The science of canine play: Understanding ethological & environmental causes

Play is one of the most engaging behaviors we can observe in animals. Once considered a "superfluous and unnecessary" behavior by some, we have since come a long way in our scientific understanding of play. Canines - and specifically domestic dogs - are excellent models for studying play because of how long play continues to appear in the behavioral repertoire across dogs' lifespans. We will provide an overview of the science of play and review what we know about the evolutionary, ethological, and environmental influences of canine play. Next, we'll explore how canine play can be studied in community, clinical, and in-home settings and how to arrange environments that promote canine play. This includes analyzing how environmental conditions and breed influence the form of their play (what does play look like?) and the function of play (why it occurs). Finally, this talk will feature the surprising relationship between human attention and dog-dog play and the underlying causes for this interesting interspecific relationship.