#Motivational Monday- Why we play with dogs?

Today is MONDAY-MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY!

I ask the same one question at the beginning of every single play workshop- why do we play with dogs? The reason is that the answer to the question will hugely determine our play strategy, how play is constructed and how it should look like, how we prepare for it, what behaviour or events during play are desired and find out which we want to promote and which we do not.

Again, why we are playing with dogs?

For the relationship? for fun? for focus? for exercise? for confidence? …. all of those are good reasons, I play for all of those reasons as well.

However my main motivation to work hard on my play strategies is actually building a MOTIVATION in my dog.

Regardless if you train for dog sport training, for service work or just for domestic recall- I’m looking for different and creative ways to reward my dog, play is one of them.

What I’m really looking for is to create play events that I can use successfully and effectively as a high value reward. To be able to do this, my play event needs to have specific form and meet certain criteria. This is why I came up with idea of the ‘Successful Play’ concept.

Successful play ticks all the boxes. It is fun, it’s interactive, it builds motivation, it builds relationships, it builds engagement and focus…so why do I call it.. successful? Because I can use it effectively in my training as a high value reward what makes my training well... successful.

If you ask why it is so important let me give you an example. If I just want to play to exercise and give an outlet for energy for my high energy dog, there is nothing wrong with chucking a tennis ball over and over for half an hour in an open field, especially if my dog finds that type of play extremely attractive. I can also run, scream, chase, run, scream and so on. However, if I want to reward my dog for something very specific e.g. searching for explosives, that type and level of activity is not necessarily desired. You would not want your dog running energetically through a minefield as this would probably not end well. I’m not a scent detection specialist, however I consulted with a friend who is and she said one of the options is that you can walk up behind the dog that is indicating and put a toy in their mouth and walk away with the dog. Training has to be constructed in the way so this dog will be ecstatic about receiving the play/toy this way. Quite big contrast isn't it?

So what are the criteria? 1) The dog has to like it and it has to be the most enjoyable thing for your dog 2) It needs to have a structure and rules (components) without compromising on criteria number 1

‘and this is where we have to become good players not only players’

Successful Play has 3 components and all of them are extremely important.

1)Desire/Intensity 2)Retrieve 3)Release

* WHY Desire? if your dog does not desire play it will not be reinforcing. Ideally, I want play to be more attractive than chasing a rabbit or squirrel * WHY Retrieve? If the dog does not retrieve the toy you have, there is only one repetition of whatever you working on. Good retrieve is also indicator of interactive nature of play and good relationship. * WHY Release? again let you to continue with the training but also a good release without conflict is also indicator of interactive nature of play and good relationship.

Only then Play is complete and not only reinforcing but effective in use during our training.

There are plenty of strategies of how we can build it and work on each component. I will be sharing them in the next episodes of Motivational Mondays.

Leave your comments and questions below!

Salut,

Alex