Well, I've edited and compressed 31 separate videos for my 2 talks at APDT. Whew. They aren't perfect, but some of them are truly instructive and a few are just plain fun. It's been like being in a tunnel for the last 4 days working on these things, and still... I continue to be fascinated by all the issues related to play between people and other animals. One of the the things I'll be talking about at APDT is how often dogs intersperse PAUSING with active motor patterns. As I watched videos of dogs playing I was impressed by how many times dog would use some typically exaggerated motor activity, whether it was a bite or a hip slam, and then stop and either stand still, or stay still in a play bow position. If you think about it, play bows not only provide information to the receiver that Read More
The mystery of play
I'm deep in "speech preparation" tunnel, working sun up to sun down on my presentations about play at APDT next week. It's a lot of work, but gratifying. Play is such an interesting topic, I wish I could spend a few months doing nothing but learning, thinking and writing about it. One of the most interesting things about play is its reason for being is a bit of a mystery. Why do animals play? The answer seems like it should be obvious, but the more you think about it, the less you know. Is it for 'practice?' That makes sense, since play is seen mostly in young animals who are physically developing. However, some of the research suggests that practice is not the primary force driving play... (in some studies animals kept from playing are equally adept at predation and fighting.) Another Read More
Playing with Dogs & the Olympics
I'm a little behind today, because yet again I stayed up too late watching the Olympics. Addicting, aren't they? And I'm not even that interested in sports... I was the girl who stood in right field in enforced elementary school softball games saying "Please don't hit the ball to me, please don't hit the ball to me." But I can't resist the drama of watching other people turning purposeless games into lifetime commitments and prime time excitement for the rest of us. How fitting that today our new booklet about playing with our dogs just arrived from the printer. I co-wrote it with Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist Karen London, and there is nothing like writing about how to play (and how not to play) with your dog to get you thinking about WHY we play with our dogs, HOW we play and Read More
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