Tug-of-War: an interesting read...

BradA1878BradA1878
edited May 2009 in Behavior & Training
I was talking to Jen, and asked the question: "Why do dog love tug-of-war so much?"...

Well, I have not found my answer - yet - but I did find a great little article available on the The San Francisco SPCA (the "Harvard" of dog training centers) website.

I though you guys may enjoy it too:

Tug of War

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Comments

  • LeonbergerLeonberger
    edited May 2009
    Very interesting.
    According to these rules, Kuma is a model tug-of-war player :-) And he loves it!
  • okironokiron
    edited November -1
    Ugh warn a woman about the pdf file sir! It likes to freeze up my browser.

    Good article though.
  • WrylyBrindleWrylyBrindle
    edited November -1
    I love Ian Dunbar!...Sage is quite mouthy, but very careful- we play tug and sometimes we play mouthy hand games. I always "knew" i wasn't "supposed" to, but he is gentle and not wild so I thought it was good to engage him on this level. He always brings the tug toy back for more play, so it looks like we are doing pretty well. Improving at Drop It, too. Thanks for the good article.
  • tjbart17tjbart17
    edited November -1
    I have always played tug of war with my dogs. *maybe I shouldn't admit that..lol* But we play on my terms not theirs and it looks like we followed the "rules". That's good to know. I forwarded this onto my girlfriend. I always play with her Boxer. She didn't necessarily like it always, but it's kind've our thing to do together. She was happy to know that Roxy is also a model player. :)
  • WrylyBrindleWrylyBrindle
    edited November -1
    Our Tug Variation: I allow Sage to 'win' the toy if he just sinks into a down, this way he has 2 ways to win, and can win without ripping it violently away. He made this variation up by laying down during a tug stalemate and I just reinforced it by letting go if he lays down and telling him he is a good, kind boy. Then he pushes it at me and we go again! I guess it is good emotional control for him.
  • PLwarped59PLwarped59
    edited November -1
    Sachi loves to play tag. I never believed that tug of war wasnt a good game for a dog, and ive always played it. We dont follow the rules they give exactly but Sachi knows the rules I have and follows them. Akira doesnt really play tug of war much.
  • ShikokuSpiritShikokuSpirit
    edited November -1
    I do a lot of rough housing, chase and tug games because I, myself, enjoy it. I've been wanting to post a thread about it, so I finally did! I'm curious to see how other owners interact with their dogs. I always innitate these games. Once in awhile, I'll allow the dog to innitate these games with me. As I want to influence that the dog has some control. I've found out that a lot of times in Obedience, Lynx will rely on me to get her "cues". Well, I want my dog to be able to think for herself and self-correct of her own will. As I may not always be able to give her a command (i.e. certain certifications & perhaps trials) .

    Anyways...if I decided that I'm done playing, I'm done playing and that's final. They all understand enough is enough. So I have my "on" and "off" switch on all my doggers.
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    I had a happy change of opinion about playing tug a while ago after starting obedience and spending more time in my dog's worlds. It's such a useful, and fun game to play and you can use the motivation to work on all sorts of other desired behaviors. That's a good guide for rules.
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    It's funny, the trainers at my obedience school have different opinions about tug. Our trainer, for the basic class, feels that it's bad and teaches aggression blah blah blah. The pre-novice to advanced trainer, who subbed when ours was sick, said that playing tug is great for keeping focus and teaching commands. So long as you can end it when you want to, she felt it was a perfect way to break them into agility(and similar activities) and plays tug with her border collies all the time. She played tug with Tetsu and showed us the use of legs for teaching them jump and crawl, and practiced commands(sit, down, stay) with him. After that, I was able to keep his focus a lot better during the rest of the class.

    That article is cool, I don't follow all the rules either, but it's nice to have a guideline to go by...especially if a person is new at it and wants to play, but doesn't want to lose control of the dog (as can happen if you don't maintain some sort of rules)
  • SayaSaya
    edited November -1
    I love to play tug o war and Bella likes tug of war too, but I initiate the play and she's good about if I say drop it she'll drop it and if I say stop she'll stop play and go to play with dink or one of her toys. She likes to play tug with her soft tug toy and her rope one she just likes to lay down and chew on it which is good since I hear it's good for their teeth.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    Hmm. I love the SF SPCA.

    Interesting article, too bad neither of mine are ever really into the tug game, they usually tug for like 30 seconds to get revved up for the toss and retrieve. Either way, I think playing interactively like this with your dog is very beneficial.
  • sunyatasunyata
    edited November -1
    Tug-o-War was essential in teaching my dogs 'drop' and 'take'. And they both love the game for a few minutes (they have short attention spans). I have never once thought that a game of tug-o-war could ever teach aggression. In fact, I was rather shocked to learn that there are people out there who believe so passionately that it does. Although, I guess if you do not have any rules, it is a game that could get out of hand easily.
  • IppusIppus
    edited November -1
    Neat article. Bookmarking that one.
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