[Sammietheyorkie]

According to my trainer...tug of war is one of the worst things to do with your dog.

If you do play, he says you must always win...which means...you can play for a while but at the end, you must be in possession with it and then put it away after playing. Only because this is their way of becoming "alpha dogs"...knowning that they were strong enough to get it away from you.

Remember, starting out as puppies, their daily goal to be stronger, smarter, faster, etc. than you. Unless they know YOU are the pack leader.

I used to play tug of war all the time and then "let him win" ....then I realized how bad it is to do that.

Another thing my trainer made me realize.....do you notice how much dogs hate mail men? Well, usually dogs will go crazy...bark, jump, etc. when the mail man comes. This is unfortunately a no-win situation because mailmen are constantly re-inforcing these dogs that they are "alpha" because look at the pattern....the mailman comes the same time every day. Your dog waits for him, barks, jumps, and then the mailman goes away. Your dog thinks he's done his job, he's "won", and made the mailman go away. With a mailman, your dog will always be alpha (unfortunately)