Somebody has told me that you shouldn't promote tug of war games with our canine friends because it encourages aggression.

I've also been told that if you ever do get into a tug of war game with a dog then you should never let him 'win' as this will make him think he has dominance over you.

Is any of this right?

No, you should ALWAYS use a rope - two teams of strong men pulling in opposite directions on a dog can cause it catastrophic damage.

If your games always end with them giving you the toy then they never 'win'- they're acknowledging your right to take the toy (whatever it is) off them.

Molly pulls my niece round the garden by her rope toy most weeks. Both think it's great fun and it ends with Molly giving me the rope pull back and everyone having a nice drink of water. Of course the drinking vessel varies between species.

Sorry but it's all a load of tosh...

I play tug with Takara regularly. If she's being a sod and won't give back the tug toy on request, I let go. Suddenly tug toy becomes a boring lifeless piece of rope.

YOU bring the tug toy to life - therefore YOU can control the game.

If you're going for pack theory think of it this way, dogs in packs tug on prey between themselves - this isn't to cause arguments, it's a way of working together to get the food they want.

Tug of war games are great bonding activities, brilliant energy burners and even provide mental stimulation.

I regularly ask Takara to leave it, she does, she gets it back. Sometimes she gets to chase it as I throw it or sometimes she gets to play tug again - what a great reward for leaving on cue.
I also drop it on a regular basis too - if her teeth stray too close to my hands (she's quickly learning that get mum's hands and the game stops) and if she refuses to let go, I let it go limp and suddenly its no fun anymore and she brings it back to me and leaves it because that's how she can get mum to start the fun.

I'm afraid when training a dog all you're doing is teaching him how to get what he wants. People think that by training a dog, you're teaching him to want to please you - in reality you're teaching him ways to get what he wants and he will always exploit that.
So whatever you do with your dog, he's likely to win - tug games are no different. You teach him to leave it, he leaves it and is reinforced in some way - he's won. He doesn't see the game the same way as you do.

Edit to add: Takara's behaviour has improved a heck of a lot since introducing regular tug games into her routine ;)

Our Sukie loves her tug rope. She plays tug with it, fetch with it but she hates playing with it alone. She does tend to get really giddy at which point I just stand really still and ignore her, she normally calms down and drops the toy at my feet. I don't tend to continue playing with the tug toy though, I pick it up and swap it for something else. At one point she was only getting to play with the tug toy for a few minutes before it got swapped but she soon learnt and now has a good half an hour with it. but, by giddy I mean growling and shaking it all over, wacking everything she walks past with it, including hitting her head against these things (my dog has always been a bit wierd) which is why I stop the game when it gets to this point!

I must admit though, I made the mistake of buying her a long thick tug rope, it cost me around £8 i think and it has lasted a long time, but if I fetch her small ones out I get the 'as if' look and she goes off and fetches the bigger one :hihi:

The best example of a dog taking tug of war too far was a staffy I used to know. He liked being clamped onto the end of a rope so much you could tie one end to a branch in our tree and he would jump up and grab it with his teeth and remain suspended there untill you physically removed him.
This was fine at home with his own rope, however If you came across a rope swing whilst out and about you would get strange looks from passers by and lots of disappointed kids that couldn't play on it untill Frank had finished his turn.

knowing how exciteable Ailsa gets with tug ropes and toys, we tend to avoid them and stick to her tennis balls and frisbees- things she is more like to 'leave' so that we can throw and she can retrieve.

I'm afraid when training a dog all you're doing is teaching him how to get what he wants. People think that by training a dog, you're teaching him to want to please you - in reality you're teaching him ways to get what he wants and he will always exploit that.
So whatever you do with your dog, he's likely to win - tug games are no different. You teach him to leave it, he leaves it and is reinforced in some way - he's won. He doesn't see the game the same way as you do.

;)


this is genius, I've never ever looked at things this way before but i will from now on! :)

Ha! Well I've never had the word genius associated with me, but glad it makes sense!