Month: July 2026

The Best Dog Training Game: How to Teach Tug

Spread the love

Here’s a non-trick question for you:

What training game do dogs value, keeps you in the game, and is a reward all by itself?

The answer, of course, is tug!

There was an aberrant few years when “experts” advised people not to play tug-of-war with their dogs because it might cause aggressive or dominant behavior. Fortunately, dominance theory has been proven poppycock, and we recognize just how fantastic a game tug can be.

Best of all, just about any toy, rag, rope, or vegetable can be used to play.

What’s that you say? You’ve never played Veggie Tug?

You would have if, like Hope, you’re desperate to get your dog to play with you and your dog’s favorite thing in the world is celery.

Pro-Tip: Veggie Tug works best if the celery is a bit wilted. Crisp celery is too easily snapped to work for tugging!

Get Your Dog To Tug (With You!)

It’s not enough to toss a toy on the floor and tell your dog to play with it. Even if your dog is a self-starter and plays by themself, you want to become an integral part of the game.

Especially if you want to play any kind of dog sports, you want your dog to believe that all good things come from you. Everything from meals to playtime involves being with you and interacting with you. You and your dog are partners, and you rely on each other.

Some dogs are natural-born tuggers. Hold a toy and they’ll grab the end, plant their feet, and start the game. Other dogs just don’t get it. But even truly hard cases—like Hope’s first Frenchie, Dax—can learn to love tugging.

Two Kinds of Dogs

  • The Exuberant: They want to be in the middle of all the action. For them, life is all about having fun and doing stuff.
  • The Spectator: They watch from the sidelines, scoping out all the possibilities before they commit.

We’ve owned and trained both kinds. It is a lot easier to channel an exuberant dog’s energy than it is to cheerlead a lower-key, spectator personality. Simon (in the photo) is a natural-born, exuberant tugger and loves the game. But other dogs learn to love the game, too, as you’ll learn.

Great For Raising Energy

Hope wanted Dax to tug in order to energize her for playing agility. Dax liked agility, but lacked any sense of urgency on the course. She didn’t have a lot of drive, and didn’t care to play tug or hold onto toys at all.

Playing tug is a fantastic way to get a lower-drive dog amped up, focused, and engaged.

Getting a non-tugging dog to pull takes some determination and patience. Think of it as playful persistence. You want to mimic the way puppies badger older dogs to play.

The 2-Minute Tug Trainer: Step-by-Step

Teaching a reluctant dog to tug doesn’t require hours of work—just two minutes of focused, high-energy fun a day. Here is your quick start guide:

  • Step 1: Find the “Gold Medal” Motivator Don’t start with a boring rope if your dog doesn’t care about toys. Find what makes them tick. Is it a plush squeaker? A fleece braid? Or, like Dax, a slightly wilted piece of celery? Start with their absolute favorite thing.
  • Step 2: Bring the Toy to Life (The “Puppy Swish”) Dead toys are boring. Get down on their level and slowly drag or swish the toy side-to-side on the floor, mimicking prey. Let it lightly brush their front paws. Be as persistent as a puppy!
  • Step 3: Reward the “Micro-Try” Don’t wait for a massive pull. If the first toy doesn’t work, try something else. Dax didn’t care about plush, latex, rubber, or rope, but she loved food—so we played with our food. The second your dog sniffs, glances at, or puts their mouth on the toy, throw a party and reward them. (Similar to the “Carry It” game, but this goes further.)
  • Step 4: Introduce the “Tension Game” Once they are willingly putting their teeth on the toy, add a microscopic amount of tension. Don’t yank—just hold your ground for a split second so they feel a tiny bit of resistance.
  • Step 5: Let Them Win! As soon as they pull back, even a tiny bit, let go of the toy and celebrate like they just won the lottery. Winning builds massive confidence and makes them want to play again.

The Magic of “Transfer of Value”

When something the dog cares about (food) is always associated with something they don’t care about (tugging), eventually they see the same value in the game as in the reward.

Dax transferred the value of the celery to the game itself. In time, she’d happily tug with anything Hope offered.

  • Was it messy? A bit. There were celery bits to clean up.
  • Did it work? You betcha. Dax turned into an enthusiastic tugger and agility competitor. It even turned her into a happier dog overall.
  • Would we do it again? Absolutely. (Although we now start tugging with puppies from the day they come home!)

How to Stop Accidentally Rewarding Dog Jumping | 2-Minute Trainer

Spread the love

Do you push your dog off when they jump on you?

Congratulations! You just taught your dog to play a fun new game called “Throw Your Dog Away!”

You didn’t mean to start a rough-and-tumble wrestling match? Then we need to stop rewarding the wrong stuff.

You’re Not Alone

Everybody does it. Everybody inadvertently rewards the wrong behavior at some point. Perfect timing, flawless mechanics, and constant attention are hurdles that every dog owner stumbles over.

Fortunately, dogs are incredibly forgiving. Messing up is inevitable—after all, we’re only human. But the first step in fixing a training problem is recognizing that it exists.

Watch Your Hands

One of the most common things we see is people swinging their hands up and away when a dog gets a little too excited or jumpy. It’s a natural, human reaction.

The problem? Dogs are hard-wired to track motion. If your arms go swinging up, your dog is going to follow them. If you don’t want your dog jumping at you, keep your hands down and still.

The same rule applies if your dog is a bit too grabby when taking treats. If you jerk your hand away, they will just lunge forward to follow it. It can get painful, which is why children shouldn’t play grabby games. But rather than jerking away, try keeping your hand still, or making it “bigger” by closing it into a fist until they back off.

In fact, learning to control those teeth is a huge part of teaching a dog boundary control. If you want a structured way to teach your dog to back off instead of grabbing, check out our favorite impulse-control game, “Whatcha Gonna Do?”

Flip the Script: Teach What to Do

Many of the things we want our dogs to learn are “don’ts.” Don’t jump. Don’t grab. Don’t pull. Don’t counter-surf.

But teaching a negative to a dog is like trying to explain baseball to an alien. After a while, you just wind up with total confusion. (Have you seen Who’s On First?) Dogs don’t understand the absence of a behavior; they need an active job to do.

By consistently rewarding the behaviors you do want—like when your dog chooses to keep four paws on the floor or sit politely in front of you—you build a habit of good decision-making. Whenever your dog chooses the right thing, acknowledge and reward it immediately.

It’s always a revelation when handlers see their dogs explicitly “choose” the right behavior. You can actually see the lightbulb go on! Celebrate those moments—that’s where a strong foundation is built.

The “Freight Train” Mistake: Why the Words You Say to Your Dog Matter

Spread the love

Words Matter A Lot in Dog Training

This week, one of our trainees almost got run over by a freight train.

Not really. But it was touch-and-go for a minute.

We were doing practice run-throughs in our Novice competition class. On the Recall exercise, Doug called his powerful, fast Staffordshire Terrier mix, Zeke.

But Doug used the wrong word.

If he’d said “Front!” Zeke would have known to dash across the room and sit politely at Doug’s feet. Instead, Doug shouted, “Come!”

Zeke charged full speed ahead and barreled right into Doug’s knees.

Let’s Be Absolutely Clear

Dogs are capable of understanding dozens, if not hundreds, of words. But to a dog, each word has a single, literal meaning. Humans excel at deciphering meaning through context. Dogs? Not so much.

Want to confuse your dog? Tell them to “Sit down.”

Every human knows exactly what you mean. But your dog thinks you just gave two separate, contradictory cues. Do you want me on my butt, or flat on my belly?

Every word you teach your dog needs a specific definition:

  • For Zeke, “Come” means “get over here as fast as you can (and clear the runway).”
  • “Front” means “we’re playing Obedience, so when you get here, sit politely right in front of me.”

Nuances Matter

At first, Doug couldn’t figure out why Zeke was acting like he was in a demolition derby. He tried the exercise a second time—and had to leap out of the way just in time to avoid another knee-capping.

Then it hit him: “Did I say ‘Come’ or ‘Front’?”

The specific words you choose matter. Dogs are master pattern-recognizers. They pick up on our vocabulary when we deliberately teach them, but also by eavesdropping on our daily routines. It’s why most dog owners eventually have to resort to spelling out loud: W-A-L-K, C-A-R, or B-A-T-H.

Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty

Just how precise should your cues be? As granular as possible.

For people playing dog sports like Rally or Agility, teaching your dog “Turn” isn’t specific enough. When you hear agility handlers sprinting a course yelling “Left!” or “Right!”, it’s not wishful thinking. Their dogs truly know their directions.

We even use different words to cue dogs to spin in opposite directions. Clockwise has one word; counter-clockwise has another.

The most creative version we’ve heard came from one of our students. She uses “Spin” for clockwise, and “Nips” for counter-clockwise. Why? Because nips is spin spelled backward!

Which Word You Choose Doesn’t Matter (Consistency Does)

As long as you’re consistent, you can choose any word you like for any behavior. Dogs don’t speak English; they learn the associations we build for them.

For the “Place!” game, you can use “Bed,” “Mat,” or “Rug.” It doesn’t matter, as long as everyone in the family uses the exact same word.

We often see funny family dynamics play out in our training classes. When the husband uses “Up!” and the wife uses “Stand!”, the only result is a highly confused dog.

Pick a word and stick to it. Say what you mean, use it consistently, and your dog will understand. Because words matter a lot in dog training.