kezzzza Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Hi how can I teach my Sibie to tug? He puts the rope toy in his mouth and throws it around but as soon as I try to get him to tug he gives me the toy or he holds his mouth open over the toy but wont tug. Any hints on this would be great thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 What do you do when you try to give him the tug? Do you just hold it out for him, or do you wave it around and encourage him to chase/grab it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 I like husky's point. To get the dog interested, it should be about the chase too. Also, some dogs can feel uneasy at first about biting down on the article, because its owned by "the boss", and needs to be respected! I found that I had to spend a bit of time letting my bitch know it was alright to bite down on it, and I marked and praised/rewarded her when she bit down on it initially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 It's been a tough one for us too but Ziggy is loving the tug now The chasey game is great but I also found that a sheepskin toy from Clean Run helped, plus initiating a tug game when he was really excited such as when I had been away for a few days. In addition I only tugged at home until he was REALLY confident. But it was the crazy foster kitten stealing his tug toys that really made him want to play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Also, some dogs can feel uneasy at first about biting down on the article, because its owned by "the boss", and needs to be respected!I found that I had to spend a bit of time letting my bitch know it was alright to bite down on it, and I marked and praised/rewarded her when she bit down on it initially. Micha won't tug with me, despite having a high prey drive. I've tried, and tried and tried and tried, but he just won't take anything from me. I have had two very very brief (a few seconds) of tug with him but it doesn't last and he goes back to waiting for me to throw whatever I have so he can chase it. Luckily he's also very food driven, but I've also found that I can use his favourite toy (the cuz ball) and bounce it for him which gets him excited and increases his drive. He does great heel work when we play games like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 it depends on the actual type of drive the dog has and the confidence. Why do you want to play tug is a starter? It is a very confrontational game for many dogs. You can start with a rag on a line on a stick like some bitework is done, not too threatening to the dog but still encourages prey. Then gradually move on from there. If your dog doesnt want to play tug I woudnt worry nor actively keep encouraging it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 How old is your dog? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Really? Do some dogs not like tug? I have never met such a dog. Even Kivi likes tug. Penny had next to no drive and she loved tug. Why is it confrontational? Oh wait, I don't think Alex the Min Pin plays tug. The whole world is a bit on the confrontational side for him, though. Here's a quite detailed article on how to get your dog tugging: http://www.naturaldogblog.com/blog/2007/07...g-on-the-block/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 If your dog doesnt want to play tug I woudnt worry nor actively keep encouraging it ...unless it is necessary for some sort of training, perhaps? Wish mine DIDN"T want to tug all the time It's one thing I dislike my dogs doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Do some dogs not like tug? I have never met such a dog. I don't think you'll find our working sheepdogs around here will tug It is not something they do. Interesting- even as pups- they will play chasey, and grab the rag/shoe/rope..but rarely do I see them play tug-o-war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 http://www.clickertraining.com/node/727 - the answer to your question is under the sub-head "getting started" I maintain that nearly every dog can be taught to play tug this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 If your dog doesnt want to play tug I woudnt worry nor actively keep encouraging it ...unless it is necessary for some sort of training, perhaps? Wish mine DIDN"T want to tug all the time It's one thing I dislike my dogs doing. How so, Perse? Do you mean they try to grab things that or when they shouldn't, to tug? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I guess it;s a thing I have never played with my dogs- or been encouraged to use as a training aid... tho I used it as reward when occasionally testing dogs for inclusion in a 'sniffer dog' training program, years ago... so know its worth and purpose ... Hamlet tries it sometimes... I am not a high energy/drive person and it just seems unnecessary for me/my dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kezzzza Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 How old is your dog? My dog are almost 3 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kezzzza Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 If your dog doesnt want to play tug I woudnt worry nor actively keep encouraging it ...unless it is necessary for some sort of training, perhaps? Wish mine DIDN"T want to tug all the time It's one thing I dislike my dogs doing. I want to use it as a reward for training as sometimes he like to play than have food as a reward, The other dogs keep taking his toys off him when he throws them around so I thought if he learnt to tug that way he wont loose his toys to other dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 so I thought if he learnt to tug that way he wont loose his toys to other dogs I don't think it works that way :D IF he thought his toys were the BESTEST things, and he really wanted to keep them to himself, he would !! Teaching him to tug, in my opinion, is teaching him to play with a human, using a tug toy..it won't make him want to keep his toys . But ,at 3 years old, if he isn't keen on playing tug o war with the other dogs, or you ..it may just mean he is a nice calm ,accepting dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superminty Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 (edited) Really? Do some dogs not like tug? I have never met such a dog. My super high drive kelpie had to be taught to tug and still only tugs coz it gets him food rewards. He has next to no interest in playing with toys so had to taught there was value in the object I wanted him to tug on. He is 3 and a half and has only really started proper tugging (with actual resistance) in the last few months. I used a tug-it starter (mesh tug) filled with a turkey wing to encourage him to bite down and *want* the tug - marked and rewarded with the turkey wing when there was resistance, then faded the food out. I want my dog to enjoy tugging so I have a way in which to reward him that is highly interactive - for me, handing over a food treat is a bit boring. Interesting side note - since starting with this training, he now plays tug of war with my other dog who is a tugging fiend. Edited September 28, 2009 by superminty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I would like Kaos to tug so I can use it as a reward in agility. It would be useful at trials where there is not always enough room just outside the ring to throw his toy, but enough room to tug (could be used either on its own or as intermediate reward until I could get to somewhere I could throw his toy). He will tug in the back yard but nowhere else. I did an experiment today, to tug and then mark the tug and throw the toy. Problem was, as soon as he saw the other toy, he let go of the tug and would not resume tugging (the toy is his favourite reward). So I tried putting the toy (which squeaks) in a sock. He was confused at first but eventually I got him to play a bit with the toy in sock, and marked when he was doing the best (still need to work on getting it better, first time I tried this) and took toy out of sock and threw it. Any feedback appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 How old is your dog? My dog are almost 3 years Ah. Thanks Kezzzza. I was only concerned that he might have been very young and teething - that time of their life is a period to not play tug as it can hurt their mouth (and put them off the game) and damage new teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 So for those whose dogs don't (or didn't) tug, would you agree that it's confrontational to them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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