How to tell if your dog wants to play with you?

If your pet wants to play, they will initiate it. A playful pup will bow before you with its back end in the air. It also might slap its front legs on the ground, bounce around, or even fall down to expose its belly. If you look closely, you might be able to see a big goofy grin on your doggy’s face. Your kitty might gently paw or swipe, or even roll over and lay on their back. Pets can’t speak but they do use verbal cues to indicate that they want to play. When it’s playtime, dogs will often growl. A dog’s playtime growl is often higher pitched and shorter than their other growls, and will likely be accompanied by playful behaviours.

When dogs are 'playing' we need to watch their body language in order to truly see how a dog is feeling about that 'play' and to ensure that both dogs are enjoying the interaction. In appropriate dog play, you will see the following signs and signals: Relaxed and loose posture with bouncy movements, Play bows, Turning their bottoms into each other, Role reversal, Fair wrestling, Racing around, Mutual pausing in play, Self-handicapping, Inhibited biting and mouthing, Cocalising. These are called meta-signals and they include play bows, bouncy movements, having relaxed, partly open mouths, curling and turning their bottoms into each other and lying down or stopping to pause play for brief moments. They include play bows, bouncy movements, having relaxed, partly open mouths. Relaxed and loose posture with bouncy movements, Play bows, Turning their bottoms into each other can be seen in appropriate dog play. Mutual pausing in play, Self-handicapping, Inhibited biting and mouthing are also important signs. Cocalising, which can include barking, growling, yelping and yipping, is also a sign of appropriate play, as long as both dogs are still demonstrating other appropriate play signals.