Does your dog try to draw you into play?
- Dogfulness
- Jun 2, 2025
- 1 min read
Does your dog try to pull you back into play when you suddenly stop?
That’s no coincidence. A study published in Animal Behaviour shows that dogs whose play session with a human was interrupted try to resume the interaction with that same person—not with a passive observer.
This suggests that dogs may show what’s known as shared intentionality—the ability to share a goal with someone and understand the context of joint action. Until recently, this was considered a uniquely human trait.
In short: dogs don’t just play. They know who they’re playing with—and they want to do it together. It shows their natural tendency to cooperate.
Horschler, D. J. i in. (2022). Dogs re-engage human partners when joint social play is interrupted: a behavioural signature of shared intentionality? Animal Behaviour, 183, 161–171.
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