This class will introduce one form of play at a time. With over 70 videos featuring a variety of breeds, sizes of dogs, and handlers, you're sure to find the information you need to form a fun and satisfying play relationship with your individual dog!

We'll discuss the correct presentation of toys, learning how to make cookies into an event, and understanding how to interact with your dog in the way that he likes best. It takes time and effort to learn your dog, to know what to do, when to do it, and when to STOP doing it. Taking this time is well worth the effort because the end result will be a dog who naturally looks to you for both direction and entertainment.

For some people - and dogs - play comes naturally. But did you know that good play is more than simply WANTING to interact with your dog? Good play requires the ability to engage with your canine companion on a level that taps into his natural interests, and this ability is one part art and one part mechanical skills. This class will teach you both of these elements.

Sample Lecture

Lecture #3: Toy play

Toy play is one of the hardest and most complicated things to talk about because very small changes in our technique can make big differences in the dog's response. One of the easiest ways to think about playing with your dog is to consider the natural prey sequence. Dogs are attracted to the movement of a prey animal AWAY from their direction of travel. When the animal is caught, it must try to escape! To be interesting, the dog needs to have a fight (catching a lizard is not nearly as interesting as catching a squirrel because of the contest).

What would the squirrel do?

The most important factor in developing your dog's toy interest is the action and movement of the toy. With this in mind, always ask yourself, "What would the squirrel do?"

Visualize a fence with a squirrel on it. The first time your dog notices the squirrel is probably the first time the squirrel notices the dog. The dog will look intently and possibly move towards the squirrel. The squirrel runs away! Note that the dog did not catch the squirrel - it's likely he never came within 50 feet of the squirrel - but the next time your dog sees the squirrel, there will be an additional edge of curiosity and boldness. The dog is likely to start moving towards the squirrel much more quickly, and possibly with focused intent. Again, the squirrel runs away!

Although the dog never gets near the squirrel, this lack of interaction does not diminish his interest in getting closer. Indeed, the escape of the squirrel will increase his interest and further pique his prey drive. A large part of the excitement of the hunt is visually tracking the movement of the prey; visual tracking is rewarding in and of itself. Each time your dog has a visual interaction with that squirrel, he gathers information. He learns how fast squirrels can run, what direction of travel they prefer, and what causes them to panic. These experiences will build his confidence, his visual tracking will improve, and his determination to catch the squirrel – or at least to get much closer to it – will also increase.

In short, the dog does not need to get to the prey in order to show increased interest, focus, drive, and energy. This reality is very important, because the biggest mistake trainers make in playing with tug toys is that in the desire to get the dog to hold the toy, they forget the all-important process of engaging the dog's interest using prey moves with the toy.

Squirrels are NOT suicidal. Squirrels do not move towards a dog, except in a panic. Squirrels don't subject themselves to a thorough sniffing. Squirrels are highly frightened of dogs in their first few encounters and their behavior reflects this. They run away and try to escape. Over time, an experienced squirrel might become bolder around dogs – waiting longer to run away – but this comes well after the dogs are bound and determined to get to them. What is the dog's reaction to this escaping prey object? They will display increased intensity, focus, and desire to move from a quick look in the distance to bridging that gap between them as quickly as possible. This is the beginning of the chase. If you do not respect this natural chain in behavior, then you are undermining your dog's natural prey based behavior, and next thing you know....

Your dog is avoiding toys

The sight of a toy causes the dog to walk away or get scared. This is bad news. If you've gotten yourself into that mess, the answer is not crating your dog to create desire. You need to start over again with the best possible technique you can master.

If your dog is a complete beginner or undergoing retraining

Attach your drive-building toy to a lunge whip (available online or from a feed store). A long stick or dowel with some rope will do in