Dog Play:     Throughout their lives dogs are playful animals.  This is why they can be trained through games.  A puppy will play at fighting and hunting; it will chase its own tail, and seize things in its mouth.  Puppies start to become playful at the age of three to four weeks, and then play is a learning process.  It is a good idea to play frequently with any puppy that you intend to train later.  Make your hands into the shape of a muzzle so that you can push the puppy, tip it over, and cuff it gently.  In the wild dog pack, the parents and other adults teach the puppies and the young dogs how to behave by playing with them, rewarding and reprimanding them, showing your authority, and playfully altering any kind of inappropriate behavior.

 

Playing with people (and working with them) is a great pleasure for any puppy.  It will soon learn that it cannot get the better of its master, and as a result will readily and happily accept him as ‘Head Dog’.  Puppies belonging to even more defenseless breeds, once they realize that they can intimidate their owner, even if only at play, may well end up ruling the roost and adults, because it is in the nature of all dogs to take on the role of “Head Dog” or “Top Dog“ if it is vacant.

 

 

Licking:    Dogs are licked from the moment they are born.  They lick one another affectionately, and clean themselves by licking any dirty or injured parts of their body.  Licking is an affectionate, friendly gesture and a method of cleaning themselves.

 

Nuzzling & Stroking:   Touching with the muzzle is a gesture of “tender affection”.  To win its mother’s affection or attention, a puppy will prod the corner of her mouth with its nose and lick her.  When a dog does the same thing to its owner, it too is asking for affection.  If this tender gesture is rejected the animal will feel very bewildered and be unable to understand its human companion.  This in turn will make it harder to train, because it will feel that its language is not being understood.  If a dog that has been scolded for some reason tries to touch the corner of its owner’s mouth with its muzzle and lick it, it is simply seeking to re-establish an affectionate relationship, and make it clear that it recognizes its owner as the Head Dog.