tug-less pittie

[sflaganza10]

Hi Mike, I had gotten a couple different types of tugs to try with Brindi but for the life of me, I can't get her to engage. If she puts her mouth on it, I give her lots and lots of praise but she'll only go to gently take the tug and won't use any type of pressure to bite down on it. Any suggestions (short of putting a picture of Toby's face on one)? Tob has a field day with them so they're being put to good use with him but I'd love to be able to get her fired up about it.

[BCGurney]

SFLA- Sorry to be of no help, but I have the exact same problem with my American Bulldog, I really feel bad because she doesn't like to play with anything. The same as you, I have bought many other toys but she wont take to them. I want to give her something fun to do other than to chew on a bully tail. I'm stumped and any other feedback on this form would be appreciated

[Deran9ed]

This is only a thought but it could be worth a try. But be warned i'm not sure how this might relate to resource guarding issues.
What you could try is put a bit of food on it she likes such as peanut butter and try to get her to engage and play with you. Then slowly reduce the amount of food while giving her lots of praise every time she plays tug with you.

Once again this is just a thought.

[jocomoreno]

Hi there all. I know its been a long time but if you are still looking for ideas I may just have one for you.
I have a Dogo from the shelter that initially wouldnt bite the tug. The way I got him interested in it was to hang it from a flirt pole. He would chase that thing until he couldnt run anymore. Once hed catch it I would put the flirt pole down and grab the tug with my hands and tug with him. Slowly he started to enjoy the tug more and now he plays tug with such intensity that I had to teach the "out" to get him to let go of it; otherwise I would never win. Hope this helps.
BTW you can make a flirt pole very cheap with some pvc pipe and some bungee cord.