Very often dog owners ask: “Why should I play with my dog?” or “How is playing beneficial for the training process?” In fact, why is it important to play with your dog and how does playing affect the training process?
These questions are related to basic dog training and to the development of game motivation.
Here are 4 major benefits of playing with your dog:
1.Playing makes a bond with the owner much stronger and the dog feels more confidence in the human.
2. Playing develops a dog’s perseverance, increasing its self-confidence and proactivity.
3. Games are very different. Some of them can be successfully used for behavior problem correction.
4. Moreover, we need a dog’s game motivation to fix the acquired skills. A new skill is usually formed with the help of food as it calms down the excitement. And to reinforce a skill, we need to cause some excitement, which can be triggered by playing.
At the same time, the game is a controlled excitement. We cannot use, for example, a cat for our training purposes as we cannot tell it to “Jump up the tree!” or “Now turn right and wait until my dog stops.” Playing triggers a dog’s nervous excitement, and if we’ve trained our four-legged friend to listen to his owner and to follow his commands even during a very intensive game, it will definitely listen to your commands on any other occasion. For instance, the dog is easier to control when playing with other dogs, running after a cat or chasing a wild animal.
That’s why playing is essential for successful training with your doggy.
