Ora the Pit Bull

Its that time of year again folks, the snow has started to fly and the ground is getting hard and cold. For those of you with short haired, high energy dogs this mean its time to shift gears and find an indoor activity to keep your dogs exercised and mentally stimulated.

When Ora came to us I tried all the usually things to get through to her and work on training. They all fell short and I was running out of ideas. I had never had a dog so driven and with so much energy. I started reading about various canine sports, especially schutzhund and how they worked with dogs to build focus and drive. From this reading I pulled bits and pieces and put them to work with Ora and she responded immediately by displaying operant behavior.

As luck would have it I was building a solid foundation for playing disc, or more generally a solid foundation for life that involved exercise, mental stimulation, confidence building and bond building. I had always played tug with my dogs and thankfully never bought into the hype that tug was “bad”. Im sure you have all heard people claim that tug was bad because it brought out aggression, if the dog won it would think its superior to you blah blah blah. The only good excuse I have heard to date for not playing tug with your dog (note I did not say puppy) is that the human wasnt strong enough and her dog was a rottie. Since I have a rottie as well, I can sympathize with a 110lbs of dog tugging and flailing at an item your trying to hold, but where there is a will there is a way and I would still try and find a way to play tug with my dog, its just too powerful of a tool to not try and take advantage of.

Since my immersion into the game of tug as a training tool a couple years ago I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet Ron Watson from pawsitivevybe.com who has mastered the game and its use as a tool for training. He has a few articles and videos on the subject so if you have a few minutes to spare I recommend checking them out. Its never too late to start and even dogs who dont naturally play tug can be taught to play and usually love it. I have had quite a few fosters over the years that didnt know how to play tug, at least with a human, but once they learned they loved it.