Does Playing Rough and Wrestling With Your Dog Lead to Aggression?
In one of her books, animal behaviorist Patricia McConnell tells about a case with a large Lab that was in the habit of biting its owner. The dog wrestled each evening with the male owner, a man who weighs over 200 pounds, but during the day was with the small female owner and would bite her when she would not play rough. Dr. McConnell recommended that the male owner stop wrestling with the dog.
But is not wrestling with a dog the solution? Not too many years ago, many trainers claimed you shouldnt play tug of war with your dog since that game was said to be one of the causes of aggression. Tug of war is not the cause of aggression. Tug of war is one of those games that can be used to burn off excess energy and make a dog less aggressive. Now those who recommended no wrestling state “play tug of war instead.”
Wrestling will not lead to aggression, but dogs who are going to wrestle with their owners do need to learn bite inhibition. If you teach your dog bite inhibition, your dog may bite if something bad happens to her, but when she does it is not going to cause as much damage as the bite of a dog who does not know how to control herself.
Teaching bite inhibition has nothing to do with a dogs breed. I have worked with many dog breeds, and have yet to come across a dog that was not able to learn to control himself. It does not matter if the dog is small, large, or even giant.
But if he’s being more aggressive, you’ll have to hold game day elsewhere until he learns to spend time alone in another room.
Some dogs handle this well and understand it’s a game that only happens when you initiate it. But others can get overexcited or take things too far.
But not all dogs can handle this, says Baugh. If your dog gets too amped up or doesn’t understand the boundaries of playtime, leave the wrestling to the guys in spandex.
If your dog’s used to spending time with you in a quiet environment, filling your place with a half-dozen dudes—all of whom are yelling and high-fiving—can frighten him, Baugh says.
Bad idea: “Your dog needs to be able to rely on you,” says Baugh. “If you’re unreliable, he’s going to be unreliable, too.”
Is playing tug of war ok with my puppy?
Yes, playing tug of war is ok with puppies. It’s important to implement start and end times of the game, and to setup rules of play. Rules should include no teeth on human hands, have a cue, such as “get it”, as well as a release command.
Tug of war is one of my favorite games to play with dogs. I spend a lot of time teaching my dogs how to play tug of war, and I make my own tug toys, too!
It’s a great game to use as a reward when training, and also a great game to build your relationship with your puppy.
As with wrestling, it’s important that you have start and stop guidelines for playing tug of war with your dog.
The rules should include only playing tug of war with your dog when you have explicitly cued them to “get it!” (or whatever cue you choose), as well as ensuring your dog will drop the tug toy whenever they are asked.
The rules of tug also should include absolutely no teeth on human hands – you bite the toy only during this game.
Having these guidelines in place will ensure you don’t have a dog that grabs things from you randomly to try and start a game of tug. You need to be able to end the game when you need to, and that you stay safe from the chomp of a dog that’s excited and doesn’t care where their teeth land.
Not only is tug of war a great way to engage with your dog while rewarding them during a training session, but it’s an excellent way to teach them how to think while they are excited and how to follow boundaries, too.
Being able to play a hard and fun game of tug of war, and then drop the toy the first time they are asked, is an excellent skill for your puppy to learn. It helps teach them impulse control and how to listen when super excited.
You can easily play too rough with your puppy if you forget to pay attention to their body language. Play can easily turn sour and actually lead to a breakdown in your relationship with your dog if you constantly overwhelm them.
You want your puppy to be bouncing back at you for more, without being irritated or overwhelmed.
With very young puppies, you’ll likely want to start playing very gently. Pretend you are playing with something soft like cotton candy, and you want it to retain its shape while you play without being dented.
As your puppy is bigger and more confident, you can start to play rougher if your dog enjoys it.
Some dogs will only ever enjoy gentle play, and that’s OK! The level of “too rough” varies for each dog.
My dogs personally engage with light shoves and slaps and enjoy playing more physically rough than a variety of other dogs that would be overwhelmed.
This is partly due to their personalities, and partly due to the relationship we’ve built. My dogs know they can trust me not to scare them or be too rough.
Should you roughhouse with your dog?
One of the fun parts of owning a puppy is getting to wrestle with them and play rough, along with games like Tug of War! However, not all types of play are appropriate for puppies.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the best ways to play with your puppy, and how to set boundaries so that you set your puppy up for success in the future.