Brew doesn't really play tug? He's really got that soft mouth, I've tried to play tug with him, but the weasel simply slides out of his mouth.

He will however play "Drag" with Jessy (the pom X) Picture this, Brew (50+lbs), Jessy (8lbs) One stuffless weasel, Jessy is tugging with all she has and Brew is just walking around leading her by the weasel. LOL

__________________
I Brew

Yes I understand. I don't see the need for such game.

__________________

I'm thinking that if I ever fall down and can't get up without help, I can tell Max to "pull" and he'll help me. I also have a friend who rescued a yellow lab who never learned bite inhibition - giving him a tug toy gives him something "legal" to bite, which is a lot better than having him clamp down on your arm! He's never broken skin, but he sure does have strong jaws!

__________________

LOL! I read your post about pulling you up. You might be on to something. I'm sure this is something they teach certain service dogs.

I have no problem with chew toys. That is how I redirected Wyatt. I just don't see the purpose of the whole tug game unless it really serves a purpose. Like pulling you up for instance. Or how some people use it for agility etc. There are far too many games to play without the biting and chewing for us.

__________________

Oh.... I taught that to each of my goldens and am teaching pup....

I grab their ruff and tell them to help me up.

I have 3 sibs with epilepsy - one who still have seizures on regular basis, and we absolutely would not want to train the dogs to grab my brother by the clothes and drag him to his feet.

He will grab their ruffs, or put a hand around their shoulders. They hold steady and let him pull himself up using their strength.

__________________

That's awesome! To clarify, Max doesn't pull on my clothes - we do this with his tug toy, I will lie back and tell him to pull, and as he's pulling, I push myself up. Then I tell him what a wonderful boy he is for helping me up! At this point, I'm actually helping myself, but my thought was that if it was ever necessary, I could get him to pull on my arm or something. Obviously not well thought out!

__________________