"Play" in all three species is marked by the expression of any or all of these postures and gestures but without the sense of "formality" which accompanies non-play behavior -- during play, subdominant animals may chase and harass more dominant ones, but when play is over, the original rank order returns. The essence of play is a relaxed face and repeated, apparently purposeless movements such as poking with the muzzle, "dancing" with the forepaws, bouncing or brief, invitational runs. Play is seen most frequently in pups of all species, but in the social animals (wolves) play behavior may continue to a degree into adulthood. Adult wolves will invite play chases from one another with a "play face" -- lips drawn back horizontally, an open-mouthed grin, ears more or less erect, eyes partially closed and slanted -- or the play bow. Adult red foxes and coyotes exhibit playful behavior primarily only during courtship.

Playful Actions:

bowing- Wolves will lower their front and watches another wolf hoping to play, their tails are usually wagging

snorking- sticking your nose in another's wolf ear and...yuck!! You can also snork the tummy

frothing- drool, nosey, drool, drool, drool!

pouncing- wolves jump on each other in surprise and play

taunting- wolves will pounce the ground, rump in the air, usually giving off a playful growl then scamper backwards and pounce the ground again, enticing a lazy wolf to come play

chasing- usually after taunting a wolf will stand up and run after the playmate and try to bring them down with a playful pounce

nipping- of the scruff/ears/muzzle/tail

wrestling- wolves love rolling around the ground, pawing each others muzzle flopping over each other

Sounds of play- growling, chuffing, panting, yelping, yipping

hide-n-seek (game)- sometimes wolves will scamper away from a playmate, run around the clearing, and find a good hiding spot, the other playmate will sniff around the area trying to find the hiding wolf

mockplay/playfight (game)- wolves usually pounce the ground and growl to play challenge another wolf, usually they'll suddenly pounce another playmate, wrestling, scruffing them, growling, chuffing, and running around tail wagging

wolf hopping (game)- cubs hop over the other cubs or adults to encourage play

After play, wolves most often curl up with their playmate and nuzzle, lick and groom one another as a sign of friendship and affection, showing it was all in good fun.