Playtime

I've come to the conclusion that there are very few living things that do not play in some way.  Even trees probably have a good laugh in the spring as they shower my patio with those tiny helicopters or budlets that are hard to remove with a broom.  "Ha ha ha human, let's play dodgeball....take that and that and that and that...." is what I expect they are saying to each other as I try to read my book in the chair on my porch only to be hit with tree debris.

The obvious play animals are kittens and puppies.  Kittens are like those wind-up play toys.  They start out really really fast, stay that way for a while, then trickle down to a nap on the couch.  They also have an element of surprise, where they stalk your leg or foot and then suddenly pounce like army guerilla warfare.  It's a quick hit and then a retreat under the chair.

Compared to kittens, puppies are the six-million-dollar-man play animals--slow motion rolls, pouncing on each other.  There is the occasional fast puppy run, but most often than not, puppies wrestle.  It's who-can-pin-down-whom the longest, and who can stay on the mat.

Animals can be taught not to play as well.  I think this is a rather sad state of affairs.  In January we took in a foster dog that has fearful dog issues.  It's taken quite a long time to get him relaxed enough for him to remember what it was like to play, and really enjoy it.  Some dogs we've taken in have had no idea what a toy is.  What a sad state of affairs that their humans didn't teach them the sheer joy of playtime, or foster it in their puppyhood.

I've had very few cats that I could not tempt with a feather on a stick, or a cat-nip filled toy mouse.  But dogs, on the other hand--well, there have been a few who needed to relearn play.

I once read an article that said you should play with your cats every day in some way.  It makes them feel loved.  Sometimes that sucks me into buying odd play toys when I'm at the pet store.  For instance, I recently bought this ball that has a feather on a stick coming out of the middle of it.  You rotate the feather (like a wind-up rubber band plane--remember those?) and then put the ball down and the feather goes round and round and round very fast, then gets slower and slower.  Both of our cats just blinked at it.  "Ho hum...look what SHE bought.  As if we are going to play with that!"

Turns out you can pull a long blade of grass from outside and they will play with that on the patio for about 10 minutes, or a rolled up piece of paper that you help bat around. 

In the end, our cats like to play with each other the most, or pretend they are great hunters stalking our chickens.

Today I was checking out photos of our dogs playing and noticed that we have two dogs who seem to always be in the middle of the play at some point--Bethy and Piper.  Piper needs a tag team play crew.  He tires out all the dogs that are willing to play with him, and is still looking for others to play with.  Maybe I can start putting ads in the newspaper and hiring dogs to come up and play with him.  Piper is our deaf Border Collie that does not fetch.  Have we tried it?  Oh yes, you bet we have!  We've tried to teach Piper the great skill of retrieving, but he excels at perimeter patrol and one-on-one dog play.  When he is frustrated because the other dogs ARE NOT playing, he will begin to bark very loudly right in their faces.  He is relentless.  Piper will also play with a toy (mostly a stuffed toy or rope toy or frisbee) himself, throwing it up in the air and catching it, but the minute you pick it up and throw it, he is done.



Bethy and Moe playing.



Bethy is the dog that all the other dogs WANT to play with, because she is fast and they can't catch her.  But she decides who she will and will not play with.  She will fetch a ball or toy, and often tries to catch it in her paws, which is really cute.

Pete and Gifford start to play. This photo is from 2010.

Horses play too.  Sometimes, and to the unaccustomed eye, it may seem like harsh activity, but it really is play time.  Horses are very good at removing each others halters, or blankets in the winter, as part of their "play" activities.  We do not turn out our horses in halters, but for those that do, it's a common practice to have to go around the field looking for them, as they pull them off of each other.



Pete and Gifford as play escalates.  This is not
aggressive, this is playtime.



We are coming into the Spring and Summer months....big playtime season.  I'm looking forward to watching all the play activities around me, both on the farm and off, after this very long unplayworthy winter!

Aarrooooooo!