For all the dogs who've touched our hearts

Playing with your dog’s instincts

The best play builds on what's natural for your dog. Sheepdogs control movement, retrievers hold and carry, and terriers chase, grab and shake

Sheepballs, a game for Border Collies

Ever seen a Border Collie work? They’re highly motivated to keep the flock together and labour tirelessly so none get away. Sheepballs is a game designed to utilise these instincts. It teaches a dog to circle, flank and wait so they can stop the ball rather then let it escape – just like they would real sheep.

Not quite sheepballs

It’s the end of July and a spike in COVID19 cases has locked Melbourne down. The increase in local activity has made walking a bit overwhelming for Bonnie, so we're doing more at home. I thought I'd tap into her sheepdog heritage and bought a big box of balls from IKEA to play Sheepballs with her.

When the box arrived, I was so excited. I grabbed a ball and began to dribble it around the room ready for a game. Unaware she was supposed to circle like a good little sheepdog Bonnie lunged at the bright green ball. I blocked her, placing my leg between her and the ball. Eager to play, Bonnie circled and lunged again but I anticipated her move and blocked. Frustration super-charged her excitement and the next time I blocked she bit me – hard!

My. Mistake.

Terriers, retrievers, sheepdogs... dogs of many colours

Caden happily demonstrating his parading skills

One of the keys to playing well with a dog is building on what’s natural to them. Different types of dogs use different parts of the predatory sequence: these are the hunting sequences they practise during play.

A retriever loves to hold and carry while a terrier loves to chase and kill. The whole point for a Terrier when fetching a ball is for you to make it run away again, re-starting the chase > capture > kill sequence. For a retriever it’s so they can hold, carry and parade proudly as Caden is doing in the picture above.

My little sheepdog Bonnie needs to control movement; she runs in circles, follows closely on my heels and goes a little crazy if I stand on a chair, move quickly or strangely. I cannot dance in front of her - for which my son is very grateful!

Can you see why getting bitten was my mistake?

From the dog

I’m not going to give up on sheepballs, but I’ll rethink how I teach her to play – starting in a way that’s not too exciting! My challenge will be to teach her using her own instincts while keeping my legs safe. I have a few ideas but in the meantime she’s having fun with the balls!

It can be tough working out how your dog likes to play. Humans have a tendency to mould our dogs to what we want, or perhaps what we’re familiar with. Fetch and tug are our usual go to’s, but there are so many other games to play if we watch and learn from them.

Knowing the breed or breeds of our dog is a great way to start, but they're individuals first and foremost. We get the best information from them: learning what they like, don’t like, how they respond to our movement, what they can and can’t do and how their instincts manifest naturally.

Merlin recently invented his own special game. He runs along one path in the garden, while I run along another. He stops dead, stands completely still and stares at me. I stare back and then we run together, separate but parallel until one of us (well let’s be honest – me) can’t do it any more. Silly, but connected and fun.

What about your dog?

What kind of dog do you have and how do they like to play? What have you noticed about them? Have you invented any games? Post in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!