FUN!
Play is about FUN! So many people treat play as an exercise, it’s not an exercise its PLAY! So lose your inhibitions, get silly, go wild, get on your hands and knees, play hide and seek, run and dance and lose yourself like no one is watching!
It’s gotta be a FUN time not a LONG time!
So how long should a play session be? Well how long is too long? What’s a good time? How long is a piece of string? Play is something that is fast and fun, remember it doesn’t need to be a duration thing, short and sweet and engaged is the key to success! You need to keep the engagement up and remember that 30 seconds of pure bliss is better than 2 minutes of average energy! Don’t time your sessions rigidly, but do keep an eye on them and always try to keep them spontaneous! Spontaneity is super for creating more awesomeness!
LOWER the pressure!
So many people pressure play, stress it out and in ways that you are not even aware sometimes! Give your dog easy wins, let them lead the game, dance with your dog, try to make it action packed but not over facing, now that’s a fine art and a balancing act! If your dog doesn’t want to play then give him some down time and chill. Try again later, and adapt the arousal to suit but don’t over pressure and don’t stress your dog or yourself trying to make it happen. It really needs to feel good. I have learnt this most of all with my cocker spaniels who are not chase driven… they need to be in the mood!
Let your relationship grow with trust!
We want to build big hearts and unbreakable bonds through relationship and trust. Make the game or the chase challenging but achievable for your dog, look after them in the game and make sure that you are in it together. Neither of you are winning or losing you are enjoying spending some good time together. Make sure you play safely and fairly and look after that element of trust between you!
Stay on task….
Remember animation and activation action in all things play! Stay engaging and stay on task, with play you need to become the creator and the innovator of the game and when you are playing give your dog all of yourself. For example sometimes I’m playing around the competition arena with one of my dogs and someone will come up to me with questions or friendly things to say, but I politely let them know I’m busy and will catch up with them really soon!
Try to give your dog your time, after all he is giving you his. And you are building up that trust step by step!
We hope your dog enjoys this week’s tips. Check out our Tuesday Dog Treats recipes HERE and see our Training Events Schedule HERE
Why not treat yourself to a Dog Training Holiday and make the most of our fantastic training facilities onsite? Come and stay with us in our cottage style apartments, right in the heart of Dartmoor.