Play with Your Dog

by Pat Miller

A playful dog is a healthy dog!
For most dogs, play comes naturally, while for others, play is something they need to be taught. Play helps dogs learn to interact properly with other dogs and people. It helps sharpen their social skills and provides excellent physical and mental stimulation. In addition to being just plain FUN, play is a great way to help build a solid relationship between you and your dog and can be a great training tool.

Play With Your Dog will show you
How play can help you build a loving and long-lasting relationship with your dog.
The role of play in helping puppies avoid problems like fear and biting.How to use play to re-socialize adult dogs.
What to look for in dog play. Is it aggression or just having fun?

Bonus! Dozens of games you can play with your dog and the benefits of each.
So, whether you and your dog already play together and are looking for more creative opportunities to play, or you have a play-deprived dog who needs a re-introduction to the joys of play, this book will open your eyes to the possibilities. But don't spend too much time reading be sure to save time for play!

What dog experts say about Play With Your Dog
There's more to canine fun and games than just fetch! Miller distills the concept of dog play, explains why it's important, illustrates how constructive dog play can strengthen your relationship with your dog, and manages to make reading the book almost as much fun as putting the ideas to work!
Victoria Schade, CPDT, author of New Puppy! Now What? DVD

This extremely user-friendly book will inspire and instruct anybody seeking to strengthen their relationship with dogs through play. It's for every dog person, from the novice pet owner to the professional trainer and opens up a new world of joyful communication. Play is one of the most significant tools in the trainers' toolbox. Now go out and play!
Leslie McDevitt, MLA, CDBC, CPDT, author of Control Unleashed

Finally, a book that's fun for you and your dog! It reminds us of why we got a dog in the first place! You'll learn great games to play with your dogs along with ways to make routine games a little more interesting, challenging, and rewarding.
Robin Bennett, CPDT, author of All About Dog Daycare and Off-Leash Dog Play

Genres: Dogs, Nonfiction, Animals

152 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

Reviews

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Confession: I am a total fan of Pat Miller's writing about dogs. I highly recommend this book and her others and her columns in _Whole Dog Journal_. Still, when I mentioned this book to a friend of mine, also a dog person, he said "You need a book to tell you how to play with your dog?" And, it's true--you might wonder why you need to read about something that seems kind of obvious, especially if, like me, you spend a lot of time already playing with your dog. But, in addition to being full of good ideas for stuff to do with your dog (and your dog's friends--the group games are fab)--it includes really good advice about how to identify play by understanding your dog's body language, playing style (when she's not hounding me [heh] to play fetch, Kate prefers a good game of chase, but only if she's the "chasee"), and how to intervene if play turns into aggression. If you let your dog play with other dogs, you have probably at one point or another watched nervously during those first few moments of butt sniffing which can often suddenly go wrong. And when does a good game of chase me, wrestle dog, "bitey-face," etc., get out of control? What's playful and what isn't can be hard to see, but this book is really helpful for humans who want to learn more about it. As Miller recommends, though, don't spend all your time reading--get out there and play with your dog!

[Salix · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars - It was okay.

Dated and ethically questionable. While this book offers a handful of engaging activities to do with your dog, the majority of the "new" ideas presented here can be found for free online. Unfortunately, the useful suggestions are overshadowed by an outdated reliance on negative punishment and a fundamental misunderstanding of modern canine science.

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The Positives

♦ The author correctly identifies play as a vital foundation for building a functional relationship between dogs and humans.
♦ There is a helpful breakdown of different play styles and a discussion on which "personalities" are most compatible with one another.
♦ Chapter 5 serves as a dedicated catalog of various play ideas, which is arguably the most practical section of the book.


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The Negatives


♦ The author heavily relies on the debunked concept of a rigid, ranked hierarchy where the owner must compete with the dog for status.

"Because social status is more fluid during play, higher ranking pups have the opportunity to learn the value of cooperation and submission (other pups are more willing to keep playing with them), increasing the probability that they will also choose to use those strategies in other, non-play social interactions." \

"Belly-Up. A status-related appeasement behavior when offered in a non-play encounter, this posture can be offered freely as part of play and dogs will often take turns being “the one on top”—a clear indication that it’s being used in play and not as a serious statement about status." \

"Rule \#3: You win most of the time. “Winning” means you have the toy and Bruiser doesn’t." \

♦ She suggests that behavior looking "serious" is fine as long as it's in the context of play, but then fails to give the reader a reliable breakdown of how to distinguish play and fight. Given the "citronella incident" described later in the book, her ability to read canine signals is highly suspect.


♦ The book presents several concepts as fact that are not supported by peer-reviewed research. For example, the author refers to "predatory drift" - a term that exists almost exclusively in popular dog training literature and lacks validation in scientific databases. I am not denying dog-on-dog aggression, but I would not explain it through predatory drift.

"Of even greater concern is a phenomenon known as predatory drift in which something from a dog’s evolutionary past triggers the larger dog’s brain to perceive the smaller dog as a prey object—a bunny or squirrel—instead of the canine pal he’s played happily with for months, or years. Often the trigger is the smaller dog running, yelping, or squealing." \

♦ The author refers to free-ranging canine social groups as 'closed' packs, implying stable family-like wolf structures. However, research shows that free-ranging dog groups are often more fluid associations, with variable membership and less emphasis on strict kin-based packs.

In the wild, a canine social group is a closed society. \

♦ Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the book is the casual recommendation of aversive sprays (citronella or pepper spray) for behavioral "corrections".

"One of the easily-portable aversive sprays, such as Direct Stop/Spray Shield ™ (citronella)—the one I used with Dubhy or Halt\!™ (pepper spray) might be an effective alternative to the hose. " \

The author describes an encounter where she uses citronella to "relax" a dog during a tense introduction:

"We approached Missy until we were about  three feet away and he continued to be somewhat tense, but repeatedly looking at her with a soft expression, and then looking back at me for more chicken. I took a deep breath and we unclipped leashes. Dubhy took a step toward Missy, stiffened, and with a loud snarl, launched himself toward her. I stepped forward and gave him one shot of citronella spray from the can of Direct Stop/Spray Shield™ that I held in my hand. He stopped, looked at me, sneezed once, shook his head, and visibly relaxed. His body language softened, and his subsequent interactions with her were completely relaxed and non-confrontational. " \

In this scenario, the author failed to respect the dog's signals of tension during a first encounter, leading to a physical aversive "blast." While the dog may have appeared calmer afterward, it is highly probable that the animal was suppressed or shut down rather than internally relaxed. Presenting this as a "success" is a significant failure in modern training ethics.

♦ The author advocates for negative punishment (P-) as a core strategy, which is frustrating for the dog and fails to teach a Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible behavior (DRI). She essentially sets the dog up for failure by allowing overarousal to occur just to trigger a "time out", which she then wants to put on cue. Without the dog failing, she can't teach.

"Rule \#5: Use Time-outs as needed. If Bruiser gets too aroused and/or is putting his mouth on you or your clothing, use a cheerful “Too Bad, Time Out\!” when his arousal level starts to escalate to an unacceptable level" \

♦ The text sometimes drifts into an uncomfortable "power trip" tone. The repetitive use of the phrase "you control the good stuff" (repeated five times on one page) frames the human-dog bond as a dictatorship rather than a partnership. To underline that, her definition of a "leader" could also be a true for a dictator.

" If you are concerned about what Tug might do to your relationship with your dog, just remember that the definition of leader is “the one who controls the good stuff,” and orchestrate your Tug-play accordingly." \

"  You control the good stuff and allow him to have it out of the goodness of your heart." \

♦ Finally, the constant use of ™ icons for specific dog toys throughout the text gives the book a commercial, sponsored feel that detracts from its credibility.

[Alison Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book only told me I SHOULD play with my dog; it didn't tell me HOW.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I have a dog that has no clue how to play. Though I've read several books about dog behavior, I've never read one specifically about play, so I thought it would be worth it to pick it up.

This book is a really great little read, especially if you are looking for ideas of how to play with your dog, or are having trouble getting your dog to engage. Pat Miller separates dogs into play 'categories' and talks about different games that different types of dogs may like. I found this section to be particularly helpful and interesting. I was able to categories my two non-play challenged dogs into their categories, and it helped me to understand better why they sometimes are not a good play match up.

The bulk of the book then goes into detail about several different games and variations, describing the rules and how to train your dog to play the games properly. Pat also does a great job of talking about which play behaviors to reinforce and which not to reinforce, EVER, which I thought was a nice addition. She even included a short chapter on which behaviors to NEVER reinforce.

The chapter I was most looking forward to - the chapter on rehabilitating play deprived dogs - was probably one of the shortest. I was a little disappointed, but overall, I really enjoyed the rest of the book and I got a ton of great ideas from it, which I am excited to try out once the weather finally shapes up a bit!

[Pr Latta]

As strange as it sounds, my rescue dog did know how to play the "dog games" that I knew how to play. This title gave me ideas of *positive* things I could do with her when our adjustment was ... rocky. There's not really anything new here but the rationale for play, variations on the standard activities, specifics on how to structure the play so it stays safe (children, tug, etc.), and how to play with dogs who don't know how to play were valuable to me.

[Lori Kobayashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I, like the other reviewer, am a huge Pat Miller fan. I am also lucky to have the opportunity to train with her. Play with your dog is a great book that not only tells you about playing with your dog- but also how to incorporate play into your training routine which is something I have found invaluable in training my dog.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a deceivingly simply book that is loaded with good advice. Have been having some outright fun playing "Find It" with my lab. He and I have both needed to learn how to be silly again. He needs to lose 10 lbs per the vet, and this is so much more fun than dieting. Fun to see his excitement. Instructions are clear and Pat Miller is a strong advocate/teacher for dogs.

[Georg1991 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book because I now have a do-over dog that does not seem to know how to play with toys or humans or humans with toys. Basically I was interested in chapter 8, but I went ahead and read the whole book. I'm going to try what she suggests in chapter 8.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into how to play with my pups, it might seem instinctual but to really make sure everyone is happy there is more to it.