The Importance Of Playing With Your Dog
If you have a dog, you have to make sure their basic needs are covered; for example, food, water, sleep, walks. And you should also be aware that play is one of the basic needs of dogs. It’s an activity that will help him develop intellectually and emotionally and is especially important if your dog spends a lot of time indoors. Here we explain to you why it is important to play with your dog.
What is the game for?
Play helps dogs in their intellectual development and encourages them to better understand their environment, know how things work, learn basic rules of behavior, learn to control their strength and develop skills and abilities, such as reacting properly to stimuli .
In addition, play helps dogs socialize, whether they play with other dogs or with humans, and they develop different skills with different playmates.
Playing with dogs makes them develop brute strength and hunting instinct. When playing with human beings, they develop cooperation and intelligence, as they are more dynamic.
In both cases, dogs learn to respect others, in addition to releasing energy and relaxing, which prevents the appearance of stress and anxiety and makes the dog less violent. In addition, playing with human beings helps to strengthen the dog-owner bond.
How do I play with my dog?
Dogs use their mouths as their main instrument because they know the world through their sense of taste and smell. That’s why they smell everything and bite everything. You can’t prevent your dog from nibbling on you while playing, but you can train him to contain the force of his bites and not bite you uncontrollably.
To help with this education, give him teethers and teach him how to use them. Also use toys that he can bite and from which he can pull.
The moments of play are the ones that should be used to educate the puppy, both in biting and in obedience and in demonstrating that the owner is in control.
For this, when you give him a toy, throw it forward, do not give it in the mouth, because he will interpret that he threw the toy himself and that therefore he is the one who has control. For the same reason, never go after him to take a toy, you will teach him that he is the one who brings you or the one who chases you.
If you notice that he adopts a violent or temperamental attitude or does not want to return the toy to you, stop the game. He must learn that this is not to be played with and that the game is over when you determine.
If they play game and bring, you are the one who has the voice of command and wins the game, or he will think that he is stronger and that he dominates you.
The games can be done both indoors and outdoors, but the bigger the space, the more energy it will release, because you will be able to run more and practice games of searching and chasing.
Therefore, the ideal place is a field far away from the street, where he can be off a leash and is not in danger. If he likes a particular game, let him practice and if he is very active you can experiment with activities like agility, cani-cross or bikejöring.
Advice for playing with your dog
As we’ve already said, play is a very important facet for dog socialization and education, so make sure you play a lot with your dog, especially if you spend a lot of time outside the house and don’t have time for long walks .
If you can’t cover all the playtime he needs, ask a family member or friend for help.
Training can be a game, in fact the dog learns because he believes it is really a game, and because he receives affection and rewards when he gets something. So take advantage of the hours of play to educate your dog and teach him basic training or some tricks.
Do not use objects or things in the house as toys. Your dog can’t tell the difference between what he can wear and what he can’t, and he goes after the old sneakers you threw him, and also the new shoes you just bought.
