Not that any of us really need a reason to play with our dogs, I mean who doesn’t love having playtime of fetch, tug, or just going for a walk? But have you ever considered what the benefits are for your dog and for you when you do engage in some playtime? Let’s take a look at 5 different reasons why playtime is important:

1.Bonding

Spending time together with your dog builds trust, confidence, and love, and creates a feeling of belonging. Playtime can be a great way to show your love and attention for your dog. It creates quality time spent alone with one another. Playing and having fun together creates a bond and strengthens that bond between dog and human.

2. Exercise

This time is great for both dog and human to get in some physical activity. It’s great for the physical well-being and in maintaining musculature and healthy joints in your dog. Helps your dog burn calories as it works out their core muscles and gives them an appetite for their food, this will also combat the problem of obesity. Exercising your dog will help keep their joints lubricated and improves their overall balance and coordination. 15 minutes of vigorous play can be equivalent to an hours walk.

3. Training

Playing is a good time for some basic command learning like fetch, come, and sit. For some dogs; such as my Luna, you will need a lot of playtime to release some of that pent up energy before any type of training can begin. Try learning new tricks or give an agility course a try. You can always find a way to make training fun.

4. Mental Stimulation

During playtime you enable your dog to use all of their senses. It enables dogs to solve problems and to be inventive, which allows theirs brains to develop. Dogs that become bored easily are usually bright and quick learners, they get tired of doing the same thing daily. So help to keep your dog alert and give them something meaningful to do. Playing with your dog will help them to relieve stress and anxiety.

5. Behavior

Bored Dogs = Destructive Dogs. Bad behaviors such as chewing on everything, garbage can raids, digging, or just acting out could be signs that your dog is just simply bored and needs some playtime. Pacing, jumping, disobeying commands are some signs that they need stimulation or playtime. Dogs can become bored with toys, so be sure to have a few different types of toys to keep their interest. Vary the type of playtime.

What do you and your dog do for playtime?

The following link you will find 20 Fun Activities to Do With Your Dog to give you some other ideas of how to level up your playtime with your dog.

https://www.vetstreet.com/healthypet/reinventing-playtime-20-fun-activities-to-do-with-your-dog