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The Differences Between Exercise and Play
I recently read a post where the author was discussing what it means when we exercise a dog vs when we engage them in play. He describes exercise as purely physical output. Think walking or jogging with your dog, or playing fetch. Play, on the other hand, has more to do with engaging the dog’s brain, addressing emotional regulation and impulse control, and providing a way to socially bond with you.
Of course, exercise is important for our dogs. We know how challenging it can be to live with an under-exercised dog. But many of you also know that heaping on more and more exercise can backfire, creating a super-athlete who requires more and more exercise, and possibly has more difficulty settling afterwards.
When playing productively with our dogs, we can engage their brain by:
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Teaching the rules of engagement
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Installing on and off switches
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Helping them learn how to toggle between high arousal and calm behavior
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Teaching them to respond to us even when aroused
Please share your thoughts on this important topic. How do you structure your play to accomplish the goals above?
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5 Replies
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Here’s a video clip showing how a young pup can engage in exciting flirt pole play while still hearing and responding to cues. He is also able to direct his darling puppy eyes to mine in order to get another round of play started.
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That’s interesting…I wonder why Fetch is not also considered “play”. I also think the flirt pole is both exercise and play.
Such a cute puppy! I love the tumble to catch the lure! @virginiad
Today, I played with Joy indoors, but also saw it as both mental and physical stimulation. It may not be like a 30 minute walk, but she was tuckered out! Zzzz.
This morning, after our morning walk, we played both Fetch and a Hide and Seek game. I would throw a few Cheerios for her to find, then sneak away to hide. I’d make a recall sound I plan to start using. She would stop eating and run to find me, excitedly! She couldn’t wait for me to hide again. This afternoon, instead of our walk, we played for 20 minutes in the back yard on harness and long line. I did a version of Steal the Bacon, because when she started looking for inappropriate items (chewing on a rock) I would gather up a bunch of sticks she had played with and run to the other side of the yard. If she followed, she chose a stick. I dropped the others and let her tug and gave it to her after.
Thank we went inside and played with the flirt pole. We practiced puppy pushups on verbal only, then hand signals…threw in a few Touch…. She LOVES to play and figure out rules!
The other day, we went for a long sniffy hike with my adult daughter at sunset. She loved that, as well!
It’s somewhat challenging in the Midwest in winter to know what weather is coming, to plan to exercise your dog. I get her out to walk at least once a day, for exercise, and 2-3 times just for short 10 minute potty walks. They are getting calmer and she’s checking in more and more and staying under threshold from those zoomies and leash grabbies!
Trying to also play an enrichment game like the cup game (hide a treat under a Solo cup) however, she has enjoyed mouthing the solo cups a bit too much, and will suddenly run away with one.
As for an off switch, I’m saying “All done!” and clapping my hands once, then bursting them up and outwards, almost like jazz hands. It seems to do the trick.
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@bernerlabreclectus , this is textbook FABULOUS. Thank you for posting. I love your comment about the thinking games tiring her out, same as a long walk. And that is exactly the point. Get the dog to engage with you, use their brain, use their nose, toggle between different activities, listen to your cues — that’s powerful stuff that builds your relationship, builds the dog’s focus on you, builds useful skills, AND tires them out. Kudos to you!
Fetch, in its classic form for a dog who is very keen on the activity, is repetitive and rather mindless and tends to increase arousal and can easily build a super-athlete that then needs more and more of that sort of exercise, perhaps adding a big dose of frustration into the mix when they don’t get their fetching ‘drug.’ I’ve also read some compelling stuff about the potential for physical harm when high-speed fetching with sudden jarring stops and turns is regularly practiced.
If, however, one was to toss a toy into the woods or tall grass, slowing the dog down and getting them to engage their nose, that’s a completely different form of exercise. (One of my shepherds in the past could reliably find the stick I had touched after I threw it into the woods, which was full of sticks.) If fetch is interspersed with other activities and sprinkled with various cues to keep the dog focused and responsive to your instruction, that seems a whole lot more functional.
Also want to say how much I LOVE that you have a “that’s all” signal to let Joy know when the games are over for the time being. Genius.
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Hi, could you explain what type of toy that is? Did you make it? If not, where did you purchase it from?
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@Alex , sure! It’s called a flirt pole. If you search online, you can find DIY instructions to make one as well as numerous premade versions. I like the brand featured in the video, which is called “Squishy Face” and you can find it online at Chewy and other places.
This one has a bungee cord between the pole and the toy, which I think makes it safer for dogs who may run and grab the toy at speed, which then stretches out the bungee rather than the dog immediately hitting the end hard. Easier on human shoulders too.
It’s a fantastic form of exercise/play, especially for dogs who like to chase a toy but not necessarily bring it back. You can flick it around on the ground in enticing ways and move the toy at different speeds.
I do always advise my clients to keep the toy skittering on the ground rather than going airborne. Athletic dogs and enthusiastic pups may then gleefully begin jumping up and doing hotdog maneuvers that could end up getting them injured.
Teaching a solid DROP is important. Some dogs will play tug with you and the flirt pole, stretching it to the max, and then accidentally let go. In the decades that I’ve been using this, the toy at the end has shot back at me once and hit me on the cheek, which smarted a bit. So I do advise that young kids not use this with big dogs.
Dogs should not be left to play with the flirt pole alone as they can quickly chew through the cord.
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