Encouraging play

[*Adele*]

Hope I've put this in the right place, please feel free to move to the right place if not!

We've had Chloe now for 2 days and she is coming on really well! Getting used to the collar and lead which she had never experienced before and we had a nice small walk after tea and she hardly put up a fuss at all! She's now laid next to me resting her head on my knee snoring! LMAO!

My question is can I do something to encourage her to play? Or do I actually need to encourage her to play? She has a small selection of toys and the only thing she really does is lay on the teddy bears as a pillow! Oh except for the cats toys which she will carry from one side of the room to the other occassionally! LMAO!

With this being my first dog and my main experience is with border collies I'm concerned that she doesn't really play much and trying to make sure she gets enough activity. I spend a short period of time each day training her as well as the usual encouragement when doing things and she does seem to like this, or at least enjoys the praise! I think she's cottoned on to the fact if she puts her paws on the sofa I tell her down and then give her attention when she does as she's told! LMAO!

She's 6 months old and hasn't been in this environment for some time as she was going to be shown, she is really coming out of her shell and loves a good belly rub!  Am I worrying too much? Are a couple of small walks a day at the moment enough?  She's going to her first puppy class on Saturday so hopefully she'll enjoy that! 

TIA for any tips! 

Adele

[BabyBear]

Hi Adele 

It's Cath....i think you'll soon know when Chloe isn't getting enough exercise as she will become bored and ultimately become mischeifous around the house.   
Skye doesn't need encouraged to play as she is naturally playful, infact she encourages me to play  bringing toys to me and dropping them on my lap, especially when i'm trying to watch things on the TV 
Don't worry too much as i'm sure when chloe's ready to play she'll let you know...

[*Adele*]

Hi Cath, thanks for that!  I think she just likes her cuddles at the moment but I think you're probably right in that she'll let me know if she wants to play! 

[Beth]

Have you tried playing catch with your OH around Chloe? This always gets Jarvis in a fiesty mood as he doesn't like to be left out! 

You may find she's just a cuddly girl, or maybe she'll play when she's more settled. Lucy absolutely refuses to play at all... She was made to be loved, and knows it.

[Emmylou]

Cosby our eldest cocker has never been much of a player.  He likes to go for a big run and then when he's back home he just likes to sleep, stare at people out of the window and chew bones.  We have tried to get him to play, but he's really not bothered.  Each dog is different.

Boo, our pup is the xact opposite.  He wants to play all the time and as another post said, he will actually bring toys to you and try to climb up on the sofa when he wants to play.

So, I wouldn't worry if she wants to play she will start engaging with you soon, but she may just be a dog who likes to laze around and get cuddles - like Cosby

[*Adele*]

Thanks for the help peeps! I think you may be right in that she isn't a huge "player", she likes to run mad around the garden and loves her cuddles, not a major problem I guess! 

I was playing ball with my youngest before he went to school and she wasn't in the slightest bit interested! Just laid next to me watching us!  Bought her a training lead earlier so going to take her to the park after school and let her burn off some energy again! Really enjoying going for short walks with her and she's doing really well on the lead! She's getting used to other people, cars and other dogs so I'm very proud of her! She takes everything in her stride really well!

[PennyB]

Play is so useful in many ways --- I use it to increase the bond with my dogs, which also helps with training. This is extremely useful especially when she's older and becomes more independent of you at which point you need to try to get them to listen to you and interacting using games is very good for this.

[SusieWoo]

How about a squeeky toy?  Noisy I know but most dogs usually love them!   

[*Adele*]

Play is so useful in many ways --- I use it to increase the bond with my dogs, which also helps with training. This is extremely useful especially when she's older and becomes more independent of you at which point you need to try to get them to listen to you and interacting using games is very good for this.

Thanks Penny, useful to know especially if it helps, I suppose it's finding something she is interested in playing with. She will pick up the small cat toys and carry them around but that's not really ideal due to their size and it's not like she's playing with them!  Do you have any useful tips to encourage play?

Squeeky toys - erm, she is really not bothered with them unless they're are of the cuddly variety! LMAO! She quite likes her cuddly hippo that squeeks in five different places but she just likes to lay her head on it!  We now have a fair few different squeeky toys of different sizes and shapes but again she's not interested. 

[PennyB]

Do you have any useful tips to encourage play?

Making an idiot of yourself often helps --- seriously sometimes you have to adopt a very excited/exaggerated tone sometimes to encourage them.

Dogs can also get bored as well if they have all their toys hanging round the house all the time --- mine have their toys in a toy bin and then I just rotate a few at a time.

[*Adele*]

Thanks Penny, I often make a fool of myself and it doesn't bother me too much!  I only really leave a couple of cuddly toys out and introduce some of the other toys every now and then, I guess she may still be settling in so will give it a week and see if she changes, maybe the puppy training classes will help! We can hope!