Hi all,

I just wanted to share some clips of Tango and I playing with a tug. Neither of us are very good at playing tug, when we work with toys I usually just throw a ball out for him to fetch. We need to practice pretty much all the skills that are in the Week 3 modules!

I have trained him to deliver and release things to my hand as I wanted him to have that skill in place for if we ever get around to doing retrieving trials, so I find that he's not that committed to playing tug. He does seem to enjoy it, so we both need to work on our skills some more. I feel that I could be a better tugging partner, and that will also increase his enjoyment and commitment to the game.

I will also film some heelwork with a ball this week, because he has nice energy and style when heeling for a ball reward. The precision does go out the window a little bit, but I'd take the energy and enthusiasm over precision any day.

Hi Maelyn, Tango loves the tug play! Tango reminds me sooooo much of Khina in terms of how they target toys. (I have also been teaching Khina to target toys this week). Both are "polite" dogs and both hesitate a bit to jump up and grab the toy from their person. All in good time I'm sure.

He looks pretty good to me, Maelyn.

We'll cover a bit of it next week, but one thing to keep in mind with dogs who are still learning to enjoy tug play is to keep the sessions dynamic and informal. Here are some tips for reducing the rules and formality within tug play:

-little to no 'outing'. Requesting the dog to give the toy up requires impulse control. For a dog that isn't that bought into it (not playing that well) giving the toy up will be no problem. So instead, we let them have the toy more... hoping they feel more entitled or in ownership of it. 

-Less impulse control: 'sit's, 'downs', 'outs', etc. Best to keep the life and dynamic going without taxing the dog with control work. For more forward toy playing dogs, we add rules earlier. 

-Find a style of play that he really likes. For every dog this is different. He may like to be physically touched on the body more than having the toy pulled on. Or perhaps he likes to chase you when he has toy. Or perhaps he likes it when you make a reaction when he shows conviction on the toy (play like his strength and will took it from you - become an actor). These little things can open a dog up more to play. 

-If you do 'out' him, try throwing the toy on occasion... sometimes the chase if fun!

I thought this was pretty sharp work, and was pleased with Tango's enthusiasm. 

My suggestion is to consider some of the above inputs and see if it helps... he can only get better!