# Tug of war yes or no?



## AutismDogGirl (Oct 7, 2010)

Doyiuplaytug of war with you puppy? Why or why not? I know many. People are divided on thus so I wanted opinions


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

It's a great game to play with your dog. I do it all the time.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

I do.... He enjoys playing tug, he even plays with my Lab. If she has it, he will tug it!!


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## King&Skylar (Jun 3, 2010)

I love playing tugs with my dogs. Great confidence builder for them.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Yes. Builds confidence and drive. Also lots of fun. But not too rough right now because he's teething!


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

Yes we definitely play tug however it has rules I start it and end it she also has to let it go on command if she refuses to give it up after telling her to out I make sure I get it and then end the game if she outs the first time I let her regrip and keep going.


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## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

Tug of war and flirt pole:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: We do both of these activities all the time. It is great for wearing Molly out and a great way to teach commands


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

If you want to build drive in your puppy, you don't want to always win it and start/end it. The dog needs to win sometimes to build confidence.

Absolutely agree however that they must out immediately when told.


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## Kay (Aug 2, 2010)

People do have mixed opinions on it. I guess it depends on the dog. If your dog has dominance issues it's probably best to avoid the game until those are corrected.

I've always played it with my gal though. Sometimes I'll start the game, other times she'll come over with her tuggy (actually, every toy is a tug toy to her haha).If I tell her to give I expect her to give, but then I always reward her by tossing it back to her. It's great for building her confidence, so sometimes she gets to win. I also use it as a rewards at time during training. We'll heel for a bit and then I'll bust out her "special" tug toy. She loves it!

It's kind of cool too, because she's incredibly strong when she really tugs... she has pulled my fiance off the couch!


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## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

I always heard that if your puppy was teething it was best to wait because it could cause damage.


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## bbranc (Feb 26, 2011)

I play tug with mine, and in fact the trainer I am using for protection work pretty much insists on it.


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## Pattycakes (Sep 8, 2010)

I play tug with my dog as well. She loves it!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

1sttimeforgsd said:


> I always heard that if your puppy was teething it was best to wait because it could cause damage.


Right on that! I wouldn't want to cause the new tooth alignment to be messed up, so no tug during teething, plus pup is in pain usually.

I play tug with my dogs, two of them have not got great "tug drive" though. Karlo will tug all day long and I let him win often! But he does know that out will get the game back on....I mix up obedience/heeling when playing tug, it isn't just a little game but a training session in diguise.


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## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

I do. Obviously the size and age of the dog will control how hard I pull. However, its rare that I let the dog win. In order to win they have to legitimately get the toy away from me ( which has never happened) or try with all their might for a long time. Sadly my dogs dont really like to play tug


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Winning the tug is what builds confidence! Why don't you let your dog win vicky2200?


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

vicky2200 said:


> I do. Obviously the size and age of the dog will control how hard I pull. However, its rare that I let the dog win. In order to win they have to legitimately get the toy away from me ( which has never happened) or try with all their might for a long time. Sadly my dogs dont really like to play tug


That's probably why they don't like to play-- they never win. I don't like to play games I can't ever win either.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

vicky2200 said:


> I do. Obviously the size and age of the dog will control how hard I pull. However, its rare that I let the dog win. In order to win they have to legitimately get the toy away from me ( which has never happened) or try with all their might for a long time. Sadly my dogs dont really like to play tug


Would you play a game that you never won?


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## wilbanks17 (Feb 11, 2011)

vicky2200 said:


> I do. Obviously the size and age of the dog will control how hard I pull. *However, its rare that I let the dog win*. In order to win they have to legitimately get the toy away from me ( which has never happened) or try with all their might for a long time. Sadly my dogs dont really like to play tug


That's problay why they don't like to play.


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## Dogaroo (Mar 4, 2003)

1sttimeforgsd said:


> I always heard that if your puppy was teething it was best to wait because it could cause damage.


Flashback to Gunnar's puppyhood: I avoided playing tug with Gunnar when he was teething, but Gunnar apparently didn't get that memo. He was quite the land shark, and I frequently found myself playing an involuntary game of tug involving my pants leg. I generally did my best to win those games when they happened. After the second time I lost, I stopped wearing elastic waist pants until he was well past his "bratty puppy" & "obnoxious adolescent" phases.


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## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

I dont let them win because then they think they are stronger than you and will try to get away with more stuff. They dont play tug with each other either. I have played with other dogs who enjoy the challenge. And as I said if they dont give up I let them win, but mine usually give up within about 2 minutes if they even play.


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## JanaeUlva (Feb 5, 2011)

Yep we tug and I tugged with Minka as a puppy, I'm just careful prior to adult teeth. I let her win when she fight/shakes her head hard by letting go. Then I encourage her to bring it back to me and initiate the tug game again. I pust/out her off the tug and throw a ball right away for her as reward for letting it go. So we often mix tug and fetch together. Like someone else mentioned, I also pust and if she let's go immediately I let her grab the tug again to initiate the game. We have fun doing a sit/stay or down/stay then I step away from her and hold the tug high, release her so she can learn to target the tug. In this particular game she learns stay, verbal release and targeting. She's fun, I can even hold up a corn stalk and she will jump and grab it, we tug until it falls apart. She wins.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

vicky2200 said:


> I dont let them win because then they think they are stronger than you and will try to get away with more stuff. They dont play tug with each other either. I have played with other dogs who enjoy the challenge. And as I said if they dont give up I let them win, but mine usually give up within about 2 minutes if they even play.


No, this is untrue. It's an old wives tale that dogs that win will be alpha dogs or become "dominant."

Your dogs give up because they don't get to win. They shouldn't have to "not give up" in order to very rarely win the tug. Let them tug a second or two, then win. Slowly increase the tug time over time. They HAVE to win on a regular basis early on or it's no fun for the dog and they won't build tug drive and confidence.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

I let my dog win all the time and he just turns around to give it back to me so we can tug some more. I can't imagine how depressing it would be to not let your dog win.


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

vicky2200 said:


> I dont let them win because then they think they are stronger than you and will try to get away with more stuff. They dont play tug with each other either. I have played with other dogs who enjoy the challenge. And as I said if they dont give up I let them win, but mine usually give up within about 2 minutes if they even play.


LOL! Poor dogs!


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Rerun said:


> No, this is untrue. It's an old wives tale that dogs that win will be alpha dogs or become "dominant."
> .


Absolutely. If you watch dogs play, very often an adult dog will let a little puppy drag him all over the yard and will let the puppy win. I see this all the time between Rocky and Kopper. You see when the big adult lets the little pup "roll" him and climb all over him. Rules are suspended during play.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I play tug with Stosh in the evenings when he gets the zoomies. It tires him out and it's lots of fun, but as soon as I let go he drops the tug toy. As long as there isn't any growling, aggression, excited nipping, it's a great game


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I don't think that growling is aggression when you are playing with a tug. Growling is a dogs way of communicating, it does not mean aggression. 
And how many dogs "turn the table" to win the tug? There is no game if there is nothing to tug against, the dog knows that the person is the one controlling the game, let it go limp....game over. 
Tug toys are very valuable in training, too bad more people don't utilize it, dogs will engage with more enthusiasm during training sessions if they are enjoying themselves.


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## SouthernNdN (Nov 17, 2010)

I agree with Onyx. My girl will do a command in a split second if I have her rope. No issues, no repeats. I didn't know she knew how to play fetch until after we started playing tug of war. She ended up dropping it on my lap when I would't grab onto it anymore, so I chucked it through the house, A second later she had brought it back and dropped it in my lap again and just stood there.

We play kinda hard sometimes. She'll do her hunch back pull with all 4 paws dug in and then she'll stay dug, until I pull it towards me and it's hunch back again with more tuggin. However now when she grabs on it's for dear life. I can pull the rope up and somtimes lift her entire body off the floor, and she won't budge an inch. That is until I give the cmd to drop it and she's done.

Outdoor activities this summer will be quite tiring I'm thinking.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i started playing tug with my dog
when he was a pup. i let my dog win
sometimes during play. when the game is over
i always let my dog win.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I play hard with Karlo, too....get him going more by patting him up. He loves it! And he is not small, so tug is pretty challenging for me as I'm about 40# heavier than him/but much older and not as stealth!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

they probably don't like to play because
of the way you play tug with them. it's ok to let them win.



vicky2200 said:


> I do. Obviously the size and age of the dog will control how hard I pull. However, its rare that I let the dog win. In order to win they have to legitimately get the toy away from me ( which has never happened) or try with all their might for a long time. Sadly my dogs dont really like to play tug


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

Tug is one of my favorite ways to interact with my dogs. I used a tug reward when I was in SAR with my lab. I used a tug for him also in agility training. 

When we rescued our pit, she was terrified of absolutely everything but she had really fantastic prey drive. I used a flirt pole to get her to interact with me and when she started tugging with me, she started seeking other things to do with me as well. 

When I got Madix, I could either tug with something I put in his mouth or tug with my pant legs LOL 

I smack my dogs around quite a bit when we're playing too - rub their heads hard, thump their ribs with hand or foot (I am NOT kicking them) etc. They love it! 

The minute they "win" they are shoving it back in my face to go another round.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

growling is their way of communicating while
playing. playing tug is the time for them to
be aggressive. excited nipping; you have to protect
your hands. if they clamp down on a finger
or hand while playing tug they don't mean it.



Stosh said:


> I play tug with Stosh in the evenings when he gets the zoomies. It tires him out and it's lots of fun, but as soon as I let go he drops the tug toy. As long as there isn't any growling, aggression, excited nipping, it's a great game


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## SouthernNdN (Nov 17, 2010)

onyx'girl said:


> I play hard with Karlo, too....get him going more by patting him up. He loves it! And he is not small, so tug is pretty challenging for me as I'm about 40# heavier than him/but much older and not as stealth!


 
LOL. Well thankfully I've got a good 150 lbs on her, so the only thing I have to worry about is my arms the next day.

I was playing with my girl one day and was "patting her up" and a friend of mine was shocked! They thought I was playing to ruff. I said if it was to ruff she would let go and be done, the more I thud on her the ruffer she tugs. My friend then said, you know if she grabs onto someone how are they going to get her off if she won't release from smacking her. I said, well if someone breaks into my home, I don't want her to release! At least not until I tell her to. 

She has an awesome bite, however I don't think her nerves are sound enough to go through personal protection or Shutzund, so it's hard core tug o war for us!


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

As far as smacking and knowing to release. I don't smack my dogs in punishment very often - usually only if they've done something that puts them at risk in some way and even then - it's the tone of my voice and the intent behind that tells them that behavior is very, very wrong. I smack them MUCH harder in play and they love it. The intent is totally different. Just like I roughhouse with my family and Madix will bark and run around and bring toys to us - however, he does not tolerate someone he is not familiar with doing that with me. Or even if their intent is not to play but to be mean, he will get between us.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Yes, Dante gets all amped up when I smack his sides, rub his head, etc. Sometimes he get excited and growls during tug, but it's not an aggression growl at me, just an excitement/determination to win growl.

you just have to know the difference between the dog trying to growl and resource his tug by growling, and the determined growl of a tugging dog.


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