Teaching Rosa how to play..

As all he dogs I've ever had before have all been taught to play in their last homes, I'm at a bit of a loss..

As some of you know, Rosa was an ex-breeding bitch, and I don't think she's ever been taught how to play..

I've thrown the ball for her a few times, but half the time she's not bothered, and the other half she'll get the ball but not return it. Just take it somewhere to chew.

Would love to teach her to play, obviously so she has fun but also to hopefully wear her out a bit more

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!

Does she like food? Perhaps you could get her a Kong toy and put some food in it for her to get out? Or a Buster cube?

We rehomed an 8 year old ex-stud dog and he never did play with toys!

Also something you might consider if she likes food is those "doggy board games" by Nina Ottenson. We got one for my 2 Kerries for Christmas and you hide food under squares then the dog has to move plastic bones and slide the squares to get the food. There are lots of different ones at different levels of difficulty. You can see them on e-bay if you type in "Nina dog toys".

Yeah she has a Kong, the first time we gave it her with the treats in she was quite interested. But she's fallen out with it now because she can't figure it out (she's a little dopey )

Oh what a shame that she's missed out on the pleasures of play. This is not uncommon in ex-breeding dogs if they've only been used as breeding machines. All her energies have been used up looking after puppies & not in life's simple pleasures.

As she's now found a lovely new home with you (& is presumably spayed) I expect, given time, she'll gradually start to learn about play & other things that are not survival-related. But it will take time as she first needs to learn that warmth, shelter, food, water & companionship are not going to be taken away. Once she's learned that these things are abundant, she will have the time to start to amuse herself in other ways.

One great way to start this process is clicker training ~ but don't concentrate on anything other than simple things & make sure that you set it up for her to be successful so she can earn the food treat. Once she starts to learn that she can actually influence & control resources by her own behaviour, it is amazing how much confidence this will give a dog & how much enjoyment they can get from it.

Unfortunately Rosa isn't spayed. This is because when we got her she already had a cat bite on her neck which had been removed but she's still on antibiotics. The vet doesn't want to spay her until the infection is completely cleared up. (Hopefully sooner rather than later!) but we will DEFINATELY be getting her spayed.

I've not started on clicker training, I've never done it before so I'd like to find more out before I try and start it. Have started training without the clicking. Only simple things, sit, stay, etc.

How is she with other dogs? When we got our dog (not a breeder, but a rescue) she had no clue how to play. Throw a ball and she just stared at you like "huh?" But she enjoyed the company of other dogs, even though she did NOT get playing even with them (a play bow was met with just as much apparent confusion).

But we kept bringing her to off leash places to play and letting her spend time with other dogs. Over the 1.5+ years we've had her now she's learned to play. She'll never be the most playful dog, but she does play a bit of fetch, does love to play with our gloves, LOVES her squeaky toys, and has finally begun to play bow and run around with other dogs.

Dogs really taught her what we were not able to.

As she's on antibiotics, she may not yet be feeling her best & this may mean she's a bit reluctant to do much. If I were you, I would concentrate on making sure you can get her physically & mentally healthy before you start worrying about playing.

If you want to know more about clicker training, there's a very good article on this site by Alison ?, which explains how to get started & the benefits of clicker training.

None of my dogs could play when I got them (what`s wrong with people? )
I found sitting down at home and playing with them like you would with a kitten worked. You know - wave the fuzzy thing and throw it up and catch it etc. It takes a while, but they do eventually get the idea.
And they copy other dogs - so maybe visit a friend with a playful dog?