Tug Of War Game

Tug of war is one of those misinterpreted dog/human games that doesn’t get experienced by many dogs because of the aggressive perception of the game.  Even many animal professionals tell you not to do it.  This is very sad because it’s probably one of the best things to do with a dog.  We have the “pack leader” and “dominance” teachings to blame.  Under those “Pack” rules,  it’s you against your dog to see who wins the toy.  Under those rules,  you are in competition with your dog for everything and you must not allow them to “win” because they will think you’re weak, and assume the position of “Pack leader”.

These teachings couldn’t be farther from the truth.  Your dog is your teammate and not your competitor,  you are working together for a common goal.  When wild dogs tug on the same piece of meat from a killed prey, they are tugging to tear the meat apart so they both can swallow the smaller pieces,  and not a battle of who gets the food or biggest piece. The dog sees it as both of you against the toy and not against each other. This is why dogs play fight and play tug of war with each other, it’s practice, before the real things happens.  Talk about lost in translation; they must really be confused when they’re corrected (or deprived) from things, when they are really just trying to play, practice and work together.

However, every game has a set of rules that must be followed, not because of dominance- but because you don’t want a dog making the rules. During my lessons, I teach people how to teach their dog to not only like toys (if they don’t) but how to properly and safely play tug games, without the dog getting the wrong idea and developing control and behavioral problems because of it.

If you would like the rest of this story, which explains the benefits of the game, and how to properly teach and play one of the best dog -human games, use the comment form below and tell me a little about your dog i.e. breeds, age and any behavior problems they may have.

Where the tug game gets negative attention is if the dog has the toy and the owner tries to take it, and the dog growls or snaps. That behavior wasn’t or isn’t caused by tug games,  it’s caused by the predatory nature of dogs to guard precious resources aka: “Resource Guarding” or  ”Possession Aggression”.  These dogs value the item too much once they get it and they want to keep it for themselves.  Somewhere in the past, or when playing the tug game incorrectly, the owners encouraged or allowed this bad behavior to go on without modifying it.  Don’t worry, the problem can be fixed with the right knowledge, just call your local dog friendly trainer, or visit my “Programs Available” page to find out how I can help you.