# Using tugging as a reward



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

I use it and he loves it!!!!! He finds play and praise to be FAR MORE rewarding that the tidbits of treats. BUT you have to have a solid DROP IT, or it'll turn into a battle of wills, instead of a reward. 

We use a braided rope toy. I keep it in my back pocket, dangling out so he knows I have it. For my Bear, it knocks him out of "drill" mentality (which is UBER boring!!) and into "OMG! Let's play! This is the best thing EVER!!" and re-engages him for more obedience work. Our Obedience class is over an hour long, and he just does not have the attention span (even at 18 months, nearly) to behave perfectly with great attention for that long.

ETA - some people believe that teaching a dog to tug teaches them to have a HARD bite, which is counter productive when taking your dog hunting, b/c they need a soft bite to successfully bring birds back. But in my experience, if you teach that a hard bite is only OK on this specific item, and nothing else, you don't have any problems. And it honestly is the most fun in the world for him. We get comments from other owners at obedience about how they wished they'd thought of that, because Bear just erupts in joy and a flurry of motion. Afterwards he is content to give attention and behave.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I use tugging all of the time 

No real downside that I have found. My dogs do agility, obedience and some field. 

My dogs each like different things - they all like fleece braids, one likes those udder thingees, one of mine will do cartwheels for those squeezee type toys, a couple of mine like those plastic hose tug toys etc I vary the toys, but the one thing they all have in common is that once a dog will tug with me and love it, they are only tugged with during training. I think this helps keep tugging special.

I also use food and personal play.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I don't play tug with my dogs before they are grown up... 

But I do play with them as a reward (flying stuffies works with mine). I think it does get them more worked up than just doing treat training....


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

I use tugging as a reward, but the BEST reward is one that makes your dog crazy excited. For us, it's the tennis ball. Hands down. She only gets to play with it when we're training. We've improved heeling by leaps and bounds with the tennis ball reward. We've also been practicing moving downs with TWO tennis balls. Kea thinks it's very exciting.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

It is a special reward for Tayla. She is a tug MANIAC.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Tugging is the very first thing I teach puppies now. The downside would be if you don't teach any rules. Dogs should quit tugging on command, and they shouldn't grab something out of your hand unless given permission.


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## Burd (Aug 11, 2011)

Dixie LOVES tugging as a reward! It keeps her excited and motivated. Some exercises she just simply gets bored with if I'm using treat rewards. But out comes the rope tug or stuffingless parrot and she's interested again. 

Like others have said, the only downside I see is if you haven't taught any rules. Dixie a solid "drop it" when it comes to toys and tugging. She's also not allowed not start tugging until given the go ahead.


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## timberdoodle (Mar 6, 2013)

This is all very encouraging! He's got the command "Give" down pretty well already when we play fetch. I will use that when it's time to stop tugging and get back down to business. 
It's good to see that he isn't the only dog that seems "bored" while running through obedience stuff with only food rewards... I was beginning to think he didn't have enough drive to compete in obedience.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

Rumor LOVES to tug and finds it very rewarding...will echo that an 'out' is necessary component of the game.

It does keep her very 'up' and engaged....


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Tugging was covered in our training class a week or so ago. The trainer gave us some rules:

- tugg only with a toy dedicated to that activity . . . she was using a braided fleece rope.

- when not being used tug toy is put away and not left for dog to freely access.

- dog may growl during tug but human should *not* growl.

- human decides when to stop the tugging.

- the command used for getting the dog to release the tug (she suggested "trade") should *not* be the same one used for releasing a dumbell or other obedience article (we use "out" for that). Usually there is also a different command, possibly "drop" for letting something in the dog's mouth drop on the ground.

Gracie didn't get a chance to tug during the class but was intensely interested to watch the trainer do it with another dog so I'm going to make a fleece rope and give it a try.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

OMG YES
Slater LIVES for tug.
Behaviors are taught/lured with food then once learned, tug is for reward and motivation. I use marker words so he knows when the tug is coming.
I use a plastic bumper. I like the jute tug toys too but they don't last as long and get soggy with drool. 
Slater plays tug like his life depends on it. He has ripped bumpers in half playing tug. It's great


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## Huddle (Dec 26, 2013)

Yeah, I've made sure my pup knows to drop on command. Now that he does, I use it as a reward. He loves it way more than food, too!


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

So if my dog is already "up" then do I need tug? Because my dog is already up.  I could do a whole post on that. I don't let Casper growl during play. That's his threshold. 

I am looking for some "naked games", games that don't need toys to use as rewards.


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

I love playing tug!! I use tug as a reward and start tugging with my dogs as puppies. It's lots of fun and a great motivator. 

I like braided fleece, just got a few udder tugs and those are great. Mira's favorite is buffalo skin tugs and they hold up pretty well. She likes rabbit tugs too, but those don't seem to last long. Clean run sells lots of great tugging toys.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Yes, you can still use tug for an 'UP' dog to help gain focus on you and not the environment. If he is stressing up, tug can also offer an outlet 

Clean Run is a great place to look for information on learning to play and has all types of toys as mentioned - here is a link to their Using Play offerings
Clean Run: Playing with Your Dog





quilter said:


> So if my dog is already "up" then do I need tug? Because my dog is already up.  I could do a whole post on that. I don't let Casper growl during play. That's his threshold.
> 
> I am looking for some "naked games", games that don't need toys to use as rewards.


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

I don't tug to get my dogs "up" either. I intermix tug with asking for behaviors. As Sharon said, it's about focus. Also learning to work when they are up.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

quilter said:


> I am looking for some "naked games", games that don't need toys to use as rewards.


Find out what your dog really likes from you. Annabel has always been more of a hands off play kind of dog. Conner likes when I bounce him by the collar. Flip likes it when I shove him or grab him. Don't know about Phoenix yet, he's still at that puppy "I love everything" stage.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Loisiana said:


> Find out what your dog really likes from you. Annabel has always been more of a hands off play kind of dog. Conner likes when I bounce him by the collar. Flip likes it when I shove him or grab him. Don't know about Phoenix yet, he's still at that puppy "I love everything" stage.


LOVE THIS!!! Thanks Jodie!!! Bear likes movement. Chase, tug, fetch... anything that gets us moving together and where he can "play" with me, it is better than all the bacon in the world! (OK, I exaggerate. Pretty sure he'd leave me for that much bacon, lol!!!!)


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## timberdoodle (Mar 6, 2013)

Sunrise said:


> Clean Run is a great place to look for information on learning to play and has all types of toys as mentioned - here is a link to their Using Play offerings
> Clean Run: Playing with Your Dog


They have some great things here! Thanks for the link


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

Absolutely use tug in agility. We also have used a frisbee in obedience. We hold it, and when she has heeled just perfectly for a few seconds, we release her and throw it. There are a bunch of variations on this game. All are great. Sometimes we throw the frisbee and keep her on a heel until she is perfect (again for a couple of second initially) then release her to get the frisbee. She's off leash of course for this exercise.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

timberdoodle said:


> This is all very encouraging! He's got the command "Give" down pretty well already when we play fetch. I will use that when it's time to stop tugging and get back down to business.
> It's good to see that he isn't the only dog that seems "bored" while running through obedience stuff with only food rewards... I was beginning to think he didn't have enough drive to compete in obedience.


Another vote for tugging with rules, here.

And think of how many different ways you can mix things up when you "run through obedience stuff." I teach my dogs to nose bump my hands, go through my legs, spin in a circle, etc. I'll excitedly throw those things into the mix no matter what we're working on - even the "formal stuff" like precision heel work. Also, be mindful of how many times you ask for something. Some dogs are happy to drill - my last Golden was like that. If doing a "get ready" once was good, doing it 10 times was even better. But I work with a lot of dogs who light up with much more variety, and who slow down when the practice begins to fee "routine." We, as humans, often fall into routines and patterns. It's a primate thing. Try really mixing things up, in addition to adding tug and more personal play, and see what happens!


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## Stretchdrive (Mar 12, 2011)

I also start with tugging as one of the first things I teach my puppies. I love tug! For obedience I like to use tug for heeling.


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