"Other Nations"

 This blog about dog play is not a stand alone piece. Please also read Part 1 as it's vitally important when you have dogs or have others' dogs in your care to know when something that might look like play is not play but something else entirely. So now let's look at signs of good play. Play as a state of mind Play can be viewed as a state of mind. It involves its own neural structure in the brain 1 and feels good because of the hormones and neurotransmitters it involves which include dopamine, oxytocin and endogenous opioids. How do dogs let each other know it's play and not real fighting, biting and pursuit? Play between dogs is made up from fragments of other behaviours such as predation, fighting and mating. Therefore there has to be a way to let each other know that it's “just pretend” so no one gets scared and the enjoyable state of play can take place. Dogs do this by the use of ' play signals ' to each other such as: Exaggerated, inefficient moveme