Dogs at Play: Feeling Safe, Having Fun, and Playing Fair

Hattie and Eric having fun on the run.

Source: Dale McLelland, used with permission

Many, if not most, dogs like to play with their friends, including other dogs, possibly other nonhumans, and their human companions. Fair play predominates, as dogs follow the "golden rules of fairness." When dogs and other animals play, they use actions such as vigorous biting, mounting, and body-slamming that could be easily misinterpreted by the participants, and individuals need to be clear that what they really want to do is feel safe, have fun, and play fair.

That's basically the moral landscape of play. Play evolved because the benefits of playing outweigh the costs and risks. Many people don't realize that dogs and other animals can have too much fun that makes play risky. As an ethologist, I want to know how play evolved, why it's adaptive—what it's good for, what causes dogs to play, and how it develops. Context is key—who's playing, who's involved, and where it's happening.

I was recently interviewed by dog experts Lisa Tenzin-Dolma and Dale McLelland about different aspects of play in dogs that centered on a series of questions they asked as part of the curriculum for The Advanced Diploma in Canine Behaviour, part of The International School for Canine Psychology & Behaviour Ltd.'s level-6 degree program. Here are some questions we considered. (More details, including discussions of available data, are available here.)

Lisa and Dale: You mention that play is contagious and that when others are playing, an animal can assume they're safe. Of course, the opposite can also be true in that if the play is over energetic, rough, or there is too much excitement, a dog won’t engage if they don’t feel safe. Does this also imply that the dog can make judgments about not only the situation but the individuals involved?

MB: Yes, they can. They carefully watch what's going on and use this information to decide whether or not to join a playgroup. I'm sure their decision also is based not only on how the other dogs are playing, but also on who's playing—for example, familiar or unfamiliar dogs, who's around, and where they're playing.

Lisa and Dale: The play mood is contagious with us, too. We generally laugh, enjoy, and respond positively to seeing dogs play—even though we are not joining in, we must "get" something from observing. Does watching play occurring between others encourage observer dogs to join in?

MB: I think so, but their decision to try or not comes down to what I wrote above.

Lisa and Dale: Can you speak about the golden rules of fairness and why this is important? How do you think that this applies to dog and human play sessions?

MB: The golden rules include: Asking first and communicating clearly; minding manners; admitting when you're wrong; and being honest. I discuss each in detail here. Dogs use bows and other actions to communicate their intention to play and to punctuate ongoing play bouts to maintain a play mood. Bows are used almost exclusively during play and are highly stereotyped—they always look the same, so the message, “Come play with me” or “I still want to play” is clear. Bows are honest signals, a sign of trust.

Lisa and Dale: Rough-and-tumble play with known individuals can go much further than with unfamiliar dogs. We see lots of dogs using a start/stop interaction initially, and we like to call that the ‘If I ask you to stop, will you?’ phase—testing the trustworthiness of the other dog and establishing preferred playstyles. Can you talk a little about differing play styles and the impact, if any, that breed has on this?

MB: Dogs display different styles of playing. Some like it rough, whereas others like it more mellow. I haven't noticed any large differences that clearly differentiate breeds; however, there are large individual differences that transcend breed or mix. My own experience is that individual personalities, rather than breed or mix, determine how dogs prefer to play. However, I've also noticed that it's essential to consider who's involved, and that depending on who's playing with whom, playstyles may change and vary from one situation to another. We still don't know if familiar dogs play differently from unfamiliar dogs. For example, we don't know if there are differences in how they use play signals or role-reversing or self-handicapping.

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Lisa and Dale: Is the majority of dog play actually small groups that form within a larger group?

MB: This is another great question that hasn't been studied in any detail. I've seen many playgroups of between two to five individuals and they do quite well. Sometimes a large group will split off into smaller playgroups or disband. My general impression is that in larger groups of dogs, it can become difficult for individuals to read one another and that play breaks down because the dogs don't know what others are thinking or feeling, not because it gets too rough. For play to continue and to be fair and friendly, each dog needs to know what's happening and feel safe and relaxed. I'd love to see more research on how playgroups form, why play breaks down, and what the most important factors turn out to be.

Lisa and Dale: We know dogs are able to read our intentions and can recognise an authentic invitation to play or to engage. When dogs are encouraged to play together and appear reluctant, many guardians increase the excitement level in an attempt to initiate play or are disappointed that their dog doesn’t want to become involved. There doesn’t seem to be an understanding or recognition that their dog may be making the correct choice and reading the situation in a much more accurate way than the human.

MB: The simple answer is that if your dog wants to play, let them play. And, if they're hesitant or don't want to play, honor what they're telling you. Let them decide what they want to do and with whom. Encouraging a dog to play who doesn't want to because you want them to play doesn't respect what the dog wants to do. Let them decide what to do and let them feel safe.

Lisa and Dale: Most dogs rescued from puppy farms/puppy mills tend to have no idea what play is and observing them begin to display interest in, or signs of playing, marks a significant leap of progress in homed life. As play is a natural behaviour from infancy, what emotional and/or neurological impact could there be for dogs who never had that opportunity during their lives before rescue?

MB: For dogs to feel safe, have fun, and play fair they need to know what's going on. This requires being socialized—learning the social skills it takes to be a card-carrying dog and knowing how to use certain signals to communicate and share their desires and intentions and partake in cooperative turn-taking. They also have to be able to read the signals other dogs are sending. Depending on the individual dog, it can take only a few interactions for them to learn how to play and enjoy it, or it can take some time. There's nothing necessarily wrong with a dog who doesn't know how to play or doesn't want to play, because it may simply be a factor of how they were raised. We need to appreciate it'll take some time for them to feel relaxed and safe, and, once again, we must honor their choices.

Where to from here?

While we know a lot about play behavior in dogs, there's still a lot to learn. We need more systematic research on how dogs play, how they choose with whom to play when they're free to make these choices, and the importance of context. Citizen scientists also can, and have, contributed to the database. For example, when dogs are playing, see if you can recognize the golden rules of fair play. It's not that hard to do, and it's a lot of fun to try to do so.

Although play is fun, it's also serious business. When animals play, they're constantly working to understand and follow the golden rules and communicate their intentions to play fairly. They fine-tune their behavior on the run, carefully monitoring the behavior of their play partners and paying close attention to infractions of the agreed-upon rules. They can do this even when they're enjoying frenetic "zoomies."

Dogs keep track of what is happening when they play and fairness is the name of the game. They can read what other dogs are doing and trust that they want to play rather than fight. When dogs play, and for them to know that their playmate wants to play rather than fight or mate, they need to know what others are thinking and what their intentions are. Each dog needs to pay close attention to what the other dog has done and is doing, and each uses this information to predict what the other is likely to do next. With dogs, evidence increasingly shows that they have a theory of mind, and one of the main ways we’ve discerned this is through research on play. (See Canine Confidential.)

In many species, play is a foundation of fairness and there is a good deal of cooperation among the players as they negotiate the ongoing interaction so that it remains playful. So, unleash your dog whenever possible and let them play to their heart's content. Play only rarely escalates into real aggression. And, if your dog isn't a player, find something they like to do and let them indulge as much as possible. Perhaps someday they'll want to play. And, if not, it's OK, so honor and respect what they want to do, not want you want them to do.

Stay tuned for further discussions of play in dogs. It's amazing how much we can learn about dogs and ourselves when we watch them play and try to figure out what they're doing and why. I hope this discussion generates much-needed research.