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Playing "tug o war" with your dog...good or bad?

9K views 28 replies 24 participants last post by  RowdyDogs 
#1 ·
I know I've heard that playing tug O war can bring on an aggressive side of a dog so I'm just wondering peoples thoughts.

Recently I have been playing tug O war in the following circumstances:
-with a frisbee, prior to a frisbee playing session to get her fired up
-when she comes inside ("inside") command as a reward
-nose-work reward...after she finds the scent she gets a little tug session

She has been very high drive with this and loves a good tug session. I just hope I'm not teaching her any aggressive behavior that is going to back fire for me in the future. Any thoughts?
 
#29 ·
Just chiming in on the side of tug. :) I do think it helped Hector become bolder and more confident, but not aggressive at all. It's actually one of the preferred methods of rewarding dogs on my search and rescue team, because it keeps them in drive and they love it.

I'm sure like anything there are exceptions and some dogs may become more aggressive, but I don't think it's a common problem in the least. I have seen two dogs whose owners claimed that playing tug made them aggressive, but when I evaluated the dogs, I felt it was other management/training problems causing the aggression. Tug was blamed because it was the most obvious symptom and often the first place the aggressive behavior surfaced, but it wasn't actually the cause.
 
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