With content from Sue Alexander

*Iris the Doberman, from Tampa Bay Humane, learns tug to help with impulse control*

I’ve heard this one probably hundreds of times at this point, from clients, volunteers, shelter workers, adopters… “Won’t playing tug with my dog make him aggressive?”

Well… as with everything behavior, it depends.

Understanding just what tug is helps us wrap our minds around when it might be safe and when it might be dangerous, and how you can use it. Simply put, tug of war might be better labeled “tug of ‘let’s work together to make dinner’”. Wild canids, such as wolves, use tugging to open up a carcass and eat the contents; the wolves work together, and then share the food. Dogs are not wolves, but in this case, we can see the remnants of the behavior in our domestic dogs. We even see this behavior in young pups in the litter; given a soft toy, domestic puppies will work together to pull it apart. If we remember that tugging served a purpose in the distant past, we can see that our current canine companions are not trying to gain the upper paw in their interactions with us. They are, in fact, working with us to play games that mimic a behavior that served a different purpose once upon a time. Tug is a valuable game, as long as you know how to make it work.

Tug is a valuable exercise in many sports. In protection work, and in the training of police and military dogs, tug helps to teach the dog how hard to bite, when to bite and when to let go. It is an exciting and uplifting game that many handlers use in agility to encourage speed and focus. You may see a rolled up, duct-taped old towel or Kong on a rope in the back pocket of the dog handler patrolling Customs with their Labrador, who will work all day for the chance to play tug once in a while. Even bite sports are trained with the reward of tugging on the bite sleeve or suit. So why are all of these high-level handlers allowed to play tug, and people with pet dogs are not?

If you play tug with no rules or constraints whatsoever, you may inadvertently teach your dog to grab anything in or near your hands. You may teach him to hold on to these items tightly and not let go. You may just amp him up and add no manners or obedience to his repertory. And you may inadvertently teach him to bite at your hands or other body parts. This is probably why some of the old books say “never play tug with your dog!”

The saying “when you know better, do better” really applies to tugging. Most modern trainers not just allow, but encourage their students to teach their dogs to tug. You do need to teach and maintain the game, but it is fairly easy to do that. There are four simple rules. Memorize the rules, and if you can tell them back to me at the end of this article, you have my permission to tug with your dog to your heart’s content.

The dog must wait for a cue to begin the game (Trish says “get it!” and Sue says “tug, tug, tug”)

2. The dog must release the tug when requested. (“Drop” or “out” are common cues used)

3. After the dog has a turn tugging, he must do a behavior the handler asks for before tugging starts again.

4. If the dog’s teeth touch your skin, the game ends immediately.

If you play tug with these four rules, instead of creating the sleeve-grabbing monster described at the beginning of the article, you’ll end up with a dog who shows impulse control and waits for a cue before taking something from your hands. Tug with rules creates a dog who drops toys readily, able to ping-pong from the arousal and excitement of tug to quiet obedience, or fun tricks. Properly taught, you’ll have a dog who is very careful where he puts his teeth, lest the game end. Can anyone see how beneficial all this training might be to a shelter dog?

So how do we get started?

Start by simply spending some time getting to know the dog. Does he like to hold things in his mouth? Does he have a preference? If the dog you are working with does not want to hold things in his mouth, remember that although tug can be tons of fun, not all dogs care for this game. Dogs don’t have to tug! There are many other fun activities that you can try instead.

Once you have determined that the dog likes to hold things, consider the tug toy itself. If your dog likes carrying his stainless steel food bowl, that’s great, but it might damage his teeth if you tried to tug on it. If, on the other hand, your dog likes to carry stuffed toys, you are away to the races! Now what types of toys are best for shelter dogs?

Tug toys need to be long enough that the dog can grab them without touching your hands, so once you know what your dog would like to hold in his mouth, see if there’s a version that accommodates this. Stuffed toys can be attached to a rope. Dogs who prefer Kongs are easily engaged by a Kong with a rope fed through the small hole and knotted inside the bell of the toy, or by one of the floating Kong fetch toys that come with a rope already attached. Although you can teach a dog who likes sticks to tug on those, it needs to be noted that sticks can splinter and break. Many shelters have volunteers who braid fleece into long ropes – these are usually a great place to start. Some dogs like rope toys but be careful; strings in tug toys can snag on incisors and dislodge teeth, and small bits of string can cause impactions if a lot of them get stuck in the dog’s gut. Some dogs are willing to pick something up, but they are picky about doing so if you are holding onto the toy, and need some encouragement – consider grabbing a fur coat from the second hand store and cutting it into strips that you can braid into your fleece tugs. There are even online stores that make handled tug toys especially for this purpose. At any rate, make sure the tug toys aren’t given out as chew toys, they need to be kept away from the dog if they’re not supervised, so they’ll remain special and so they won’t get eaten.

Once you have a toy that the dog is interested in, you can teach the dog to play the game. When starting with a new dog, it is a good idea to have the dog drag a leash so that you can catch the dog if his arousal gets too high. Start out with the tug under one arm, and the dog on leash. Keep your eye on the dog and note when he starts to relax, even if it just a tiny amount. Don’t start playing until the dog is momentarily less excited that he was when you started. The very first time you play, you have the advantage of the dog not knowing what is coming, so you have a window of opportunity to set up for success. Be patient and avoid telling the dog what to do. Just watch for that moment when the dog is momentarily relaxed, and then start the game! Say your tugging word, and whip out from under your arm, and drag it in front of the dog. If your dog grabs on, tug vigorously for about thirty seconds. Then when your dog is slightly less excited about the game, say “out” or “drop it” and immobilize the toy. You can do this against your thigh, and hold it still until the dog lets go, or you can hold the dog by the collar or the leash until he lets go on his own. It is OK to trade for a treat the first few times.

At first, it is a good idea to start tugging again as soon as the dog lets go, even if it took a long time to get him to let go because letting go is really hard. Tug then becomes the reward for letting go! Some dogs will naturally tug for a long time at first, but tugging is an exhausting activity, so in the first few sessions, tug 7 to 10 times and then end the game. When teaching a dog to tug, you can choose to let them carry the tug around at the end of the game as long as the dog has not put a tooth on you. If the dog has touched you with a tooth, even if by accident, pretending you are injured, being dramatically sad and then putting the tug away can make a BIG impression to the dog.

Troubleshooting

If the dog does not want to latch on to the tug you can often get him to play by dragging the toy ahead of him and whipping it away, and then presenting the toy again and repeating until the dog is enthusiastic about chasing the toy. Pro-trainers will often use a flirt stick to make the toy really exciting; flirt sticks are poles with rope on them that allow you to make the toy bounce around in a lively way.
Some dogs won’t let go when you immobilize the toy, or they will get more aroused and start coming up the toy or mouthing it back and forth and up and down. It is an important fact that you cannot pull against something that is attached to the dog; to achieve this, you hold the dog’s collar in one hand and the toy in your other hand and the press your wrists together. Instead of trying to pull the toy out of the dog’s mouth, simply follow the dog’s movements with your hands. Eventually, when the dog lets go, cue him to tug right away again. By doing this, you can teach the dog that letting go quickly results in another opportunity to tug again. Here is Iris trading for a treat. Note that the tug quickly goes out of her reach!

Once you have established the routine of tugging and letting go and then regripping again, you can start to add in extra bits. One strategy that can help is to teach the dog that when you have the tug, the dog should look into your face. Hold your tug out beside you and tug when the dog looks away from it, and looks into your face, start the game again. Then add in some skills if the dog knows any: sit or down, perhaps. Tug is a game, and games work best when you each get your turn; the dog takes the turn when he tugs and then you take a turn when you ask the dog for a behavior.

In the event that the dog is too enthusiastic about tugging and struggles with the game, you can often help the dog by tethering him to a wall or other solid object, and playing from outside of the confines of the tether. This can also help a lot with an enthusiastic tugger who struggles with self control. By stepping back out of the dog’s space, you can keep the toy out of reach, and you can avoid having to end the game early because the dog has touched you with his teeth. A few dogs like to climb you when they get excited; for these dogs, you can add in the rule that if they put their feet on you that the game will end just as though he had touched you with a tooth.
If a dog is a reluctant tugger, you can often encourage him to tug by allowing the dog to “win” the tug toy. This means that the dog learns that trying hard can result in him having sole possession of the toy. Almost always the dog will bring the toy back to you to start the game again. There was a study that indicated dogs like playing more with people who let them win it sometimes. Be careful if the dog is a toy guarder – you may need to leave a trail of high-value treats away from the toy in order to get it back from a dog who is threatening to bite if he’s in possession of the toy.

Even When Tempted, She’s Waiting For The Cue!

Protect Your Body and the Body of Your Dog

Some dogs are really enthusiastic about toys and tugging. With these dogs, a good strategy is to step on the leash when first teaching the dog to control themselves around toys. Make certain that your leash is not too long; if you stand on the handle and the dog is able to jump up, he will hurt his neck. By putting your foot on the leash, and holding the toy under your arm, the dog is prevented from knocking you over, or climbing you, or even inadvertently touching you with a tooth in their enthusiasm for the toy.

In order to protect your dog’s body, it is really important to tug properly. Tug should go left and right, and you can even run with your dog. If you tug up and down, you can really harm a dog’s neck. Dogs with delicate necks such as some of the toy breeds may require a very careful touch with tug; you can injure tiny dogs if you play too hard. Great tugging is reciprocal; the dog should learn to tug only as hard as you are willing to tug. A great game for fine tuning self-control is to play baby tug, where the handler starts to play less, not more vigorously. This gives your body a break and helps the dog to learn better self-control skills.

You might jar the dog’s neck if you shove the toy into them, and that can turn the dog off tugging permanently. To avoid this, always draw the toy away from the dog as soon as you tell him to take it. When you say “get it” or “tug, tug” present the tug in front of the dog and then draw it away several inches, quickly and smartly. Try wiggling it along the ground like a squirrel’s tail – many dogs find that hard to resist!

The Last Woof

Tug is a valuable activity in any trainer’s repertoire. When done properly, it can create a high degree of co-operation and self-control in the dogs we care for. The notion that tug will create aggression or other behavior problems should be a thing of the past, but these ideas often persist when people don’t understand how to play tug safely and effectively, or when they have had a bad experience.

Happy tugging!

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