Archie Spoodle Ella (lab) – the hardest playing dogs ever. VIDEO

Let me begin by saying that Archie is my dog, and I am a professional dog walker that had been waking Ella the black lab for several months before they both worked up to this level of play.

To the casual observer this might almost appear like dog fighting, rather than dog play, but to experienced dog owners and dog behaviourists, it can be seen that they are having the time of their lives.

The growls, the bear hugs, the puppy mouthing, they are all there.

Ella was a special case as far as lab crosses go. She had more endurance and energy than any dog I have walked previously and since. She was driven to play and mostly to dogs that exhibited high energy. Unfortunately that energy was not always social. Many of the dogs Ella wanted to play with were either aggressive or had anxiety.

Ella loved the challenge and knew that the other dogs would have to keep engaging in the ‘play’.  It was not a form of malice on her behalf, but a kind of lack of socialisation, something she missed as a puppy, to understand when a dog didn’t really want to play.

My dog being extremely social, and loving hard play, accepted her challenge, and knew that he could play as hard as he wanted without hurting Ella. Neither dog intended, or in fact ever bit each other causing pain or blood. This is an example of ‘social’ dogs trusting each other in the extreme to just keep the game going.

You are probably aware that all dog play is a guise of testing the abilities of the other dog and ranking that dog in the pack either above or below the dog.

Ella has since retired to a home somewhere in country Victoria and is loving playing with a high energy standard poodle.

While the raw footage of this video was created several years ago, I had to piece it together to show what I still consider some of the most vital, fun play that my dog has ever experienced. I love seeing my dog do cute things (plenty of other videos here), and tracking. But this video just rounds out one of the very great things I enjoy about his ‘personality’ his… energy and fun.

Article by Bruce Dwyer. If you wish to use any of this information please refer to the article as a reference and provide a link to  www.healthydogtreats.com.au

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