Playing tug of war?

Sorry for all the questions. I was wondering if tug of war is ok with a pup. I know not to be rough because of the delicate teeth. What I am concerned with is if it will make him aggressive.

Thanks again and again sorry for so many questions


Glen

 

I know there are varying opinons on this, but I personally think playing tug o war doesn't do any harm so long as you stick to a few rules. You always are the one to initiate and to stop the game. The dog must release on command every time you ask. Here's a good article I found on it that I thought was helpful explaining how dogs percieve the game.

http://pages.prodigy.net/k9shrink/page27.html

And here's a good one on teaching how to play tug correctly
http://www.clickerlessons.com/tug.html[/url]

 

Thanks for the great info and articles. I have saved them and will use the info provided.

 

I like Tug but agree to the above guidelines...

Pits in particular LOVE playing with a flirt pole this make them pretty excited but might be an idea later on when the pup gets bigger...

Like the stick with a carrot on the end... PVC pipe, a rope strung through it with a toy on the end...with about 4 feet of rope off the end of the pole...

Have fun though!

 

The only way that tugging makes "aggressive" dogs is if you hit them or play really really rough where they get really upset and its more then just tugging to them. Like sara said as long as you start the game and you decide when the play time is over, this is with any game and training session.

 

I dont do any serious tugging with my dogs because of my concerns about their Bite being affected, I never let my son engage in tug either as I dont want the dog to view it as a form of who is stronger and who is in charge.