Playing tug without wrecking my hands.

[Castlemaid]

Does anyone have any suggestions and ideas on how to play tug with your dog and protect your hands from wear & tear?

I have psoriasis and associated psoriatic arthritis in both my hands. Of course one of my and Gryff’s favorite thing to do is to play tug, but it is BRUTAL on my hands! Even if I wear gloves (wich I often do). My hands end up painful and bleeding, arthritis pain and inflammation flares up. My hands are red, swollen, hyper-sensitive due to the inflamation. Any pressure/contact increases the pain, even just wearing gloves causes more pain in and of itself (vicious circle).

Of course, it’s not like I’m going to stop playing with my dogs. It’s just too much of a great bonding/fun thing to use for playing, and for a reward when working.

Wondering if anyone has any ideas no how I can play and reward and save/protect my hands from the physical abuse tug puts them through. Same issues with my hands whether I use a sausage tug that I hold at both ends(which is a bit difficult for me to hang on to because of the strenght required which I don’t have anymore because of the arthritis), or if I use a tug with a loop handle or a rope. Easier for me to hang on too, but a killer on my hands.

I am on anti-inflamatories for pain, and coritsone creams for the skin, but they are of little help when faced with the challenge of plaing tug on a regular basis.

[BR870]

Could you maybe hang a tug from wrist strap, that way your wrist bear the weight? Sorry, thats the only thing I could think of.

I always get tooth contact, and have little chunks out of my knuckles from over enthusiasm...

[Castlemaid]

Gryff is really good at not tagging me - not that it makes a difference from how my hands look - the wrist strap is not a bad idea, but I want my dog to win, get the tug, and bring it back to me to re-engage - so the wrist strap would make that tricky. But that's an idea to consider.

[Ace952]

Go back to the flirt pole as holding that is way easier and less stress? You can tie a tug to it.

[BR870]

Originally Posted by Castlemaid

Gryff is really good at not tagging me - not that it makes a difference from how my hands look - the wrist strap is not a bad idea, but I want my dog to win, get the tug, and bring it back to me to re-engage - so the wrist strap would make that tricky. But that's an idea to consider.

Use a snap on the wrist. That way you can decide when to unsnap and let them win.

Or do what I do, which is always have two of the same toy. Tug tug tug... Let it slip over your wrist. Dog wins... Use this moment to slip toy 2 over your wrist... Then "Hey look what I have..." Tug tug tug on toy 2

Just an idea

[Catu]

I really don't have a good idea, but I have psoriasis in the sole of my feet... I feel your pain

[KSdogowner]

Originally Posted by Castlemaid

I have psoriasis and associated psoriatic arthritis in both my hands. Of course one of my and Gryff’s favorite thing to do is to play tug, but it is BRUTAL on my hands! Even if I wear gloves (wich I often do). My hands end up painful and bleeding, arthritis pain and inflammation flares up. My hands are red, swollen, hyper-sensitive due to the inflamation. Any pressure/contact increases the pain, even just wearing gloves causes more pain in and of itself (vicious circle).

Not sure but you may want to try get gloves with Gel pads in them. This would cushion your hands hopefully enough to where there is less trauma to them. I think some mechanics or biker gloves are gel cushioned.

[Liesje]

Hmmm, when I did gymnastics I was an uneven bars specialist, so I trained on bars for hours every day. Often both of my hands were a bubbly mess of chapped skin, thick callous, and bleeding open "rips" (when the callous ultimately tears). We used to use this product on our hands where we'd cover our hands and then keep them inside socks over night. It looked and smelled sort of like Carmex. I can't remember the name but I can find out. I'm not really familiar with psoriasis or the acceptable treatments, just something that came to mind.

What kind of gloves do you use? I would try sports gloves like baseball batting or football (American) gloves that fit properly and have padding to them.

[Castlemaid]

Originally Posted by Catu

I really don't have a good idea, but I have psoriasis in the sole of my feet... I feel your pain

I have that too - I feel YOUR pain.

[Castlemaid]

Wow, keep the ideas coming - gel lined gloves? Didn't know there was such a thing. Would they have them at a hardware store?

Lies, the way you describe your hands from the uneven bars sounds very similar to what my hands look (and feel) like.

I don't know what Carmex is? I've tried a bazillion cremes that promise the sun and the moon, and it always comes down to good-ole-vaseline, but what a mess!

If you do remember what you used, I'd love to hear about it.