Reciprocal Play

Do you know what good dog play looks like? Ideally we want to see each dog with loose, soft, body language, reciprocating play.  And if one dog is larger than the other dog, we want to see some self-handicapping by the larger dog. 

Check out these videos of Tigg (2 year old Border Collie) playing. First with Polly (9 year old Border Collie) and then with Freya (2 year old Maremma). 

Things that I see in these videos that I love: Tigg sneezing (play signal), Freya is running hard and Tigg is just casually running after her to “chase” (he’s very fast and could easily catch her but it’s playful so he’s just romping), Freya rolling over (self-handicapping) and then reciprocal sniffing (calming signal). These two are the best of friends and regularly play really well together.
Do you know what to look for when your dog plays with another dog?