Why Play Tug?

Playing tug with a simple set of rules is an excellent opportunity to practice helpful skills; burn energy; and provide fun, species-appropriate enrichment. Best of all, it’s a fantastic impulse control exercise: our dogs learn to sit and focus on our cue, even when they are super excited. Dogs love to tug because the toy simulates struggling prey (much like they enjoy fetch because it is a simulation of chasing prey).  We can use this to our training advantage in a fun and engaging way.

Don’t worry about the following:

  • “Teaching” or worsening prey drive. Dogs come with varying degree of hunting software from a time when that was necessary for survival. It’s already there, and tug simply provides a safe and legal outlet for our dogs to express that normal canine behavior.
  • Vocalizing while tugging. This is just a rehearsal of hunting behavior, often complete with growls and snarls. It’s part of the play! This is a collaborative activity that does not cause aggression. Outdated constructs about “dominance” do not apply, either.  Have fun with your dog.

Rules:

  • Dog must sit politely before the game begins (game begins only when you cue “take it!”). 
  • Dog drops when you cue “Drop!” (see below)
  • Teeth hitting skin, even accidentally, ends game (teaches dog to be careful with mouth placement).

How it’s done:

  1. Cue dog to sit, and then cue “take it!” and offer the toy.
  2. Make the prey *come alive* by animating it.  Really shake it and pull side to side.
  3. Now, hold the toy still (make it *go dead*) and say, “Drop!” [Note: initially you may need to hold a treat right at dog’s nose to entice and reward for dropping. Once the dog gets proficient at dropping, you can fade the food reward. The reward for dropping and performing a few simple skills will now be the game restarting.  The prey comes back to life for another fun round.]
  4. Once the dog drops, hold the tug behind your back and cue a sit (as dog becomes more advanced, you can cue a few skills – down, touch, spin, etc. – before recommencing the game).
  5. After the dog has performed the skill(s), restart the game by cuing the “take it!”

Important Tips:

  • The longer the “dig-in” (length of time per tug trial), the harder it is for them to disengage; so help your dog get it right early on by keeping trials short (<10 seconds of tugging before drops). Once your dog is reliably dropping on cue, you can make tug trials longer and rowdier.
  • Try different types of tug toys to keep it exciting.  Individual dogs may have specific preferences.

Here is a terrific video demonstration of our own Allison McConnell, CTC, playing Tug with her dog, Ember: