SPA utilizes Gordon M. Burghardt’s definition of play (2005) which lists five criteria:
Play does not have a complete function in its context. (Think incomplete predatory sequence)
Play is intrinsically motivating, intentional and reinforcing.
Play may mimic serious behaviors, but has modifications to differentiate it as play (such as exaggeration or incompleteness).
Play may repeat behaviors, but it is not stereotypical.
Last but most importantly, play occurs when an animal is unstressed.
Therefore, any escalation to aggression is not play. Purposeful communication of being uncomfortable or asking the other animal to increase distance is not play. Needing to defend yourself from a dog trying to attack you is not play. If you consistently have aggression in your playgroups, then you do not have playgroup. You have Fight Club. First rule of Fight club is you do not talk about Fight Club (Palahniuk, 1996).
If your goal for playgroup is an enriching experience for the animals in your care, then it is critical to go slow and read body language to ensure consent and play are actually happening. If your goal is to put as many dogs as possible into a yard and create a hostile environment where they can practice aggressing on each other, then ignore the definitions of play. SPA has a very low rate of injury to dogs and handlers alike. We are not running Fight Club. We are trying to alleviate the stress of sheltering by offering an enriching experience.
We tailor our approach to the individual dogs and actively look for play behaviors.
Some dogs in care may be social with other dogs but not find playgroup enriching in the shelter environment. For them, playgroup is not the right enrichment strategy. Continuing to subject them to playgroup while they are in the shelter setting might drastically change their opinion of other dogs to the point of making them no longer dog social (creating a negative Conditioned Emotional Response [CER] to conspecifics). By not allowing dogs to opt out of ‘playgroup’ you might create a dog-aggressive dog.
Alternatively, by asking for consent and accurately reading body language we can do the opposite with dogs who are conflicted about other dogs. Providing them the choice to move away and by not forcing them to interact with dogs that are scary we can build human-preferred behaviors for them to practice. This includes reinforcing calm behavior when they see the other dog, pairing the other dog with good things, teaching them how to move away from a dog calmly when they need a break, and shaping pro-social behavior.
All of that to say, aggression has no place in playgroup. Playgroup should not result in skin punctures to either dogs or people. If you regularly have incidents break out, you are not running playgroup. You are running Fight Club. If you need a large toolkit of aversives to run playgroup, then you still have Fight Club.
References:
Burghardt, G. M. (2005). The Genesis of Animal Play. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/3229.001.0001
Palahniuk, C. (1996). Fight Club. W.W. Norton.
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