- Playing tug with your dog is a great relationship
builder it builds value on playing with toys
while at the same time it builds value on playing with you.
(bubble pops) Now in my over 10 years
as a professional dog trainer
at McCann Dogs I've helped thousands of dogs
to become well behaved four-legged family members
at the same time I've helped thousands of dog owners
to build a better relationship with their dog
and to better understand their dog.
Now today we're gonna talk about playing tug with your dog
as a relationship building exercise and
to better help you understand your dog's play style.
We're gonna talk about two play styles for dogs
when playing tug that is gonna allow your dog
to love playing the game of tug on your terms.
I'm Ken Steepe and welcome back to McCann Dogs.
(guitar strums) (dog barks)
If this is your first time on the channel
and you consider your dog a member of the family
(bell rings) then make sure you hit
that subscribe button.
We publish new videos every single week to help you
spend some quality time with your four-legged family member.
Now in the opening I talked about two kinds of dogs
and two kinds of play styles for dogs.
Dog number one is the kind of dog who doesn't really
get engaged with the game of tug.
It's the kind of dog who you're not really sure if they
ever really want to tug and that's the kind of dog
that you'd love to play tug with them but you can't really
figure out how to make them tug.
Something that people often do is stuff the toy
in the dog's face trying to show them that they've got
this really fun thing that the dog
will probably wanna play with.
Now imagine it's people if someone asked you if you wanted
something to eat but you weren't really that interested.
- Do you want some yogurt?
- No I don't really think I want any yogurt.
- You love yogurt.
- Yeah but I just don't really feel like it right now
and I don't.
I don't the yogurt.
Instead of shoving that toy in your dog's face
who might not be that interested make it fun.
Make it a game, make it, take that toy
place it on the ground, animate it, make it really exciting
and keep it away from your dog.
When they start to show interest maybe take it away
to a point where they're, they can't quite get it.
Make it something that's really exciting for your dog.
I might even hold that toy up and shake it around
over their head and hold them back
while I'm shaking the toy.
I need to figure out what's going to activate that drive.
It's essentially prey drive from your dog.
I need to figure out what's that thing
that's gonna get this dog really excited about the toy.
Another thing you can try is using a different type
of tug toy to play with sometimes your dog is not that
interested in the toy that you're using.
The other thing I'm going to do is when I do have that toy
drive or that prey drive activated once the dog
first gets the toy I'm gonna let them win.
I'm gonna let go of that toy make a big deal of it.
Maybe you're dog likes clapping and excited bubbly words.
It doesn't really matter you need to figure out
once you're dog gets that toy figure out what's gonna make
them more excited about that toy.
Now once they've captured that toy
I'm gonna take it away from them.
I'm just gonna do my best to get it away from them
and then make it more fun again.
I'm gonna move it around on the ground,
make it really animated and exciting.
I might even hold them back, ready, set and then release
them to it and once they've got it I'm gonna tug
but only for a couple of seconds.
And then I'm gonna let them win again.
They've got the toy it's a big deal I'm gonna allow
them to have some fun with that toy and maybe tug with it
a couple of time and then pretend like they've taken it away
from me so now this thing of value is even more valuable
because they've got it.
With this kind of dog I'm gonna keep these play sessions
short and sweet.
And I'm not gonna allow my dog to have this toy
when we're not playing.
That toy is never gonna be found on the ground.
I'm gonna put this in a special place so that every time
it comes out it's fun, it's new and it's exciting.
Dog number two is the kind of dog who loves the game
of tug but they're never really sure when the game is over.
For this kind of dog I'm gonna tug for a brief period
just a couple of seconds before they completely lose
their mind about the action of tugging.
And then I'm gonna stop the game entirely by holding
that toy against my thigh.
Now holding the toy against my thigh makes that tug less
interesting it's less of a dynamic game
and that's when I can use my out command.
Now if you're not sure how to use the out command
with your dog we've published a video earlier
teaching your dog how to bring a ball directly back
(bell rings) to your hand.
And we talk a little bit about it there so you can
check that out above me and in the description below.
Now it's really important with these kinds of dogs
that you don't allow them to just take the toy from you.
So if they leap out and try to take the toy
we're gonna tell them to leave it and we're gonna use
that out command and just take that toy away from him.
But we're really gonna make sure that they aren't choosing
when they get to play tug, you are the one that's choosing
when your dog gets to play tug.
With a little bit of fine tuning of your play style
with your dog you can have a really fun engaging experience
with any breed, any age of dog, any play style of dog
you just need to figure out what's that currency of play
that they love and it's on your terms.
Now if this is your first time on the channel
and you consider your dog a family member
(bell rings) make sure you hit
that subscribe button.
We publish new videos every single week to help you
spend some quality time with your four-legged family member.
That video beside me is actually a video that YouTube
thinks you'll wanna watch next from our channel.
And on that note I'm Ken.
Happy training.
(upbeat music)