It all begins with a lick...
Typist: Bethany
When I worked at a dog daycare facility, we constantly compared dog play to child play. My background is in child development and child psychology so the leap from what kids do on the playground to what dogs do on the playground was made with ease. Similar to the 5 years my brother and I spent at the same schools, on the same playgrounds and never so much as looked at each other, when Wilhelm, Brychwyn and Huxley are given a choice, they prefer to play dogs that they don't live with. Now, I do consider myself extremely lucky that the dogs occasionally play together, usually get along and don't kill each other. Keeping them from killing each other is one of the reasons I work so hard to get us out and about as often as possible. Maybe my parents had the same plan for my brother and I since we are both still alive. Among my favorite dog outings are our play dates with the collie girls, Gypsy, Gilly and Ginger. Yes, we have a neighbor who also has three dogs and those collies make the best playmates! On last Thursday's visit to their lovely yard, I observed and photographed a playful interaction between one very handsome blue merle Cardigan Welsh corgi, Brychwyn, and an elegant blue merle rough collie, Ginger. The silly antics of these two dogs sent me back to my dog daycare days as well as my studies of kids on the playground. While I never saw children initiate play with a lick, I did observe them run away from possible play rejection. My brother and I always pretended not to be playing together when we believed someone else might be watching especially my parents and most especially if we were playing bitey face. While reminiscing and preparing the play photos for this post, I wondered who had more fun, the playing dogs or me.
When I worked at a dog daycare facility, we constantly compared dog play to child play. My background is in child development and child psychology so the leap from what kids do on the playground to what dogs do on the playground was made with ease. Similar to the 5 years my brother and I spent at the same schools, on the same playgrounds and never so much as looked at each other, when Wilhelm, Brychwyn and Huxley are given a choice, they prefer to play dogs that they don't live with. Now, I do consider myself extremely lucky that the dogs occasionally play together, usually get along and don't kill each other. Keeping them from killing each other is one of the reasons I work so hard to get us out and about as often as possible. Maybe my parents had the same plan for my brother and I since we are both still alive. Among my favorite dog outings are our play dates with the collie girls, Gypsy, Gilly and Ginger. Yes, we have a neighbor who also has three dogs and those collies make the best playmates! On last Thursday's visit to their lovely yard, I observed and photographed a playful interaction between one very handsome blue merle Cardigan Welsh corgi, Brychwyn, and an elegant blue merle rough collie, Ginger. The silly antics of these two dogs sent me back to my dog daycare days as well as my studies of kids on the playground. While I never saw children initiate play with a lick, I did observe them run away from possible play rejection. My brother and I always pretended not to be playing together when we believed someone else might be watching especially my parents and most especially if we were playing bitey face. While reminiscing and preparing the play photos for this post, I wondered who had more fun, the playing dogs or me.
A play bow.
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A play paw.
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It's best to run away after a paw to the face, just in case.
Bitey face.
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Bitey face.
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Silly play but Ginger is alert to...
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Stop!... Huxley's watching.
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Back to silly play.
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