Tug & Fetch
Learn how to play tug and fetch and why it’s so helpful in building your relationship.
Overview
One of the reasons we play tug with our dog is to build a possible obedience reward for our dog. This helps up use less treats.
The foundation of our training is built on having a high value reward for obedience. I talk a lot about creating engagement between the dog and their owner, getting your dog to focus and stay engaged with their owner. Tug is a great way to promote engagement.
Tug is an interaction that is directly between the owner and the dog. Not only does it make a great obedience reward but it’s also a way to build engagement, create a bond and focus between the dog and owner.
I’ve discussed about making the reward an event. It’s not just an object they are getting, but a whole experience and interaction with the owner. Using tug as a reward creates that fun event which motivates the dog.
Tug is also a great way to build confidence in your dog by letting them win and showing them how strong and amazing they are.
Once your dog learns to tug, then you can introduce the Drop It and fetch retrieve.
Videos
Basics of Tug Play for Puppy Introduction
How to Play Tug
You’ll want to choose certain interactive toys that are meant for playing tug. See the Basic Gear Guide for advice. These toys only come out to play with you and dog and then they go back away when you are done.
Depending on your dog’s level of interest in playing tug, you may need to get them interested in the concept first, other dog’s will happily be ready to play right away.
Set the Rules
These are the rules I play by. You can set your own if you wish. If a rule is broken I mark it with “Nope” and end the session, either entirely or for 30 seconds. I start every tug session by saying “Are you ready?” with the toy behind my back. And I end every session by saying “All done” before moving to put the toy away.
The dog cannot reach for the toy until told to “Get It”.
The dog cannot bite my hand, even if by accident. They need to learn control, make sure you set them up for success by using a properly sized tug.
The dog needs to drop it when told to do so.
Get Them Interested
You may need to start by just laying the toy on the ground and when your dog looks at or sniffs it you mark and reward. You can then start to move it around and reward them for being interested in it. See if they are willing to open their mouth a little when you place it by their mouth and mark and reward.
This needs to be a happy positive experience. Don’t force it or rush it, we want the dog to associate this item with good times. Once they are willingly putting the object in their mouth just simply touch the item and then pet and praise the dog. If they drop the item just pick it up and make it interesting again and praise them for grabbing it.
During this stage I am not enforcing the rules. I want to just show the dog this item is fun and reinforce the behaviors I like to see and ignore any other behaviors.
Start to Tug
Either your dog already wanted to tug right away or you’ve conditioned your dog to like putting the object in their mouth and you are able to grab it and hold it while they keep it in their mouth. Now we can start to introduce tugging.
Say “Are you ready?” and show the toy from behind your back. Say “Get It” and encourage your dog to grab the toy.
While it’s in their mouth, give it just a tiny little tug. Barely anything. Let go and praise them and tell them how amazing they are for holding on so tight.
Repeat while slowly increasing how long and how much you tug on it. Go slow!
Note: As we progress into the actual tugging it’s important that you tug in smooth, straight, gentle motions. Leave the shaking and jerky movements to the dog. If you jerk and tug too hard it can make the dog not enjoy it as much and prefer not to play. You’ll also notice that we are never taking the item from the dog. They may drop it on their own, but we are never yanking it out of their mouth. We want them to win these games! Winning is fun and they will be more likely to want to play if they win a lot.
Start to move backwards when you let go, especially if they do a head shake or a hard pull, make it look like they are so strong and they have such a powerful impact on their environment. Build up that self-esteem!
Every time you let go immediately praise your dog and entice them to come back to you. This is important to teach them not to just take it and run away and it will also be the foundation of teaching fetch. It can help to play in a hallway or up against a wall so they don’t have many escapes routes.
If you’re dog is playing tug well and not trying to run away every time you let go, then you can start to work on Drop It.
The goal of tug is to get the dog to understand that it’s not the toy that’s fun, but rather you, and you are both just using the toy to have fun together. Build that engagement, bond and interaction to ensure the dog doesn’t want to run off with the toy and destroy it. When you let go of the tug the dog should start coming back to you and even push the toy into you! The toy isn’t nearly as fun unless you’re on the other end of it! This is what will help with “Fetch.”
How to Teach Fetch
Fetch can have many standards. I want you to think of what you want fetch to look like for your household. I think most people prefer that fetch means to go get that item and come back with it. That we can hopefully all agree on. But how does it end? Does the dog drop the item at your feet? Do they continue to hold it until you tell them to drop it? If you grab it while they are holding it do they drop it without needing a cue, or are they ok to play tug at that point?
See how complicated it can all of a sudden get? Think about what you want it to mean for you and shape that behavior. The best way to teach a dog your way of fetch is to have a clear plan first, then stick to it, over and over and over. Dogs need repetition and clear rules. If you are consistent and don’t waver from the rules you’ll soon see a dog that does your style of fetch every time as if it was their idea!
Put it all together
If your dog can play tug, and they can drop items on command, then you can start to toss the toy. I typically try not to throw a toy at all for a dog until I have the other parts at about 80%.
Begin as always by saying “Are you ready?” and play a little tug. Let them win a couple then tell them to “Drop It”. You can reward them for the drop it with a treat if you are still teaching it and need to solidify it, though the toy should soon take the treats place.
With toy in your hand and them waiting to hear “Get It” or “Fetch” say the magic words and toss the toy on ground right next to you. As soon as they grab it praise them and encourage them to come back to you.
Nows the time for you to decide what you want the end of Fetch to look like. If you want them to just drop the item at your foot, tell them to drop it. If you want them to drop it when you grab it, grab it (don’t engage in tug) and say “Drop it”. If you want them to play tug with you, then simply start tugging!
Repeat this game and slowly increase how far you throw the toy. Remember to be fun and exciting, move backwards to get them to want to come to you even more. Work in areas where they have little choice of where to go. You can put a leash on them to ensure they don’t just run away. Don’t yank them back to you though, that doesn’t sound like a fun game to me.
Don’t chase them!
Don’t forget your rules. If they jump at the toy before hearing the magic words, or bite your hand then the game ends.
Tips
The trick to this is to make a structured game with rules and stay consistent. If 100% of the times you toss a toy and your dog isn’t able to do anything but bring it back, and every time they do they are reinforced heavily with fun, treats and praise then they are going to keep doing it.
Always start inside with low distractions. If you increase distractions or change the environment you need to go backwards in steps. Start with simple tug and when you let go, see if your dog remembers to come right back or not. Don’t just toss it super far, chances are they aren’t coming back with it until you’ve shown them the same rules apply everywhere.