Re-Teaching Tug of war and the real way(nicely and no punishments) with your dog!

HAPPY NEW YEARS! Hope yours was what you needed it to be. My goals this year are to grow my blog, keep running and reflect on how to be a kinder and gentler trainer/person. There are so many topics to discuss this year and I look forward to growing with my dogs and my clients! Thank you for your support and please comment, post or send pictures of your dogs and session and I will feature them.

On that note I want to discuss a game today that has a mixed reputation. So often I hear how bad it is to work tug with your dog. This is so far from the truth to those of us that know how to do it the nice and fun way. Below is Ozzie and he has MASSIVE prey drive and is reactive on leash. He is a tenacious, intelligent but a fearful dog with a drive to kill vermin and heard small groups of things.. He is a blue heeler/jack russel mix so you can imagine his energy levels. We spent the day teaching him how to tug with control but to have fun and get out is angst(in an appropriate) environment with professional help and guidance.

If you have a dog that is mad about tug then some rules need to be applied to the game. And if you have been playing tug with your dog for any length of time, please dont expect them to obey the rules right away. They have learned to play it their way with you up through now and we are going to switch it up. Watch me change the old game to the new game on on Ozzie in this video. He has been taught to only let go with a tug on the leash. I will attempt to teach him to let go on his own and as soon as he does, I will give it back to him. Most dogs will not let go because they think that makes the game end. But when we teach the dog that it makes the game start all over again, they let go faster and faster.

Watch the first several attempts by me to "out" the toy. Kim has to come grab him off. But the 3rd time I ask her to wait and see if I can get him to let go with out pulling him off. And when he does...BANG he gets the tug right back and we start at it. If he cheats, I will say "AHH" and make the tug inanimate. This will usually get the dog to let go as the game has stopped. The key is to give it right back when the do finally let go!

If your dog is more than you can handle or you have a pup that wins all the time, you certainly need help to teach him the right way, so please call us and we can help. I only let the dog win 1 out of every 6 games to keep him coming back. Just as it is not fun to play with your dog if he ALWAYS wins, it is the same for him if we always win!

KD

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