Dogs minds - do they play games?

[kita1]

Do dogs (or any animal) play games in their minds?

We have a little used railway line running alongside a road on dockland where I walk my dog. Many times he has gone voluntarily onto the railway track and adjusted his pace so that his feet land on the sleepers across the track. This is deliberate, similar to a kid playing on paving stones where they do not step on a crack.

It is a deliberate action and it is not just that he doesn't want to step on the gravel in between the sleepers as he chooses to go onto the track rather than the road or the grass verge.

Before anyone panics the track is used about once every six months and is open beside a public road!! I would never take him near a normal railway track - I love him far too much!

[drgnrdr]

There are probably many things going on here. Depending on the breed of your dog. Dogs vision is slightly diff than ours, and their nose leads them many times, and the surface he is walking on comes into play. Staying on a solid surface is prefered, gravel is shifty, many animals use tracks to travel leaving scent behind, even himself. They get into a routine alot of times, and check their route thru scent. I know the ballast usually consist of gravel chipping and they are usually very sharp, uncomfortable to walk on I would think, depending on what yours is made of, he may see a better contrast also in his vision and sees and feels the sleepers as sturdier to walk on. Hope that helps, that's my guess from what I know about dogs vision and behavior.

[kita1]

I should say that this is not a problem, it is just that he seems to get a sense of enjoyment out of it (you can almost see him smiling), pacing himself so that he hits the sleepers. It is almost like a kid playing a game, I just wondered if they do similar things to humans and play little games in their heads.

[CrazyWolfman]

If you can see him smiling then that pretty much anwers it. In wolves 'smiling' is a play gesture, similar to a wagging tail. Although I couldn't be certain without seeing it myself, if I was to take an educated guess I would say that there is a mixture of fun and practicality involved. The stones are uncomfortable to walk on so he walks along the sleepers as drgnrdr says, however he enjoys doing it too. Although they normally prefer games with other animals (pack mates, humans and other animals - they've even been known to play tag with coyotes in the wild) it is known for wolves to play independently or with things like fur, bones or feathers. To illustrate the point there are many dogs in the world who chase their tails (mine catches it frequently and looks very silly as a consequence), this behaviour is not done mistakenly or under the impression that the tail belongs to someone else and is obviously not done for any practical reason. Thus it would seem sensible to assume that dogs are fully capable of playing games in their heads.

[newtron]

Of course dogs play games in their minds.

[wolf63]

they are also capable of telepathic manipulation of humans. Their command of "gimme a biscuit" projected to our tiny brains many times, maybe with some drooling, works most times.