Labrador Retriever Training Tips On Playing Tug Games The Right Way
Some Labrador Retriever owners talk about discouraging their dogs from playing tug games at home. This is understandable, since tug games seem to indeed heighten the excitement of dogs. Furthermore, a simply tug of war game almost always leads to the dog wanting to play more of it, pulling and biting your shirt, mouthing your household items and provoking you to run and tug at it, etc.
First of all, a little background on goldie tugging. The golden retriever is a mouthy by nature, and if its mouthiness is left unchecked, the dog’s crazy antics will continue and may even get reinforced. Add to this the energies of the growing adolescent dog, and there you have the basic recipe of the typical dog addicted to tugging.
On the other hand, tug of war games are considered by some veteran owners to be good for the dog. So in general, if you have a tugging problem at home, the trick is to know how to do tug games the right way. How? Check out the labrador retriever training tips below.
1. First of all, it is important that the puppy know how to stop tugging when you show that it is time to stop. With a pup, tugging only needs to be played bit by bit, a minute or less. An overdose of tugging may result to an excited and agitated dog that will want to use its ferocious shark teeth instead.
2. At their age, it is quite normal for puppies to want to hold practically everything inside their mouths and to tug. But ignore all suggestions of play if it is not time yet, or if you do not initiate it yourself (otherwise the dog will think anytime it wants is a good time). Tugging also ought to be limited to only one object, e.g. the tug rope. As a result, never also use the tug rope for any other activity.
3. Do you have a way of calming the dog down when play time is over? This is an important labrador retriever training step, no matter what game is being played.
4. Of course, there is always one drastic measure for some cases. Teach the dog how to “leave it”. If it refuses, use a squirt bottle to spray some water on the dog.
