One of the many ways people emotionalize and confuse their dogs is by thinking that dogs are having fun and playing when they are chasing balls. Dogs like Labs do not really play too much when the get older, what they do is get aroused and replicate all sorts of hunting and chasing behaviors with other dogs, in play groups, and when they are given toys and balls to chases all day, or grabbed and shrieked at. This the easiest way to make a Lab and other dogs hyper and super-aroused, so I have a lot rules about playing. No wrestling or balls or toys in the house after puppyhood – ever. A few times a week we bring a ball on our walks, and Lenore proves to me over again that she is not playing she is hunting.

This photo reminds me that Lenore is playing. Just picture a rabbit on the road instead of a ball and you will get the picture.

Most dogs, especially hunting dogs, are killing machines, play brings out their prey drive, arouses them,  and the easiest way to make them hyper, obnoxious and over-aroused is to push them into continuous play and exercise because it makes us feel happy and fulfilled. When Lenore chases a ball, her prey drive is coming to the fore, and prey drive is not the thing you want to encourage in a puppy or a grown-up dog.  It also makes them nuts, they are dogs people are always yelling at and squawking about. There are few good things for a dog to do with a lot of prey drive in most houses.

The most important thing to teach a dog is how to do nothing, and Labs especially need this, I call it calming training. Lenore is a wonderful dog, content, lean and healthy. She only gets to chase balls on this road, nowhere else. When people come to the farm, they instinctively pick up sticks or toss things for her, and it doesn’t bother them that she starts to get obsessive, hyper-aroused, exhausted and crazy, they think it’s what they are supposed to do.

People come to the farm or we see them elsewhere, and many people grab Red and shake him, growl at him and squeak in high voices until he goes crazy, whines and jumps – which they happily reinforce – and they don’t see this as a foolish thing to do to a border collie, all of whom know how to be crazy but have to learn how to be calm. So I am the grunge, and it is a major reason I have great dogs. I don’t confuse hunting and arousal with play and affection.

Lenore does not bother me or Maria for a ball away from this road, Red does not whine in arousal when he sees me or jump up on me. It is so important to understand the role of play in the life of a puppy and then, in so many different ways, in the life of an adult dog. Puppies need play to socialize and learn appropriate behaviors, adult dogs need exercise, attention, and healthy diets. Usually, it is the people who need them to play.