Long-time reader, first post.

My current, 9-month-old shepherd has started transitioning to toys for obedience work instead of treats. He has more toy drive than food drive. The problem I'm having is as follows:

Historically I've never let him win when we've tugged on toys in the past, because-- as everyone says-- I didn't want to build any dominance or aggression in the dog. The result now appears to be that he doesn't want to bother with actually pulling on his tug toy. He just clamps on and holds it there. If I yank him around he hangs on and goes for a ride, but he doesn't seem to be actively trying to get the tug away from me.

I'd greatly prefer it if I felt like he was more into the game and if he seemed more engaged in his part of the tugging game. I have the "Power of Playing Tug" DVD which covers practice and methods, but doesn't talk about how to train your dog to pull harder-- or to pull at all.

So my question is: after all this time never letting him win, how do I convince him to start pulling again?

Hi Chris:
I met a Doberman recently with a similar issue. This particular dog had learned that the owner could do all the work, and she'd just stand there and hang on. She didn't tug, but would grip the toy really hard.

My solution was to kick her into drive by moving the toy around, let her bite onto it, and then I just held it. I didn't move it at all. After a while, she got bored and tugged a tiny bit. I rewarded that by tugging back. Then I stopped and waited. Then she got frustrated and tugged a tiny bit again, at which point I rewarded by tugging back.

We did this back and forth for several minutes. During this session, the duration between me stopping action and her starting to tug decreased. And, the amount of time she tugged increased.

We did this over the course of a couple of days, and there was a pretty big improvement.

Not sure it will work with your dog, but it might be worth trying.

Thanks! I will give this a try. I've been holding the toy still as a method of promoting the "out" (per Michael Ellis) but now that my guy is good at the out I'll see if I can get him to play when I hold it still instead.

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If i need to start another thread please tell me and i will

Edited by Connie Sutherland (06/07/2013 03:56 PM)
Edit reason: edit by mod

"If i need to start another thread please tell me and i will"


Yes, please start a new thread. Thanks!

Logan was kind of like that, he'd just hold on....he did that real well. With him I noticed he would tug with other people (where it changed into possession/gaurding instead of prey). The way I got him to tug back was wait until he tugs then I let him have it. He realized the only way to win was to pull back.

I let my dog win 'about' one out of ten times. (I don't actually count) I like her to think it is possible to win, and she works harder. I have never had an issue with dominance or aggression. JMO, but if you have established yourself as a strong leader it shouldn't be an issue.

without actually seeing the action , here's my advice . . . .

the dog has to feel that their behaviour has some effect on the game , and consequently , you . so when the dog engages the tug , give some resistance , but at the first , tiniest bit of pull from the dogs' side , allow yourself to be moved forward towards the dog and release the tug . immediately move backward and invite the dog the re-engage you . at first the dog should be " winning " the majority of the time until he shows that he will spontaneously retrieve . you may have to manage the dog on a line if there is some hesitation .
over time you should be able to slowly elicit more tug back from him to the point where he is dragging you around the yard .
the idea though is that you have to " act " like the dog is really playing you , not you playing the dog . as he learns that resisting back can result in a " win " , it also garners a greater reaction from you , which in turn will elevate his drive to win the object .

one other thing i learned last summer at ME , ( among many things ) was to recognize that some dogs are fighters and some dogs are players . the fighters will derive more from close quarter tug and pull activity and players want to chase and retrieve . all of our high drive dogs will probably play in either activity , but recognizing which side your dog favours will help you decide how best to engage him .

watching henry ( border collie ) develop i've seen that he will engage a variety of tugs , but his energy goes to another level when he has to pursue things , so now our engagement / behaviour games trend towards that as the reward .

We use a buggy whip and add some line and tie the tug on the end (we use one of those soft fluffy car wash mitts for small puppies). Usually dragging that toy enticingly by will kick almost any pup into prey drive. The bendable buggy whip gives just a little resistance to encourage holding on. The dog absolutely has to win, though. Would YOU keep showing up for work if you never got paid?