For those who use tug...

[AdrianneIsabel]

Originally Posted by Danefied

Wait. So are you guys saying I’m the only idiot who plays tug with 130 pounds worth of dog?

I’m sporting a lovely bruised scratch on my thigh where the mouthy bitch decided to “grip” me with her paw - the bruise and scratch was THROUGH my jeans. She has dew claws and isn’t afraid to use them. It hurt LOL.

Hey, it could be worse... I got this from releasing a 20 something pound staffordshire off my lap in flyball.



I did this to myself recalling Arnold in flyball by slapping my legs trying to build his speed up...



I can't find any of my tug injuries on my thighs (I found several on my arms and hands and ankles!) but yeah.. I've started to disallow the paws from Backup purely because I've lost the enjoyment in pain and I know it won't kill his drive. In a lower drive dog I'll allow most anything too keep them up.

[Red Chrome]

With LoLa anything is ok in tug. With Judge...he needs to be tugging straight back with lots of fight. No circles or side to side..which he can tend to do ironically. I don't mind the feet on my legs but hate it when they end up on my stomach.

[Danefied]

Okay Adrienne, you officially win LOL!

Mine is just the scratch from the dew claw where she likes to wrap her paw around and “hold” me.
Bates is the one who mauls my arms trying to push the tug away or grab it, who knows, he’s a maniac. He also growls like a fiend but his out is awesome, so I’m not worried about that.

neither is super tug driven, this is something I’m trying to build. They will half heartedly tug with the kids but seem to know to keep it low key with them. Its a weird balance...

[AdrianneIsabel]

LOL It's not a game I enjoyed winning.

I totally hate dewclaws though, they can really hurt.

I've never had to tug with a dog as big as me (well, almost). So... yeah, I don't know for sure what to say but I would be allowing a lot to build the drive and then molding it when it's stable.

[Southpaw]

Originally Posted by BostonBanker

I allow basically anything - I don't even get too bothered by teeth on skin if it is clearly an accidental glancing.

This. But my dog is only 50lbs and she doesn't really do crazy things during tug. I don't think she's ever used her paws for anything while tugging.

[Aleron]

Originally Posted by Danefied

I’m working on tug drive with both the younger two and I have an opinion question. What’s fair game? Namely with paws.
Do you allow pushing against you with a paw? Do you allow banking off you to grab at a tug you mean for them to leap for? Bear in mind that my “little” dog tugging is 80 pounds and the bigger one is 130 pounds.

I really think a lot of this is more about what you consider ok or not.

Originally Posted by BostonBanker

I allow basically anything - I don't even get too bothered by teeth on skin if it is clearly an accidental glancing. Meg has zero natural tug drive - it is all created, and my deal with her is that it is all okay. Any correction and that would probably be the end of tugging with her. She's soft enough that she almost never touches skin anyway.

Gusto is a tugging machine, and I love it. He does have to drop it when I say Gimme and not grab until I say Okay. Beyond that, if he wants to climb on my head to tug or growl like a lunatic, he can. He does occasionally catch a bit of skin, generally when I'm holding whatever we are tugging on in a stupid way. Never broken skin or even left a mark, just hit me with a tooth. If he was lunging at my hands, I might rethink the rules.

This is pretty much how I am too. Unless the dog is really nailing me, repeatedly and purposefully, I don't really care about teeth occasionally hitting me. It's all in fun

Me & Savvy from this weekend...

[AdrianneIsabel]

Go Savvy!

[Emily]

Notice that he looks exactly like the Werewolf on Nikki's shirt??? LOL

[Aleron]

Originally Posted by Emily

Notice that he looks exactly like the Werewolf on Nikki's shirt??? LOL

LOL how perfect was it that I was wearing the werewolf shirt?

I should get more of the pictures from that day uploaded - it's a pretty funny set all in all.

[Panzerotti]

That is a great pic! It looks like teeth may have touched skin.