One of the games that dogs like to play is tug-of-war. It’s fun for them and, as a rule, they generally win. Their mouths, even when they are young pups, are simply too strong. It is also a game that would be wise to avoid completely. It undermines what lessons that you have been trying to teach pup, about being gentle with its mouth.

Except under unusual circumstances, where it is necessary to teach a dog how powerful its mouth is, it would be prudent not to play this game with dogs. For a pet, it is not necessary for the dog to develop its bite. In addition, there are some negative consequences to consider:

1. it is possible that these tug-of war games heightens an aggressive response.
2. it teaches what some in the hunting community call a “hard bite”. What the dog may consider as moderate mouth pressure can be quite destructive. You always want the dog to be gentle with its mouth around humans - always!
3. it teaches the dog that it is more powerful than you. In the dog’s perception, this undermines your role as the pack leader. In fact, the dog may grow to consider you as a subordinate. The pack leader would not be weak and lose such games.

There is a way that dog professionals work around this pack leader issue. People who use dogs in a work capacity, such as law enforcement work, recognize that they cannot match the brute strength of the dog’s mouth. Instead of matching physical strength, they physically and verbally grant permission for the dog to win these tug-of-war games. This maintains their position of pack leader, in that they are allowing the dog to win. This is a skill that requires superb timing and refined ability to read the dog. That takes years and years to develop. Furthermore, keep in mind that these working dogs have gone through a lengthy selection process to do this work. These handlers and trainers are working with their dogs on a full time basis and they make sure that there is absolutely no question about who is the pack leader.

For the dog that is a house pet, this type of tug-of-war games just has too many negative consequences and it would seem that these types of games are best avoided. Why court possible problems?

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]dogs, games, tug-of-war, pack leadership, consequences[/tags]