Playing With Your Dog May Build a Stronger Emotional Bond Than Training
Training is often seen as the key to building a strong relationship with your dog. But something much simpler (and more enjoyable) may work better. A few minutes of play each day can strengthen your bond more than training sessions.
In a new study from Linköping University published in Royal Society Open Science, researchers found that dog owners who added extra play time reported feeling closer to their dogs after just four weeks. Dogs in the play group became more engaged and were more likely to initiate interaction. Owners who focused on additional training did not report the same change.
“This is a great result that you can only dream of! It turned out that the play group improved their emotional bond […] with a few minutes of extra play a day,” Lina Roth, a senior associate professor of ethology at LiU, said in a press release.
Why Play Matters More Than Training for Dogs
Researchers still don’t fully understand why play remains important for dogs into adulthood, which makes its role in bonding harder to pin down. In this case, even small increases in play were enough to shift how owners experienced that relationship.
Training often centers on structure, commands, and rewards. Play, on the other hand, creates a shared exchange between dog and owner, built on attention and responsiveness rather than instruction.
That difference may be especially important for dogs adopted later in life. Puppies go through an early socialization period that helps shape how they connect with people. When that window is missed, building a strong bond can take more time.
“Today, many dogs change homes in the middle of their lives. With rescue dogs, you don’t have the advantage of growing up with your dog,” Roth said. “Play can be a very good way to build a new good relationship even with adult dogs.”
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Testing Play Against Training
To test this, researchers asked dog owners to rate their bond with their dogs before and after a four-week period. The questions focused on everyday interactions and emotional closeness, including how owners shared their time and experiences with their dogs.
Participants were divided into three groups. One group increased daily play, another focused on additional training using treats, and a control group made no changes. Participants were given instructions, helping researchers ensure the changes in play and training were consistent across groups.
By the end of the study, owners who played more reported a stronger emotional connection with their dogs, while training did not lead to the same improvement. The study found a statistically significant causal relationship between increased play and a stronger emotional bond.
How a Few Minutes of Daily Play Can Strengthen Your Bond
The extra playtime didn’t need to be long or structured. Even short bursts made a difference, especially when the interaction was engaging and responsive.
What mattered most was choosing games the dog responded to and enjoyed, so the interaction stayed positive for both the dog and the owner. Games that involved shared movement and attention appeared to be more effective than more passive activities.
“Just throwing a ball isn’t enough. As we were after the social interaction between dog and human, the games we proposed in the study were for example tug-of-war, rough and tumble, chasing each other, hide-and-seek, peekaboo or teasing the dog a little with your fingers. You don’t have to keep at it for long, it’s more about paying attention to your dog’s behavior,” Roth explained.
The study focused on how owners experienced the relationship, so it cannot fully capture what the dogs themselves felt. Still, previous research shows that dogs benefit from time spent interacting with their owners.
Even so, the findings point to a few minutes of shared play may be doing more to build that bond than training alone.
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