Anyone play tug?

[Sunflowers]

Love tug! I am working on sit, stay as I walk away with the tug and then on command he comes charging to bite it. He loves his jute tug and I love the OMG look of a beast that he gets as we play.
He is getting really good at letting go, too. If he does not let go, I use a trick the vet taught me: I push down on his tongue with my finger. This triggers a reflex and they open the mouth.

[pancake]

Anyone have the Michael Ellis' DVD on the power of tug? $65! So pricey just curious if you had any reviews on it and whether the material is well suited for pet owners too or is it catered towards high drive competition and protection? The 10 min leerburg trailer talks a lot about protection and Schutzhund.

I can stream online but each chapter is $12, and there's 5 so its $60 for the whole 5 hour session. Not sure I need 5+ hours of video on tugging alone if I'm not going into protection anytime soon.

[onyx'girl]

Those DVD's are really repetitive chatter....you can get an hours worth of info in all that viewing.
Most of ME's videos are geared to sport work, not so much the pet owner, but pet people can learn better training techniques regardless!
I do like bowwowflix for DVD's, then I can watch them when I want and skip around. I need to get back to it now that I'm back in the house more.

[jae]

I don't think the ME videos are necessary for the common pet owner. Just play with your dog with any tug or toy, have fun with it, especially useful when you see them getting worked up and mouthy for no reason. Keep the play sessions as positive, short or extended as you need, if he looks like he is losing interest or won't play and let go, "enough" and drop something else for him to play with, kongs work great, you want to end on the best note, this is a great game for bonding and training.

Over time, he will start to really enjoy playing, that is exactly what I did with my dog, two months later and he will tug like I never would have thought possible. I even got a comment from an elderly couple the other day, he was tugging his chuckit flying squirrel (amazing for tug and fetch, by the way!) like crazy they said he must be the prime of his litter with that vigor! The only complain I have is he enjoys tugging the handles more than the tug itself, so his leash is a big reward

[Kyleigh]

Tug is a GREAT way to teach your pup so many things (Do be extra careful during the teething stage!)

I taught Kyleigh the following commands - all with the game of tug:

Give (when I held out my hand)
Drop it
Leave it
Take it
Hold it (keep it in her mouth for with no chewing)

Worked on sit / stay / wait while we were making up variations of the game.

I only leave three toys out for Kyleigh to play with (the rest are hidden so they don't all get destroyed in one day), so I always begin the game and end the game ... but I make sure she wins lots of times while we are playing!

Her victory dance is AWESOME to watch ... she runs around the yard as if she's won an olympic gold medal!

[Bear L]

I learned how to use tug as a reward watching Michael Ellis' DVD. My dog is 100% pet only, no sport or protection. It was very helpful. He teaches you how and where to hold the tug, how to avoid being bitten, how to "out" the toy (this worked wonderfully for me and the dog, no struggle, easy to learn yourself to teach the dog), when to use it, what tug toy good to start with that is easier to teach proper tug play as a reward, how to motivate the dog with a tug. It's broken down in steps. It's presented simply and clearly.

I do agree with another poster that a lot of the DVD is repetitive and maybe a bit slow. You may not need to review the entire DVD to get the meat out of it but repetition and slowness helps me digest the info. I think I've only seen it once as there really isn't that many different things to learn. If you can borrow or rent it would be best.

[Bear L]

Want to add, if you'd like, feel free to pm me and I can describe some things I've learned from the Ellis video that I found very helpful, even for common pet owners, if you don't want to spend the money or want more thoughts before deciding to spend the money.

[pancake]

Awesome, thanks all. I had no idea bowwowflix even existed that seems like the best bet. Even though it takes a few days to send and receive, the $10 plan for the month is way better than paying $65+ shipping per each DVD. Maybe I'll try it.

[pancake]

Just signed up for Bowwowflix. Thanks for the suggestion, i'll be able to watch it without paying hundreds of dollars