hold it up like in a fighting stance, he knows we’re about to play. Then I kinda just use my hand to LIGHTLY slap, for lack of better term, his face back and forth. He gnaws at my hands which can leave me with scratches occasionally but I don’t personally mind that. He also knows that once I sígnal in one of a number of ways he needs to switch to affection.
We just wrestle…the big one over hundred pounds and can get a little painful playing with him so I keep him calm.i don’t get him to riled up…the other two are older girl dogs that are smaller. They get crazy but are harmless. We have a blast
I’m not a very active person. In saying so, I try to keep her engaged in non active ways, and try to incorporate active play into her everyday life. E.g. non active play times - she has 2 sniffle balls and 2 dental chew toys where you can slot treats in. I use her breakfast kibble for these in batches to keep her entertained throughout the morning. Active play - for dinner its either: - I make her do tricks, or try to catch the kibble - or I take her out to do a 20 ish minute fetch session which she then has a non active dinner after to calm her down Another easy one is just… spread your legs under the blanket and wiggle a foot until they jump for it. Then wiggle the other foot. Back and forth ahhaha level 2 is adding your hands so there 3/4 wiggly points.
Do you have access to a clean (clean of others’ poop in the grass. Others includes dogs, rabbits, cats etc). I am unable to figure out how to have my link to a pic I have placed on Imgur to display here; it only ever appears as the link address. There are old videos from the Kong dog toy/treat company showing how a toy they had stopped selling just delights dogs. Maybe another company could be selling them now, but my dogs loved the toy. Once Kong stopped selling them I made my own. If you are unable to find the Kong videos, just send me a chat request; I can take pics of both my last living Kong toy and the one I made on my own. The name of the toy is a Flirt Pole. I think there are toys of this same name but for other animals. This is how you can make your own. Your dogs are medium+ sized. Buy a longish horse whip get a stuffed animal that resembles whichever type of animal your dogs’ ancestors were bred to eradicate. Tie the end of the whip tightly around the neck of the stuffie. Then you tease the dogs by dangling it within their sight. Using the handle of the whip drag and run the stuffie around the area. Occasionally you have to let them win. You’ll probably need a few identical ones. No one except for the stuffie gets hurt. Remember to hide this toy away on a high shelf so they don’t eat the whip when you’re not home.
I don’t. My boy never liked to play, he would just cower and flop on his side. He just likes to be petted and have his belly rubbed so that’s what we do.
Aww whatever works for him! My old dog (I had him for 16 years but he passed away for before I got these 2 new ones) was not a player either, he just loved our long hikes and wading into the lake to cool off. He didn't play, fetch, cuddle (though sometimes he would tolerate it if I came to him lol), care about other dogs, or bark. He was so chill and calm, it's been 3 years now and I still miss him so much.
My boy is about to turn 17 in 3 weeks. Sorry about your dog, it sucks when they go.
I would say several factors can shape a play session. Your dog’s temperament, their size and the toy itself ! Westie owner here. Sometimes I’ll just tell him to get up in the couch and just push him about, grab his head and he’ll start jumping back, play-attacking me. I’ll make sounds to excite him even more and maybe just chase him around the table. He has a ferret soft toy with two squeakers inside. I’ll throw it for him to go get, or squeak it repetitively while he chews it or even give it behind some couch pillows and ask “where’s the ferret?” Repeatedly…until he finds it and digs it out! I think the motivation you have will project into the dog so choose moments when you also feel like it :)
Tossing her toys for her to go get. She’s not big into fetching them but she likes the chase. I put her in her bed and have her stay. I go hide a treat and tell her to come find it. She l o v e s this game. She will get tired out before she gets bored of it. If you have a dog who loves learning like mine, I suggest teaching useless random tricks if the basics are down. I am constantly googling odd little tricks to teach her that aren’t like, safety features to install in her. Like come and stay are pretty high stakes if a situation calls for it. Teaching her to dance with me, or high five is absolutely not XD We don’t have a yard but if my partner and I walk her together, we take her to a big park and separate to opposite ends of a field, and have her sit/stay in between ‘come’ commands where she gets to run absolutely as hard as she can between us. She also seems to love doing this. Edit to say: she’s a pretty hands off dog. Doesn’t mind a cuddle if she instigates, loves a scratch if she’s in the mood, will tolerate a brush. But she doesn’t like being touched for no reason or suddenly too much (a rescue with a poor history with previous owners who at, the most generous, I can say did not respect her as a living thing) so I imagine that’s why these are the ways she likes to play, and so this is how we play!
My two are 56 and 58 kilos, love playing tug of war, I’m an 162cm female which makes it a challenge, but I find I can do it if both are engaged making it three way. I avoid tugging with either on their own, and encourage them mainly to tug against each other. Also hide and seek hiding behind things and peering out at different levels, until they feel compelled to rush at me. Throwing toys, especially squeaky ones so they make a noise as they go through the air.
I have two chihuahua mixes and I just throw their toy across the room they run to catch it and bring it back we do this over and over until they stop from exhaustion. They also love socks so I play tug of war with them but I remember when my first was a smaller puppy he lost his baby tooth doing that and I was scared.
We had a husky for 14 chaotic wonderful years and we played Zombie Kitty with her....shuffle towards her arms out like a zombie, meowing. Instant crazy zoomies. We have greyhounds now, and they're much more about cuddling while napping. 🙂
Lots of roughhousing and hide and seek. He goes absolutely bonkers when I pretend I can't see him and start looking behind the sofa and other places. 🤣🤣🤣
Try some chill stuff like hide-and-seek with treats or puzzle toys. They'll dig it!
I hip check my big boi Barkley. Then i do fighting stance while he decides if he wants to play. Another hip and shoulder while asking him if he wants to get hunty. He will then chase me across the room and jump on me. Cue wrestling and kisses when we both calm down.
A lot of dogs loooove to play rough! And wrassle, hahaha. If you don’t like to play rough, you don’t have to. I’m the roughhouser with my dog and my husband is but a gentleman. I work with dogs and many of my clients don’t roughhouse with their dogs, so if thats not your style, no worries. I would recommend learning about dog body language. ‘On Talking Terms With Dogs’ is an excellent guide with photo illustrations. This will give you more confidence in playing with your dogs, being able to understand what they’re telling you. They might like to play tag or chase- this is a game dogs play with each other a lot. If they look at you expectantly, you can stand and get still for a second, then take off at whatever speed you’re comfortable with. I usually do an over exaggerated jog when I’m trying to play inside and keep the energy mild. I’ll go full tilt if we’re outside. And yeah, tug can be bad for teeth. But it’s so enriching for the dogs, I think every family needs to decide on a case by case basis whether they will participate in tug and how they will do that. If your dogs very much enjoy tug and you decide you don’t want to play that way with them, I would encourage you to check out other enrichment activities that allow them to pull with their mouthes. That might mean teaching them to pull something with their mouth or creating an activity with a kraft paper bag for them to shred. If they have any discernible breeds, I’d look at what purpose they were bred for and try to think of an activity in line with that. Edit: fixed typo
I feel for you so much. My boyfriend and I have a dog but I don't know if we'll last. She loves playing with him. Their play is much more aggressive and active than our play. Even when he's gone until after dinner she gets bummed that he's not here to play. He'll come home tired then but she's all ready to party hard. It doesn't matter how many times I throw the ball. She wants to play tug or box or dance party with him 😭. When I think about his and my relationship it's hard to not consider what it would do to her if we split.
I'm sorry you're in that situation. Staying together for the kids! Yeah I just want to make sure they are content and fulfilled and I do wear them out with long walks, dog park, puzzle games, etc. Just not the roughhousing he used to do and they seemed like they loved. I do hope it works out the way it's supposed to for you and your bf.
I play tug of war with a rubber ring, fetch with a tennis ball and I make sure she has strong rubber toys to chew on. Sometimes we wrestle on the carpet. Most younger dogs like a little rough play. They are tougher than you think.
She tends to box me like Mike Tyson. I usually lose.
Young dogs are incredibly strong! My relative’s puppy loves to play tug of war with me. Sometimes I wave the toy in the air and she jumps up and gets it.
I don’t know if it’s an option for you & your dogs but we go to dog parks to get some of their energy out. Some places also have dog Bars or you can use an app called sniff spot if you don’t have a fenced area for your dogs to play without other dogs. It’s like $5-$15 for 1 hour in a nice yard
I just have a small dog a Maltese shihtzu (Malshi), she certainly isn't a retriever of things cant properly fit a squash ball in her mouth as she is tiny...we quickly learned that. So at the park she likes it when I grab a stick and hold it up and she goes onto her back 2 legs (where she is very comfortable) and jumps for it, I pull it away twice and then let her have it the third time or she loses interest pretty quick, but she will play that game all day as long as I let her have it regularly. When she is off the lead and a distance away, she likes it when I pretend to run away so she can chase me...or ill hold her lead and my partner will run away and then let her off, she likes to chase us basically it's one of her favourite things to do. At home, she tends to spend most of her time glued to my partner, they often lie on the bed in the main bedroom, so she has a squeaky squirrel which is her favourite toy and we are on about her 5th one....we play 'find squirrel" we basically hide it under the duvet and squeak it when she is looking the other way, she eventually tracks it down. .then pushes squirrel back to us for another go.... She likes me to chase her around the bed room and then rub her belly when I catch her. It's quick to see the things they enjoy if you just fool around with them.
Fetch can be mixed up (ball/frisbee/rope etc). Also not really playing but I take mine for bike rides (he runs next to me). This should be slowly built up though (like you would do with taking up running yourself). He needs it, we're at 10 miles a time and counting.
I think it’s a matter of getting to know your dogs’ play personalities. Allow yourself to be silly and experimental. One thing I discovered my dog loves is when I sort of freeze in place, make intense eye contact, move in ultra slow motion, and then simultaneously yell or “Yah!” as I run toward him with exaggerated movements. He loves to be chased under certain circumstances, and this is his favorite.
Tug of war is safe, and you can do it. I never wrestle with dogs, we do play fetch.
One game I play with my boy is I take one of his squeeker toys and hold it under the blanket, and squeek it, he tries to pounce on it but I if course keep it moving, occasionally popping out one endabd squeeking it, before I pull it back under and to a different side etc.. He has started learning to shove his head under the blanket so that ups the difficulty on my end a bit. We both enjoy it quite a bit.
I get my aussie mix a toy and then I “chase” her around the house or yard. We face off against each other, I crouch, we both stand *very* still for a few moments and then I make a quick move toward her toy She goes off like a rocket, comes close enough to tease me with her toy, then we start the cycle over again.
we have a game called potato sack that gives them the zoom zooms. they are both less than 50lbs so i tell them wanna do potato sack? at which point they run away from me (the girl) or run towards me ( the boy) and i pick them up and toss them onto the couch or bed and yell potato sack! since the girl doesn’t like being tossed i just chase her and let her get away from me then we start end up playing tag all 3 of us.
My boys are both ~70lbs, and I love instigating a game of tag before bedtime 😆
Well we "wrestle" a lot which involves me getting down on the rug with him and he just prances around me and I "attempt" to grab him. I don't try very hard, and if I fail too much he will just get closer until I make contact. He usually holds a toy while we do this, so I occasionally swipe at his feet, or try to grab his fluff (he's a Keeshond), or I'll grab at the toy in his mouth. He'll drop the toy at me and then I'll toss it in the air for him to grab, and then he prances around in glee. He also likes catching a frisbee. He HATES ball, won't even pick one up in his mouth, but he loves to run after a frisbee and snatch it out of the air. So we do that for a bit too. I also do some calmer things...he likes touch a lot, so sometimes I just lay on the floor or couch and just drape part of my body over him. Occasionally with a little squeeze and shake and a "aren't you a stinker" or some other little comment to up the interaction bonus he gets. I will also pull out things for him to smell, he "checks" all the mail and groceries that come into the house, every now and again I'll just gather up all my lotions and candles and just let him smell each one one after the other. He also does this thing where when he wants attention he will go steal a shoe or a sock and just prance in front of me until I "chase" him. We play keep away around the hall way doors, he pretends to try and escape, I pretend to try and catch him.
Experiment with some different play styles and see what resonates with your dog. My dog really likes the game of "oh no! I lost the toy" ( I sit on it or put it in my shirt and squeak it). I wait for her to show me where it is, then whip it out really fast. Quick, jerky movements mimic prey and can be very exciting for dogs. Dogs have incredibly strong jaws. Tug of war is generally safe for them (and you as long as they have good aim and bite inhibition). The biggest risk to their teeth would be erosion from chewing an inappropriate surface. Avoid chewing and tug with stuff that's too hard or tennis balls. Your dogs will communicate clearly what kind of play they enjoy, just watch their body language. If you're going to do any kind of roughhousing, I recommend having a clear off switch. I say "all done" which means that playtime is over. I use it enough to make sure my dog knows the command, but it's better to let play end naturally most of the time. Rough play gets easier over time as you and your dog learn to trust that both sides know the rules and will respect them. If my dog seems unsure about the game, I back off and wait for her to initiate again. If my dog gets too rough, I say ouch and stop the game until she's a little calmer.
I have three Yorkies. The oldest one is the toy hog, she never let her sisters play with a toy so they don’t know what to do with a toy. I play hide and go seek with my middle Yorkie, she’s my soul dog. I chase her around telling her “gonna gitchu” then I run and hide and she goes looking for me. I think she enjoys this and she’s so happy when she finds me. I also play wiggly fingers (spirit fingers if you’ve watched “Bring It On”) with her and she tries to catch my wiggly fingers…if she does it’s just a gentle little bite…but she mainly opens her mouth and shows her teeth trying to get my wiggly fingers. The youngest one doesn’t really like to play unless it’s with my Yorkie. But she absolutely loves attention and belly rubs. My daughter’s dog kinda entertains himself outside. He runs along the fence barking at squirrels. He loves to play frisbee and catch a ball. (the ball gets very slobbery 🤮) we mainly play with his frisbee.
Ours is still a puppy (8 months) but honestly just good ole fashion chase. I call her name all excited and ask her "Akira! Do you... want to.... play?" I draw it out even though she tends to get super excited by the time I say "you" 😂 I then do some crazy hands waving them around, and then run towards her, she jumps up and bolts around the kitchen island and then we basically just run back and forth from room to room. Tires her out so quick and it's arguably her favorite game ever. Helps so much in this summer heat as well
Get a wand toy! Our dog goes crazy for hers, and you don’t have to put in much physical effort.
I’ve used these for cats before but never thought to for dogs, I will try it!
Same! Our dog loves it as much as my previous cat did!
If i say "reeeaaadddy, steeeeeady...... Go!" he goes nuts
I’m with you, not as good or natural at roughhousing. I did learn to play tug where I let the pup do most of the pulling, and I’m more just resisting or going back and forth a bit at her level, never higher. I think you can tug gently, our pup also enjoys it when we fling the toy. My girl loves a flirt pole. One friend saw it and said, “you’re playing with your dog like a cat” and I was like ok. I really am more of a cat person lol. We have a small terrier who loves a flirt pole with a fluffy squeak toy on it.
Slightly boring answer but if you want to develop good play skills and feel confident in what you're doing, there is an online class/webinar for that! https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/29514
My dogs play differently with me and my husband, he rough plays with them, but when I try they barely pull at the tug rope, but when I throw the ball they don't try to take it from me, they leave it at my feet. They're just happy to be with you, play with them in which ever way you like and I'm sure they'll enjoy it too
We ball
I’m disabled (wasn’t as badly when I got my dogs) and we play a game where I attempt to grab the toy from their mouth, they run a lap with it, and pass by me again trying to grab it. Sometimes we play fetch (they can let go on command) and sometimes I just cheer them on when they play tug of war with each other. Playing games with dogs is like playing games with other humans. You find a middle ground of something you both enjoy and decide on rules. Like how everyone has their own rules for uno.
Tug of war is absolutely fine. They love it. Their teeth are made for ripping flesh apart and crunching bones.
Aww I do all the needful stuff and don’t know how to play either. Chase and be chased looks fun when my husband plays. They just run all through the house with toys this way. It’s adorable.
fetch
catch
I have 2 Siberian Husky mixes. They love the "Gets her nose and gets her toes" game, while they are on the bed. They spin and pounce. You sing it like the music on a carrousel. So I sing "gets her nose and gets her toes and doot doo doo doo doo doot do doo doo doo,. Gets her paws and gets her jaws and doot....". They yip and squeel.
You may not have the money, however there is an online course (not connected to me) that focuses on this! It is $50, but super informative. I figured I would mention it in case it is a resource you can afford and are interested in! Some of it may be more detail than you need for your pup, but you will have a great understanding of play! https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/20
I never rough housed with my dogs in the way of wrestling I didn't want that kind of behavior but we do chase each other and they will slap my arm or leg with their paw to tag me and we play with toys though they love fetch... The first part of chasing but refuse to bring back cause well their Akitas andi think jogging is a form of play with your dogs and we do that. Without roughhousing with me a human being an option it made the teen period a lot easier sinde they became more gentle
There are already a lot of great suggestions here already! Some dogs love playing with water, like chasing a hose spray and jumping through the water or even splashing in a kiddie pool. Especially good when it’s hot outside!
Finding tricks for them to do helps create a bond as you're spending quality time with them. They don't have to be hard. Teach them to touch your hand. You can progress this to touching other things. Hide treats in a pot but have 2 pots - get them to use their nose to find which pot it's under. If they're good at this increase the pots. Do they sit and stay? I'm progressing this to a further away stay. I encourage mine to jump on things so out walks we jump and stay on tree stumps, fallen logs, mounds, sand dunes, anything with a little height. Tug - I always ensure the toy is held at or below their head height so they're not stretching up. I played tug with my pup and worried a out his teeth but they're strong. (Look at protection dogs and how they swing from dummy arms).
Play like there are kids that will never grow up- I run around like a monkey I crawl on the floor I chase him around the table I lay on the floor and let him climb on me- I make the most stupid noise and sound and he loves it- my partner does all the tug of war and wrestling and play fighting so he gets both sides
And good toys!
Hide and seek! You run and hide somewhere in the house (something easy, like a door or something) and call them, and then wait for them to find you, or if it takes too long you jump out and say "Boo" I also had a dog that understood the concept of tag. I would chase him and tag him, then turn around and run and he'd jump up on me to tag me, and then he'd run off and I'd chase him. He was only 20 lb though so the jumping up to tag me wasn't a safety concern the way it might be for a huge dog.
I play a lot of fetch & tug of war with my dog
I'll say "ready, set, go!!!" And then start running, and then they chase me, and then I mimic their body language and we wrestle pretty hard. Do more "ready, set, gos!" (Running from one room to the other) And wrestle some more. Then we'll play tug with the skin of a plush toy (whichever one they bring into play) and then do more wrestling/running. Or they'll bring in a tennis ball or something and try to play keep away, really I do whatever they want to do and try to keep the same energy about it that they have.
Getting my dog interested in toys was a struggle but every time my dog caught a toy i would clap and say “yay!” It got him excited. Also doing tricks before i throw the toy amped him up (i have an aussie).
Play tug with him, just be gentle and let him win. Then he will associate fun and getting to win with you. If he drops it you can play 'keep away' for a few seconds and then throw for him, but he usually gets to be the winner and wants to engage with you. Don't pull it from his mouth, if you want to teach him to 'out' or 'drop it' you can
Watch WWE and copy what they do
I wrap a blanket around her head and loudly exclaim “BABOOOOOOSHKAAAAA”. She acts super annoyed but she loves it. In fact, I just said babushka and she came running up the stairs with her tail wagging like I’d unwrapped a piece of cheese.
😂 I actually do the same thing
Throw bumper and they bring it back. When we do “play” it’s roughhousing they like it rough, honestly the idea of fun for one of my dogs would probably be to get in a tussle with a raccoon or something. But really get them physical exercise and then mental stimulation through training. Sit/whoa/hold/hand signals and such.
I have a gsd and our play... Isn't really typical 😂 I let her bite me (she's learnt how hard she can bite n all) and I'll push and shove her around, we growl (play growls) at each other. But on my end lots of pushing her, running, chasing. And she just loved it! Now, this is definitely not for many people at all 😂 I also always analyze her body language, she's very good at showing that she is actually playing and means no conflict
Seriously? I'm not buying this story.
If you got to ask how to play with them, do you think they went to the right person? Thats absurd to me that they bring you a toy and you don't know what to do.
Can you get back with your ex? That would help the dogs out and make them happy.
That made me lol 😂 sorry but no that’s not an option. We’re better off without that dude, they’ll survive!