Humans have long tried to understand the essence of play. It is important for a dog’s mental health to have sufficient life variety and contact with other dogs. Pleasure resulting from play produces in dogs a desirable mental balance. The dog belongs to a group of animals whose play-related behavior has an important role in ontogeny. During play, puppies learn social behavior from one another. Later, they use this experience as adult dogs. On the basis of play behavior, one can assess a dog’s mental maturity. By playing, dogs learn how to deal with other dogs, animals and humans. Dogs prefer dyadic play, that is, play between two individuals. A dog’s play behavior is affected by factors such as age, sex and body size. Willingness to play and the way of playing also depends on whether both dogs are on a leash, or only one, or neither. Types of behavior related to play include invitations to play, offensive behavior such as climbing on the other dog or pushing the other dog down to the ground, as well as affiliative behavior. When dogs play with a toy, their play is mostly competitive, consisting in attempts to take control of the object. When a dog’s partner in playing is a man, the dog is generally less willing to win, and a mutual interaction between the dog and the man is more important. Humans can modify dogs’ behavior associated with showing willingness to play by sterilization or by activities such as imposing one’s company. The owners’ ability to recognize and differentiate between offensive and aggressive behavior in puppies may reduce the incidence of dogs’ open aggression in adulthood.
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