As others have said, I think a lot depends on the dog's breeding, as well as its upbringing. I have a confident, but not dominant dog, and we use tug games for fun, and for training. He will lie as I walk 30 feet away, toss the ball into the woods, return to him, and then release him to search and retrieve. We play tug as a reward. We play hide the ball in the house. We play tug as the reward. He wins a lot, he is faster then I am, but if I get it away from him, he has to go through more obedience routines to get it back. I have trained him how to stop the game, and when to start.

He has a good grip, and plays for real, but when his teeth do connect with my hand, he does not really hurt me, he has strong bite inhibotion. I can't honestly tell you how much of this is genetic, and how much is training, but it works for us. Of course he has to out the ball when commanded. Sometimes I have to correct him if he hesitates. I would not be likely to want a very high drive dog, as a companion animal, I am not a trainer, but tug has not been a problem.

I have also seen him play in a very controlled way with our mini Eskie, letting the small dog win in wrestling, as posted above.

I personally do not find golden retrievers to be the best dogs for a test study on tugs and changes of behavior. An average GR is not the average pet dog. A dominant GR is not the same as a dominant Rotti or GSD. Even a naturally dominant GR (which I do not believe are very common) is low key compared to breeds such as the APBT, Rottie, GSD (which make up a lot of the large breed mixes in the US) A lot of dogs are from shelters and/or mixed breeds with unknown or barely known histories, genes, and experiences.

I play tug, but my dogs are never just pets. Tug is a maybe option. Tug is not a bad thing, depending on the dog and the handler. I do recommend tug games with certain rules for people that just have pets. I will say that for a dog that is not going to be trained for anything and does not have any structure I would not recommend playing tug of war.

You have to remember most people's idea of tug of war is not as a training aid, people view it as a game to be played with a rope in the backyard where the dog drags them everywhere. A great deal of people don't know that tug can be used as a reward for training, they think it is purely a game and they encourage and laugh at the growling and the snarling and the possessiveness over the tug/toy.

In situations where people have a high drive dog, if they don't do anything training and just play tug or games where the dog wins, then it can be an issue.

A dog that is not naturally dominant can still become dominant and a problem for its owners. When no pack leader is present the dog will fill the position, whether it is naturally dominant aggressive or not. In a dog that has no structure tug is not the best idea.

Also, no, tug does not have to end in the dog always winning. And tug can be great for dogs lacking in confidence, it is a really really good tool to use for scared/nervous dogs and in general is not something that will turn a dog into a monster. Tug alone will not turn a normal every day dog into a dominant monster.

Comes down to:

1.) The dog
2.) The owner/handler wanting to or not
3.) Whether the dog has structure
4.) What tug is being used for (confidence building, training aid, game)

I completely agree. For us, tug is both a game and a part of our training. Any house with two GSDs had better have pack structure, the alternative is chaos. There is no growling over possesions. I do not allow tug games or fetch very near other dogs because my dog does see them as potential rival for the ball. He does not see me that way. In contrast, I do not encourage rough housing with my older GSD/lab, as she is far more dominant then the younger GSD. She would jump, nip and herd me if I let her, I do not.

In general, a good owner can read the temperment of the dog and treat it accordingly. I guess my point was that if the OP is looking for a pet dog they probably should not be looking at very high drive dogs anyway, and that tug with a dog of moderate drives like mine can be fun for all. When I spoke to breeders while looking for a pup 4 years ago, I was very upfront about my needs. I wanted a companion dog from working lines. I did not intend to compete. I got a West German show dog from titled parents, and he has been a great starter dog. The next time, with the experience I have gained from him, I may choose a higher drive dog.

One thing I do not know is how critical it was that I taught obedience BEFORE starting drive games. It is posible that if I had played aggessive tug with Rusty as a young pup, things would have turned out differently. I can't speak to that. My priorities were pack structure and obedience first, and drive building later.