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Tips on teaching tug of war


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So I have a border collie and a border collie/aussie mix I'm teaching tug of war.

I had to start by teaching the dogs its ok to grab the rope out of my hand. They were taught to wait for me to give them the toy.

The border collie/aussie is a natural when it comes to playing, he is highly toy driven and catches on pretty quick.

 

His problem is he stops tugging after about 5 secs. How do you teach him, I want him to pull longer?

 

My border collie has learned a lot about playing in the last 9 months or so. He was found a stray at 1 and is a little slower learning new games. The bright side is when he gets a new command or rule, he has it. Unlike my other dog, who naturally likes to play, but catches on to rules a little slower. (normally a day or 2 behind)

 

I have read you shouldn't let your dog win tug of war, because it brings out dominance issues. To teach my dogs its ok to pull the rope, I had to drop it and click when they tugged. It seems to be working, at least they clearly understand to go for the rope when I'm holding it. (they would just sit and look before)

 

The border collie that was a stray, doesn't quit get I want him to pull the rope. He puts his mouth on it, for 1-2 secs on lets go. I still reward him, so he knows to go for the rope.

 

How to I encourage or teach him to pull the rope.

I feel like they are coming a long, at least they are learning the first part of the game.I feel like I might need to switch up the training soon or try a different technique.

How did you teach your border collie to pull until you tell them to stop or at least pull for 15-20 secs at a time?

Also has anyone taught 2 dogs to play tug together? How did you accomplish to teach them?

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Stop sooner :) sure it is a very short time, but if you stop when they want to keep going it can increase the drive to tug (I personally don't like crazy tugging dogs in agility more often than not their focus is on the toy, not the 'doing' of the obstacles). Keep the praise going during the tug session and not after the tugging.

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Since I taught her first that she is NOT to grab things from me, that she is to let go when I reach for something in her mouth and that I am the boss in all things, teaching her tug of war was hard-ish.

 

I made a cue (it's silly - I crouch a little and wiggle my fingers at her) which means "play" and that she can tug and try to win (but I am still the boss and to be respected) and I make sure I use the word "play" (as in "Wanna play, Molly?") so she understands this is not like training or behaviour in public, etc.

 

Took *forever* for her to play tug and growl at me and whatnot. Same problem as you - she would tug for a second and then let go - not really sure what the rules were. So I put the well known "get [name of toy]" into play and encourage her the whole time to "get [name of toy]". I found a lot of little tugs and then short throws/retrieves worked. I pretended I was trying to get it from her and that I couldn't and she liked that and started being dodgy when she got back. Pretty soon she was tugging like a trooper.

 

Mind you, I do think it's important to have some sort of limit. Some dogs tug so hard and viciously and won't let go easily and I find that a pain in the butt. Some people swing their dogs around with the toy in the dog's mouth and ... mmm ... not for me at all :/ (although I can see the appeal and don't think it's "wrong" - it's just not for me.)

 

Some things that worked for me:

 

1. I got down on the ground, on my butt, and played tug with her that wau at first - it seemed to make it easier to understand this was play and not serious.

 

2. I smiled a LOT when she did tug and simply got up and walked away when she wanted to bogart the toy or run off with it - BC love a smiling face.

 

3. I used the toy as bait and wound it round my body to get her to chase it and get her comfortable playing so close to me with her mouth.

 

4. I used one toy and one toy only as a tug toy and called it the "tug toy" and that is the only toy she is allowed to play tug with and we don't use it for anything else.

 

Good luck - keep us posted with your progress.

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Ah, love this game. I honestly don't think it's an issue to play if your dog drops it when you ask and takes it when you ask. Whenever I feel like Mapes is getting too rough I ask her to drop it and give both of us a breather, so keep that in mind if you don't want to drop the toy and let your dog win.

 

I don't understand why there would be a dominance issue... I'm pretty sure most dogs know they're stronger than me, since a dog's first reaction to meeting a new animal is to size them up. I'm sure I don't amount to much in their minds, unless they've been taught to treat humans properly. I believe I read somewhere a weaponless human doesn't stand a chance against a 30+ lbs dog. I do think that when a dog continually tugs a toy out of your hands, however, that there is a respect issue. Just like you shouldn't rip the toy out of your dog's mouth. By asking Maple to drop it, I'm showing her the respectful way of playing the game and I'm setting the example.

 

Just my thoughts on this. I know a lot of people deny their dogs this fun game out of fear that their dog will figure out they're stronger physically (and in the case of bcs, sometimes mentally!). :)

 

Maple caught on incredibly quick. If tug-of-war was a sport, she'd be a champ. I often use a quick game as praise for listening to me, since my dog would take play over food any day.

 

To get Maple to start playing, I tried running the toy through the grass. If I continually did this, eventually she realized that in order to make the toy stop chasing, she had to hold it still with her mouth. After a few rounds of that, we were playing tug-of-war like pros.

 

Hope this is helpful!

 

ETA: I just realized something. I forgot to mention that I do not believe in dogs as "pack animals", and there is science behind this that proves it. I thought I'd clarify, since I've bumped into quite a few people on the boards who believe the opposite (or appear to from their posts).

 

I'm not trying to tell you what to believe, but I thought I might just explain my method of thinking. If you are interested in links on this, please send me a message.

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Why would a dog want to play tug if they never get to win??

 

I think the belief that you should never let your dog win, especially tug o' war, is a remnant of the outdated dominance theory stuff. :rolleyes:

 

Letting a dog who lacks confidence win at tug is actually a good way to help the dog build confidence.

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Why would a dog want to play tug if they never get to win??

 

This may differ for other dogs, but Maple seems to prefer I hold the toy and tug rather than drop it. This leads me to believe that there is no winning, but the tugging itself is fun. This is probably different for more competitive dogs.

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I was not suggesting they should always win, it's give and take, it's a game we play together. I watch how my dogs play with each other, sometimes one wins, some times the other, sometimes one drops it, the other picks it up and runs with it, the other then chases, etc. etc. My dogs actually prefer playing with me anyway! Sometimes, when I'm tired or have to get something done, I wish they wanted to play with each other more often!

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Also has anyone taught 2 dogs to play tug together? How did you accomplish to teach them?

 

My husband encourages this. I don't. I could get my original 3 dogs to do it (two at a time, not all three), but it's not something I was overly crazy about.

 

Basically, if you have two tug fiends, you get a really long tug toy and start tugging with one dog on one end. Once you get that one going, wave the other end at the other dog and get that one tugging with you on the other end. Once he or she is tugging, drop it and see if they tug together. I would NOT do this with two dogs who have any inclination to go after one another at all, and I would want a solid drop cue on both. It can get intense and you might need to help them get out of it.

 

Sammie and Maddie used to love to tug together, and they would go at it until the toy ripped. They never went after each other, though - they just mutually tugged over the toy. Speedy could tug with another dog and he would back right off if the other dog got persistent. I would never, ever have Dean do this, although he has beautiful tug skills with me.

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