Rick, I think it depends on what you want out of your dog. Playing tug builds drive. Playing tug and letting the dog win empowers a dog, which is something a pet owner may not want, especially in a dog with already high drive and a dominant temperament. I wouldn't say it makes a dog aggressive, but planting the concept of winning over the owner in a dog's mind is for someone who can handle what that might bring. It's a small step (tugging) but it's a step nonetheless.

 Quote: Sandy Moore

Rick, I think it depends on what you want out of your dog. Playing tug builds drive. Playing tug and letting the dog win empowers a dog, which is something a pet owner may not want, especially in a dog with already high drive and a dominant temperament. I wouldn't say it makes a dog aggressive, but planting the concept of winning over the owner in a dog's mind is for someone who can handle what that might bring. It's a small step (tugging) but it's a step nonetheless.

What are you referring to here? This is what I am asking about. Is it the dog wanting to play all the time? Biting you? I am just curious.

Sandy again thanks for the advice! I love this forum and I love when people give clear and concise advice! We're in the learning stages of training now and when we aggressively start looking for a pup we will coming here asking for questions on how to pick the right pup for our family.

Rick,

In my experience, and Sandy will correct me if I'm wrong, she's refering to the dog having an increased likelihood to try to attain a higher rank within the pack structure. Playing tug builds a dogs confidence, a confident dog will tend to challenge a smaller slip in a handlers authority than would a non-confident dog. Also, and this is just in my experience, dogs with more confidence are much more likely to take situations into their own "hands", when they feel they need to. This means that, in some places that a pet dog would look to its handler for guidance, a dog with a lot of confidence could very well make its own decision on how to behave. I, personally, prefer this in a dog, as long as the training that I have on the dog is strong enough to give me control when I need to reverse its decision regarding a certain situation.

Does that scan?

That's exactly what I meant David, thanks for typing it out for me

There are people here who know a lot more than I do about this topic, but the tug games I used to play with my dog, letting him win, did indeed embolden him toward me and his temperament is that he does try and pull rank and challenge is his middle name. I like a dog like that too, but then I'm training him in personal protection so he needs that. In a pet, I would not want to have to deal with that constantly.

This is an interesting topic here.

If I had a pet only dog I would play tugs with it.

That said I have experience playing the game and it would be a controlled game.

I agree that depending on the breed and temperment the game might be played differently. It can be different things to different dogs, even pet ones.

Motivator, stress reliever, confidence builder, exerciser...

With the majority of dogs or temperments I beleive it can be of use to me. I would just manage the game in a different way depending on my goals. A tool in the toolbox I would rather have than have not.

My personal choice. Perhaps not for everyone.

 Quote: Jennifer Coulter

That said I have experience playing the game and it would be a controlled game.

I agree with you Jennifer, and I think the above is the most important statement.
If the owner/handler has experience and knows how to apply pack leadership, I see nothing wrong with a good tiring game of tug.

Although with four dogs that play tug here, I tire before they do so a good game of fetch is also a great thing.

 Quote: jennifer coulter

...If I had a pet only dog I would play tugs with it.

That said I have experience playing the game and it would be a controlled game.

I agree that depending on the breed and temperment the game might be played differently. It can be different things to different dogs, even pet ones.

Motivator, stress reliever, confidence builder, exerciser...

I agree with what you wrote. But I think Maisha should first determine, after she gets her puppy and lives with it a month or two, what type temperament the pup has before playing tug and letting the pup win over and over.

Let's take 3 dogs I've had in the past who along with others were just pets - 2 GSDs and one Shorthaired Pointer/Lab mix. I can tell you that with the mixed dog, if I had pulled on a tug in her mouth she would have immediately opened her mouth and let me take it. With one GSD, she would have tugged with me and gotten good exercise and if I would let her win over and over, she would never have turned it into a rank issue with me - to her it would just be another fun game she played with her mom. The other GSD would have acted like the mixed dog, immediately letting me have it and would never have tried to win it, although she would have chased it forever (great prey drive).

My current GSD has a completely different temperament. Winning the tug over and over plants a seed in his brain that says "I'm stronger than mom!" and that seed gets watered, over and over.

We are finally at a place where I can begin to play tug with him again, even letting him win it, but I only do it once in a while and have to be discerning about it and always have to have the last word (the "out") in the end (the last tug ends with me winning it), when I take the tug and put it away. I'd much rather he play tug, bite, and show off his strength - and win - with the decoy than with me. I think with him it's not a game, it's a matter of winning. It's like a challenge to him, to win. Just something I don't want aimed at me.

Sandy is right about the gloves. No shame in having big heavy leather gloves, right?

I'm into competition obedience with my pup, not protection training, but I like to use his toy drive to animate him. His prey drive is too crazy for him to learn new behaviors for his toy...he's so tug or ball focused there's no room in his little noggin for anything else; but once he's learned a command with food, the toy can make it happen better and faster. I reward his animation and attentiveness with a tug game and let him have the toy. This is usually at the end of a training session to end on a fun note. I can't imagine any good reason to get a dog like this fired up without purpose though, and I wouldn't recommend these games to most pet owners. The dogs can get pretty wound up.