Playing with your dog

The first step is to find the appropriate play and chew toys for your puppy. Some examples are:

• Kong or Rhino toys
• Nylabones
• Hard rubber balls large enough so they don’t get stuck in your dog’s throat
• Soft flying disks
• Interactive play toys like Buster cube (a square box where you can put food in)
  

Some examples of unacceptable toys are:

• Tennis balls and stuffed toys
• Ropes and similar, as such toys can lead some dogs to become aggressive
• Rubber toys that can be chewed into little pieces, as these can be threatening to your dog’s health

In order to make the desired toys attractive to your dog, they must become a main source of interaction between you and your dog. Play with your dog and his/her toys. If you also appraise the dog when playing with the toys, you will make him/her seek them out on their own. When s/he seeks them out you should praise this behavior.

A great game to play with your dog is fetch using a toy that you are holding. You throw the toy and give the “fetch” order to your dog. The desired reaction would be for the dog to bring back the toy and either leaves it in front of your feet or in your hands. This can happen either on its own or after you giving the command. In case the dog doesn’t bring back the toy, s/he runs off, refuses to give it back or just stops playing, then you should stop playing for 10-15 minutes.