"Tug It!"

Tired of trying endless ways to teach
your dog the wonderful game of tug?

The "Tug It!" will help make this process both fun and easy for you and your Fido.

The "Tug It!" is a training device to teach a dog to tug.

The "Tug It!" is made of a strong nylon/polyester mesh. It 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.

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

shredding and ingesting it.

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.

The “Tug It!” was listed by, “Dog Sport”, magazine as a must have training device for 2009.

Click here to read that article.

The "Tug It!" retails for $14.95 plus shipping and handling or

buy 2 for $25.95 plus shipping and handling.

Starter version "Tug It!"

for those dogs that do not have any tugging behavior at all.

Advanced version "Tug It!"

for those dogs that have some tugging behavior already that you want to enhance.

with bungee handle!

We’ve taken the great concept of the original "Tug It!" and have added the spring action of the bungee handle that dogs absolutely love and puts less strain on the handlers back and arms!

This version is ideal if the dog prefers to be further away from the handler while playing. For those dogs that are reluctant to come in close to play, this is the model to choose.

The "Tug It!" bungee handle is made with the same nylon/polyester mesh that our Advanced "Tug It!" is made of. A velcro opening at the top of the "Tug It!" allows you to simply fill the "Tug It!" with your dogs favorite food and let the tugging fun begin. Every time your dog tugs on the “Tug It!” he is reinforced for that action by the delivery of this food.

"Tug It!" bungee handle $18.95 plus shipping/handling

The "Tug It!"2 is the first ever training device that incorporates

the wonderful chenille that dogs adore along with the ability to dispense food.

The base of the "Tug It!"2 is made of the same sturdy mesh the advanced "Tug It!" is made of. Fringe chenille, the same fabric used in the "Squiggle It!" which dogs find irresistible, covers three quarters of the mesh. The uncovered mesh at the bottom of the "Tug It!"2 allows food to be delivered to the dog thru the mesh just like our wildly popular "Tug It!".

The top of the "Tug It!"2 has a strong Velcro closure to make filling easy. Just load the "Tug It!"2 with your dogs favorite food. The dog will not only enjoy the feel of the chenille in its mouth but will also get the added reinforcement of the food which will squeeze out of the mesh every time the dog tugs with you! Traditional bait bags do not teach your dog to play tug because the dog has to actually let go of the bait bag in order for you to open it up and give it the food. Now, with every tug, your dog will get the food reinforcement it loves thereby reinforcing the act of tugging.

If you already own a "Tug It!" and are looking to advance your dogs joy of tugging with a more traditional tug toy like the “Squiggle It!” the "Tug It!"2 is a great way to make this transition.

Have a dog that already plays tug only in certain circumstances? The food reinforcement that the dog gets when tugging using the "Tug It!"2 will help generalize the tugging behavior.

The "Tug It!"2 measures approximately 7 ½" X 3 ½" and has a strong nylon handle
that is 8 ½" long. It comes in a variety of colors. Let us choose for you.

19.95 each plus shipping/handling

Get your dog a "Tug It!"2 and let the tugging begin!