My dog never plays.

beveragelady

This is not a serious problem but I thought I'd throw it out there and see if anybody has any suggestions.

I have two dogs, a six year old and an eight year old, both collies. The older chap is still very playful, but the younger lady has never played. She's perfectly happy, very affectionate and cooperative and I wouldn't change her for the world, but sometimes I wonder if I should be doing something to encourage her to have fun just for the sake of it.

When I first got her (at five months old), my older dog put quite a lot of time into trying to interest her in play but he gave up eventually. He loves to tussle and chase after sticks and things, but she's having none of it. When he invites her to play she just looks at him like he's embarrassing himself. She'll watch us playing but she won't take part. It's like she's the responsible one in the household and she tolerates our acting the eejit.*

Her raisons d'etre are finding and minding. I have tried to make 'finding' games, but she somehow knows that I'm only pretending things are lost so she won't take part. (If something is genuinely lost she'll find it no bother.) There's no exercise or stimulation in 'minding' so that's no good either.

It's probably worth mentioning that she had a fairly harsh start in life, which might account for her serious outlook. I think she never learned to play.

Should I try harder to involve her in pointless games? Can anybody suggest toys or games that might help?

*I know I'm anthropomorphising them. You would too if you watched their carry-on.:)

aonb

One of my dogs looks at the other eejit when he's playing, like hes embarrassed to be a dog!!!!!! I think there are dogs that love to play, and there are dogs that just dont. If she is happy and well and exercised I wouldnt worry too much about her. If shes aged 6 she probably wont change now.

Would she enjoy something like agility training? If you have space you could put up a few 'jumps' in the garden, maybe get a childs toy tunnel or make a tunnel or two out of boxes or piping - get her to do a course of obstacles? My daughter used to have great fun making a course for one of our dogs - out of all sorts of junk and the dog just loved it.

your girl might be too serious to be bothered but worth a try. Im sure some of the other folks on here will come up with suggestions too.

Dont stop playing with your other dog - its nice to make a fool or yourself with your ejjity dog too :cool:

Pretzill

I had two BC's the male loved to play the girl never once played - she loved walks and was very good off lead - left to her own devices if we were out on the land she would occupy herself looking for shrews and just being happy being out. I learned very quickly games were not her thing and tbh she was the loveliest dog ever so it certainly didn't matter. i think some dogs just don't like to play.

kylith

Neither of mine play; Tegan runs away and Rani comes down like a ton of bricks on any other dog she sees having a good time. I don't know what Rani's problem is, but Tegan had an awful start in life and I don't think she ever learned to play. I tried to teach her but, again, she ran and hid so I've accepted that all she wants from life is a warm bed, regular meals, and lots of love. Ra is so embarassing though: she can't see two dogs chasing each other in the park without throwing her weight around.

Frigga_92

Hi OP, I don't think it's unusual and I don't think it's anything to worry about.

We have 2 german shepherds, one of whom we've had since he was a pup and the other we rescued, we don't know exactly what age she is, possibly 18 months or so.
The rescued female has no interest in playing. When we are playing with the other GSD she hides under our kitchen table or attempts to get out of the room that we're in. We have tried squeaky toys, quiet toys, hard toys, soft toys, balls, teddies etc. etc. and she has no interest. We don't know if it's because maybe she was never played with before she came to us so doesn't understand what it's all about - she had a very bad life before she ended up in the rescue - or that she is just simply a quiet dog. She does love to play chasing with our other german shepherd so she is playful but just doesn't like toys.

We also had a great dane, who we had put to sleep recently, and he only liked to play on his own. Our younger GSD can be very wild sometimes, he's only 17 months old, and our great dane used to prefer to play with us on his own.

beveragelady

Hi, OP back again. I've had internet difficulties over the last few days and every time I tried to post on this thread I failed, but I appreciate the replies.

I think the only reason I'm bothered by her lack of playfulness is that I believe it's connected to her first few months of life, when she was cold, lonely and hungry. I can't stand the thought that she might not have forgotten those bad old days, even though she has had it pretty good for the last six years.

I haven't given up hope completely that she might learn the joys of acting the eejit. Last summer was the first time she voluntarily got her feet wet after years of hating water and reacting to it with panic, and now she'll paddle about happily in shallow water. This leads me to believe she's still capable of widening her horizons even now. My other dog has utterly given up on her, but I wonder if I could introduce her to a new dog that she really got along with would she start to tussle and chase?

Anyway, she really has a great time of it in general, she loves her walks and she's been on a million adventures. I don't want anyone to think she's a misery-guts, she's great craic once you understand her and she has a heart of pure solid gold.

ohnooo

no dont worry, some dogs are more relaxed as others simple as !