Camille Ward and Barbara Smuts gave a fascinating talk at the APDT Play Symposium on “Play and the Development of Social Relationships in Litters of Domestic Dogs.” Their research (and that of their colleague, Erika Bauer) has focused on play in the domestic dog. They discussed two issues related to play in both puppies and adult dogs:
50/50 Rule: Years ago a scientist hypothesized that, for play fighting to work, the participants would have to switch roles about 50 % of the time. In other words, related to dogs, half the time one pup should be on top in the “assertive position,” and the other pup should be on top the rest of the time. As Camille explained to us, this speculation, as often happens in science and other fields, slowly turned into “fact” (without the benefit of any actual observations or research!)
For example, look at this quote from “The Development of Aggression” by Tremblay, Hartup and Archer, 2005:
“For play fighting to remain playful, it needs to follow the 50:50 rule (Aldis 1975; Altmann 1962). That is, each pairmate has to win close to 50% of the playful encounters.”
Camille and Barbara tested this assumption in 3 litters which were observed as they developed in about 2,000 instances of play between two individuals (at 3-8 weeks, and at 10-23 weeks for 2 litters, and the third litter also at 27-40 weeks). They found that the 50/50 rule did NOT apply–12 of the 15 pairs in the first 2 litters observed did not reverse roles symmetrically. As a matter of fact, one female from the third litter was ‘on top’ 100% of the time, but her litter mate still initiated play preferentially with her.
In an earlier study, Dr. Erika Bauer and Dr. Smuts also tested the 50/50 rule in adult dogs at a dog park, and Dr. Smuts reported that there too, the 50/50 rule was not upheld. (By the way, it wasn’t reported at APDT, but this work also found that role reversals…. you mount me and then I mount you back….occurred during certain types of play, but not others. Chases and tackles were initiated by either partner, but mounts, muzzle bites and muzzle licks were consistently performed by the same dog. Perhaps certain types of play may be good indicators of social relationships between dogs? Let me know if this fits with your own observations of play between your dogs or your dog and friends at the dog park.
Another aspect of Dr. Ward’s talk was about partner preferences. She found that (out of 1,300 instances of play initiation), the young puppies from 3 to 8 weeks showed no partner preference, the 10-23 week old pups the same, but the older juveniles (27-40 weeks) began to show strong preferences to play with one other individual from their litter. This preference was stable across time periods, and suggests that dog often form long lasting bonds with other dogs that should be acknowledged. The fact that some of our dogs become close friends with other dogs is, of course, not news to us, but I think it is important to remind ourselves that long-term stable relationships with another dog might be important to the dogs who live with people but not another member of the same species.
I think about that with my Will, who plays with Lassie several times a day, but I wouldn’t say they are close friends. Will adores a young Cavalier King Charles Spaniel… Brody, who comes to visit on occassion, but is moving to Florida soon. I’d love to get Will a play mate, but hesitate to get another dog during Lassie’s last years. I am pretty darn sure she is not interested in sharing any more of my attention… it’s tough, isn’t it, when you know one dog needs something that is the opposite of what the other dogs needs. Will does have some other play buddies, but I think I should go out of my way to find him more; he and Brody seemed to have a special connection. I wonder if he will miss him? (I will! Not to mention missing his human!)
Speaking of play–here’s my colleague and dear friend Dr. Karen London, ‘playing’ on our way to dinner in downtown Louisvile.
Amy Jane (Untangling Tales) says
This idea of a 50/50 rule is new to me, and while I would have believed if from a “voice of authority” about dogs, I’d never have believed it about humans. That to say, I’m not surprised by the conclusions from actual observation.
I don’t know if it’s fair to extrapolate from human relationships, but we all have experience with peers who never back down or who never “stand up,” and I’m ready to believe that spectrum’s consistent across species.
I think this “myth of 50/50” comes from the idea of self-handicapping you discussed a couple of posts ago.
Stephanie says
The 50/50 rule has never been true in my house. I have three dogs: Charlotte, an 8 year old German shepherd mix, Crow, a 3 year old standard poodle, and Noire, a 14 month old doberman pinscher.
Quite a bit of play, particularly “bitey face” is frequently 50/50, but the games of ‘king of the sofa’ and all chasing games, my shepherd always plays the same role. For king of the sofa or any game where they pair off, it’s either Noire and Charlotte against Crow or Crow and Charlotte against Noire. Any chasing games, Charlotte is always the chaser, and never the chasee. Her chasing also usually consists of standing in one spot and taking a few jumps towards the younger dog running past then waiting for them to continue their circle.
My general theory on the subject is that Charlotte, who has pretty serious hip dysplasia and arthritis in her back (controlled by painkillers and supplements) is not as flexible or comfortable as the younger dogs and thus takes on the roles that are more physically comfortable for her.
All three dogs play wonderfully together, so it’s clearly working fine for them.
Pia Haake says
I have a dog I brought back from Greece to Sweden; I found her chained to a piece of rock – she was “guarding” (?!)
Of course she had not had many opportunities to interact with other dogs. When on a leash she would become a stomping, ferocious bunch of muscles and it would seem she hated other dogs. Somehow I never thought so; I felt certain she would not want anything better than to interact with them; but she did not know how…
In our family we already had a Tervueren and these two loved each other from the start! The way they play makes me smile just thinking about it 🙂
But the lady from Greece had a very strange way of inviting play; she would “attack” our other dog and bite his neck. The Tervueren seemed to think it OK because he always played along. With his body moves he seemed to calm her down. He would always let her “be on top” and when she was she would become more gentle. He would always let her chase him. Only after a couple of years did she feel secure enough to let him chase her!
She would play with us humans too, when invited; chase a frisbee, play football, play tug-of-war, run after a tennisball and bring it back.
After a playing session she would have a large smile on her face, body relaxed and swaying. So pleased…
So I thought; if she likes to play with us and our dog she would probably like to play with other dogs. Not so easy to find playmates, as she looked as she would like to kill them mostly. Some of my friends have very easygoing dogs whom I have seen before give very clear signals to other dogs. We started to meet up. They way these dogs treated the terror from Greece! My heart swells to think on it! One look at my dog seemed all they needed; then they would sniff the grass,look disinterested and saunter along and all the time my dog would pester them… But after a while she would be cool; sniffing the grass and be one of the lads!
It would take a while before play could be introduced but it would always be my dog who would initiate it with a beautiful playbow!!!
Here in Sweden there is a tendency to be a bit too serious when it comes to dogs and play. To let dogs play together or use play as a reward when you train your dog is not always popular… Hopefully it will change.
My Greek meets dogs regularly, she is always tense and her body stiff when she meets new dogs. Even when she meets friends. It does not take long before she relaxes though, and after a couple of hours walk and play she is the coolest; floppy ears, soft, warm eyes, body swaying and a huge smile all the way up to her ears. Every inch of her conveying happiness and contentment!
Play has been very important in her rehabilitation, I have learnt so much.
So please keep writing about play – it is an amazing subject! :-)))
Of course I have read all your books and enjoyed – Thank You!
Next time You are in Sweden I will be there!
Glenna says
I have 3 small dogs. One is a 9 yo terrier and blind. She and a overgrown Pom are both 18 lbs. My Chihuahua is 9 lbs, and along w/ the Pom is 2. Pogo (the chi) is the relentless lead dog when playing w/ Annie (Pom), repeatedly launching herself at Annie. But she is completely submissive w/ Bonnie the Terrier- although she keeps the play going by mouthing Bonnie’s leg, then rolling over onto her back. Bonnie and Annie play pretty much as equals. This little triangle with different rules between different pairs has been pretty interesting to watch.