When I ask someone how they train their dog, the most common answer is “I give him food when he does something I like”. This is a good way to train, and you can train a dog to a fairly high level. But I much prefer play. When used correctly, there is no better teacher.
Watch two dogs interact to see what I mean. It may initially look like chaos, but give it some time. There are rules, boundaries, winning, and losing (games are boring if you win every time). By mimicking this type of interaction, we can teach dogs many things and these behaviors have a tendency to stick. One dog may cross a boundary by being too rough, and the other dog will stop the game. The first dog wants to keep playing, so he plays more gently. Let’s use this to our advantage. Play with a puppy and when they inevitably bite you instead of the toy, give the game a timeout. A puppy who wants to keep playing will quickly learn to bite the toy instead of your hands.
So, we have taught a dog to not bite hands during play, but we can do so much more. Need to teach your dog impulse control? Throw a toy, have your dog on a leash, and only when they sit to look at you are they allowed to chase it. Next time they see a squirrel to chase, use the same rules to keep interest on you. Call your dog’s name, turn and run away with their toy. When they catch up to you, turn to face them a play tug. You just taught a recall. A dog who believes their name announces a game will come back, and fast.
To start, find what your dog enjoys. Some like to chase a ball, some tug, and some to jump all over you. The basic rules of play are:
Start: Pick a word that means go, the game is open! I use “Ready”
Stop: The game is closed. Dogs can become obsessed with play and we need a way to tell them to relax. Mine is “All Done”
Yes: Get the toy!
Out: Let go. This one can be tricky. Often people who have issues with the out command have misunderstood it. Out means let go so the game can restart, not give me the thing. If every time you tell your dog to out, you take the toy and the game ends, he is not going to want to let go. Instead, as soon as the dog lets go, give it back! When teaching play skills I probably give the toy back immediately 4/5 times. On the 5th time, I say a command like “Sit” and as soon as they sit, the toy comes right back out.
Teach these play skills first, then add in other commands. The dog gets the ball for sit, down, come. At first each command brings out the toy, then maybe you have to do 3 skills, 5, 10… until your dog is listening for minutes on end to get to the game.
So many things can be taught this way, limited only by your creativity. Really, the best part of teaching through play is how much fun the humans have! If you want to bond with, teach skills, and understand your dog, learn to harness the power of play.