Reading Play
4 cards · about a minute
The play bow
Front legs down and rear up is a punctuation mark meaning everything after this is not serious, and dogs use it to reopen play that got sharp.
Play takes turns
Healthy play swaps roles, the chaser becomes the chased, the one on top rolls under, and play that only runs one way has stopped being play.
Pauses are the point
Good play has small breaks built into it; two dogs who never pause are climbing rather than playing, and that is the moment to call one out.
Finish before it tips
End play while it is still good, with a walk and water and a settle, because a dog taken from play at its peak learns that excitement has a ceiling.