I shot a little video earlier this week of Lilly and Ginko playing chase and jaw wrestling games. For those who know Lilly’s noisy play style and stunted social skills, I’ll ask you to pay attention to how quiet this particular play session is. Ginko does many things to ensure Lilly continues to play, which is very smart and polite of him, I think.
They had been racing around for a while already. This video includes just a few clips from the end of their romp, with a little editorial commenting embedded. What other calming signals or good dog-play manners do you see?
KB — We try not to let him run too much in the snow exactly because of his knees, but once in a while it’s OK. If you watch the slow-motion part at the end, you can see in his stride that he favors the right leg just slightly.
Seeing this makes me glad, but also sad … because Ginko is so much slower these days. I wish I had video of him running as a pup. He was greyhound fast. Age and bad knees have slowed him down quite a bit.
I’ve noticed now, with a number of easily-scared dogs, that they prefer to play by being chased. It’s true of K. It’s really the only way that she’ll play with any dog but R – she entices the dog to chase her. She refuses to chase the other dog but will do some face-to-face jawing if she gets comfortable.
I wonder if this is just a coincidence or a true tendency for more fearful dogs?
I love seeing that Ginko can run in the snow despite his knee pains! That’s great!
Nice video. Love how they play so well together!
Nice video and what a great play spot. As a yoga teacher, I use the example of ‘shake it off’ to help people understand the role of their psoas muscle. As humans, we need to be able to ‘shake it off’ too!
Good job, Lilly and Ginkgo.
om shanti
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Here is the original play video we shot with Ginko, Lilly, and Lilly’s best, best friend Katie (the borzoi)
https://championofmyheart.com/2009/06/03/a-video-study-in-canine-body-language-and-play/
Lilly does too. I think it’s easier for her with her stunted social skills than other close-up games. With most other dogs, though, she does the chasing.
Oh Sunny wants to join in! He loves the chase game.