July 31st, 2008
By Eric Letendre
Playing tug can be a great game for your dog. Tug games have gotten a bad rap and many dog owners have been told to never play tug with their dog. I have a little different take on the subject and teach that tug can and should be played as long as you follow some simple rules. Step one when playing tug games always has the owner starting the game. Don’t let your dog start the game. You should always start the game.
Next thing to remember when playing tug is that your dog’s teeth should never come into contact with your skin. If your dog’s teeth touch your hands or arm, the game should immediately end,
During the game the owner should frequently take obedience breaks. As your playing tug, stop the game and have your dog perform a command. Once your dog does the command you can start playing again.
The final and most important step of tug games is the ending. Always make sure that when you are ready to finish the game you should always make your dog release the tug toy to you. If you can’t get your dog to release I don’t recommend playing tug games.
Dogs have a physical and physiological need to use their teeth and jaws. Playing tug can provide a great outlet for this need. Tug is also a great way to exercise your dog. You don’t need a lot of space and tug games can be played anywhere.
If you can’t control the game or if your can’t get your dog to release the tug toy you should not play the game but if you can control the game it is a great way to bond with your dog and it can be used a reward when your training.
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States and has been training dogs for over 20 years, teaching regular, average, every-day owners all over the world how to get the training results they want as fast as possible. Eric is also the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Improve Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
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Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training "hacks" that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
i would wonder if i can’t command my dogs to end the game, could it be trained so that he can listen to my command to end the tug games? Thank you.