Planet Blue Dog

It is made of a strong nylon/polyester mesh and has a velcro closure and handle. There are 2 different models of the "Tug It!", a starter model that has a more open weave and a more advanced model with a tighter weave. The trainer stuffs the "Tug It!" with an appropriate food. The food should be semi-soft and absolutely irresistible, i.e. hotdogs, hunks of cheese, chicken breast to name a few. 

Present the "Tug It!" to the dog. The dog will begin to sniff and lick it. Soon the dog will start to mouth the "Tug It!". As it does, the dog will start to get some food reinforcement. The result is that the act of mouthing is immediately paired with the primary reinforcer, food. Once the dog starts to mouth the "Tug It!" gently grasp the handle and start to exert some tugging pressure away from the dog. The dog will start to mouth the "Tug It!" harder to ensure it doesn't go away. The harder the dog mouths the "Tug It!" the more food reinforcement the dog gets therefore the act of tugging harder gets immediately paired with the food. This results in making the tugging behavior stronger.

Why is playing tug so important you ask? It has been shown time and time again that the act of tugging fosters playful interaction between dog and trainer. Dog's that have successfully learned to play tug know that their toys come alive when their human is tugging with them on the other end. The dog comes to learn that the best toy in the world is the one that their owner is on the end of.

Unfortunately, for many different reasons, the dogs natural desire to play tug with their owners can be desensitized. Frequently, dogs are happy to take a cookie from their owners but can turn their nose up when it comes to tugging. The cookie, once taken by the dog, doesn't do much to foster the relationship between dog and owner.

Toys are an integral tool to provide reinforcement from afar. If food is tossed to a dog often times the dog can't see it so they resort to the undesirable behavior of sniffing. When toys are tossed for reinforcement to dogs that love to play tug with them they quickly will bring the toy back to their owners for a rousing game of tug.

The "Tug It!" will have most dogs tugging quickly. Keep in mind that the "Tug It!" is a tug training device NOT a chew toy. The intention of the "Tug It!" is to teach the dog to tug and then transition this behavior to other more traditional tug toys.  Please do not allow your dog to get it between it's back teeth and grind on it.

Dogs will quickly learn to love the "Tug It!" and the mouthing behavior will increase. 

DO NOT leave the dog unattended with the "Tug It!" as you could risk the dog 

Once the tugging behavior has been strengthened sufficiently use the more advanced model of the "Tug It!" with the tighter mesh. When your dog is playing with you and the "Tug It!" with passion start to diminish the amount of food you use in the "Tug It!" by wrapping some of the food in some craft store batting as seen in the video. The "Tug It!" will now start to resemble a more traditional tug toy. This is a wonderful way to transition the tugging behavior to other toys.