Description
This article is from the Dog
Behavior FAQ, posted to rec.pets.dogs newsgroup. Maintained
by Cindy Tittle Moore with numerous contributions by others.
022. Tug of War
The Monks (and former Monk, Job Michael Evans) seem to believe that
playing tug is a form of "teaching" the dog to use its teeth, and
therefore a precursor to the dog's learning to use its teeth as a
weapon. In their view, you should never play tug with a dog. On the
other hand, there are many people and organizations, especially in
obedience and working dogs (patrol, narcotic, and search and rescue)
that actively use tug of war as a reward and a way to build up a
strong play response. People with hunting retrievers never play tug of
war for fear of creating a "hard mouthed" dog (one that mangles the
birds it retrieves).
Dealing with the possible aggression incurred in tug of war is
probably more constructive than never teaching your dog to use its
teeth. Besides, studies on canine aggression show that even extremely
docile dogs can be provoked to show aggression. Houpt and Wolski in
their book _Domestic Animal Behavior for Veterinarians and Animal
Scientists_ note: "Growling is an aggressive call in dogs, and is
commonly known. It is interesting evolutionarily that even the most
placid dog can be induced to growl if one threatens to take a bone
away from it. A scarcity of food in general can increase aggression
..., but bones seem to have particular value even for the satiated
dog."
This can hinge on whether you (as the owner) can distinguish between
challenges and playing. If the dog is playing when doing TOW, there's
no problem. If it *is* challenging you doing this, you need to 1)
recognize the challenge (versus just playing) 2) win and 3) stop the
TOW and correct its challenge to your authority. If you can't make the
distinction, then don't play tug-of-war with it. Couple any tug-o-war
games with the command "Give" or something similar so that the dog
learns to immediately let go ON COMMAND. If it doesn't, that's a
challenge, and you need to deal with it. Teach your dog what "give"
when you start playing this game with it. When you know that your dog
understands the command, then periodically reinforce it by having your
dog "give" at random times. This becomes a form of keeping your alpha
position as mentioned earlier in this article. And tug of war,
properly implemented, is an intensely rewarding game for many dogs,
making a good "treat" during training sessions, for example.
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