5 Reasons Why It’s Important to Have Fun with Your Dog!
It’s always nice to have fun with your dog, but did you know it is really important for our dog’s wellbeing and behaviour?
Here are some important reasons why you should take the time out of your day to have fun with your furry friend…
1. Builds Your Relationship
Modern dog training is all about having a strong bond with your dog (Deldale and Gaunet, 2014; Gutteridge, S. 2018). Without that relationship, training your dog is very difficult.
If you have a good relationship with your dog, they are more likely to do as you ask because they want to please you. They are also more likely to come to you when they are scared, rather than feeling the need to defend themselves.
Having fun with your dog is an easy way to build that relationship.
2. Provides Mental Stimulation
Mental stimulation is essential for dogs. Just like humans, dogs need to work their brains as well as their bodies. Having fun with your dog is a great way to provide some extra mental stimulation for your pooch.
Find more about mental stimulation on my previous blog post.
3. Provides Physical Exercise
Often the only physical exercise our dogs get is a walk. This is fine, but there are other ways we can provide physical exercise too. Having fun and playing with your dog is a great way to offer them a different way to exercise their body. It can also help get them moving their bodies in different ways and exercising different muscles.
4. Makes Training Fun
Training is often seen as a chore, but it shouldn’t be! Training should be a fun activity you do with your dog. Try to think of games you can play with your dog to encourage the behaviour you want to teach. For example, see my blog post on recall games for some ideas.
5. Improves Your Own Mental Health
Having fun with your dog is not only good for your dog’s health, it is also good for your mental health! Playing with our dogs is shown to reduce our stress levels and lower blood pressure (Friedman and Krause-Parello, 2018).
As you can see, having fun with our dogs is important for many reasons.
Look out for my next blog full of easy ways you can have fun with your dog.
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Links and References
Deldale, S. and Gaunet, F. 2014. ‘Effects of 2 training methods on stress-related behaviours of the dog (Canis familiaris) and on the dog-owner relationship’. Journal of Veterinary Behaviour 9(2): 58-65.
Friedman E, Krause-Parello CA. Companion animals and human health: benefits, challenges, and the road ahead for human-animal interaction. Rev Sci Tech. 2018 Apr;37(1):71-82.
Gutteridge, S. 2018. Good Dog Behaviour by Choice with Positive Canine Coaching.
