Playing with my dog doesn’t have to look a certain way

We can find the games that work for us!

Featured photo credit to the very talented Saint Paisley Photography

Depending on the moment, play with my Australian cattle dog can look like a lot of different things.

I used to have a really narrow view of play (and dog ownership in general). I thought you could either tug or traditionally fetch, that toy motivation was either there or it wasn’t, that maybe a favorite ball could be a nice reward but I should always make her “work” for it… and so on.

I’ve since expanded my views. Today there’s no rulebook when it comes to playing with Scout—just a commitment to having fun.

Here are some of the different ways we get our Play emotional systems going!

We enjoy all six aspects of play

Of the six aspects of dog play (Searching, Stalking, Chasing, Fighting, Celebrating, and Consuming, which you can read more about in this article) Scout and I love to “fight” the most.

But that’s not the only way to have fun together!

Tug is one of our favorite games

Often we do enjoy classic tug-of-war where we take turns pulling and thrashing and attempting to win the toy. I’ve written about some of the lessons I’ve learned about tug in this article. The game is about so much more than just yanking on a toy.

We also like cooperative chase and catch

More recently I’ve learned to fully enjoy cooperative fetch with Scout, thanks to Ivan Balabanov. One of the best parts about this particular game is that I can play it while sitting or laying down… the perfect solution for having fun with my dog even if I’m already exhausted.

Often we play more energetic variations of fetch, too, where we sprint around (Chase) and keepaway (Celebrate) instead.

Play doesn’t always even need a toy

Sometimes we creep up on squirrels (Stalk). Sometimes we leap on the furniture like wackos (Chase). Sometimes we growl while jumping all over each other (Stalk, Chase, Fight, a whole mix).

Sometimes play looks like me hiding her meals in the apartment so she can sniff them out (Search). Sometimes it looks like her bringing a chew over so I can hold it steady for her (Consume). Sometimes it’s simply me petting her while she’s thrilled to hold a favorite object (Celebrate).

Sometimes play is hide and seek (Search, Celebrate). Sometimes it’s reward marker games (Chase, Consume). Sometimes it’s gentle bitey-hands (Fight).

Not everything is a defined, structured “game”—but so many things can be play.

We can have multiple energy levels when we play

Sometimes play is exhausting, and I am way more out of breath than she is at the end Other times it’s mellow, and easy, and low effort.

Of course, we generally do go outside and run around pretty much whenever we can. There’s nothing like getting sandy on the beach as the waves roll in!

But I can also play with Scout while simply sitting on the couch or laying on the floor. There’s no “right” or “wrong”. No black or white. Just goofing off, together.