Will playing tug with your dog cause aggression? Can you teach your dog to be more aggressive or bring out its wild side with such a simple game?  in today's episode, we unpack this amazing game and how, when done effectively, will give you everything you need to train your dog as the pros do.  Learn more about playing and training with your dog with our 14-day free trial of Matador University Click here https://www.matadork9.com/14daytrial   To solve your dog's problem behaviors read this free PDF https://www.matadork9.com/resolvingbadhabits   #dogtraining #matadorcanine #acknowledgedogspodcast   00;00;18;16 - 00;00;43;16Michael J. AccettaWhat I want to talk to you about today is playing tug with your dog. It's not that difficult of a concept. Okay? You know, but I pull this way. My dog pulls back. But for whatever reason, so many individuals struggle with the concept of playing with their dog in an effective way. It's actually productive. For years, I was taught when I was younger, when I was growing up, I didn't grow up with dogs, but I grew up knowing a little bit about dogs. 00;00;43;16 - 00;01;04;28Michael J. AccettaPeople had their concepts, and, you know, you don't touch a dog. Don't look a dog in the eye. Never play with a dog's mouth, those kinds of things. And one of the things I always heard was "never play tug with dogs". And even as I started growing and learning and gaining more experience and knowledge about dog training and psychology, people kept saying, don't play tug with dogs. 00;01;05;21 - 00;01;25;26Michael J. AccettaShelters were pushing this heavily Don't play tug with dogs. Don't play tug with dogs. You know, if you had a working dog, you had a German shepherd, a Belgian Malinois, a pit bull, an Australian shepherd. Don't play dog with your dog. Don't play tug with your dog. It's going to make them aggressive. That's what everyone said. The tug is going to make your dog aggressive, make your dog aggressive. 00;01;25;28 - 00;01;48;05Michael J. AccettaAggression is behavior just like anything else. So playing Tug with your dog isn't going to make them aggressive. If anything, if they're already aggressive, playing Tug might bring it out. But it's not actually going to So what does Tug do? The tug is an insanely useful tool for building our dog's motivation and rewarding them with such a high level of excitement. 00;01;48;18 - 00;02;04;11Michael J. AccettaThat's what Tug can do when done effectively, of course. Right. So if I'm going to work with my dog, let's say I'm going to teach them obedience yeah. I could use food, right? They said I could give them a treat, or I could say, sit. They do it. And then I pull up a tug toy. They jump up, they grab a hold of it. 00;02;04;11 - 00;02;24;08Michael J. AccettaNow I can control how much excitement and playing that my dog gets right. If they did an exceptional job of sitting, I can do an exceptional job of playing time. If they did a mediocre version of sitting, I can reward them lackadaisical, and then I can have them stop. I can have them sit. Not only can I reward with more motivation, right? 00;02;24;08 - 00;02;49;23Michael J. AccettaI can boost up their confidence at wanting to chase after something, and I can make them more excited, which means I can reward faster responses. The third, third pillar of dog training. We talking about speed and motivation so this is huge. Not only can I do that, but I can actually teach them how to have a level head and think clearly when they're excited if my dog is all over the place, the zoom is right. 00;02;49;23 - 00;03;06;19Michael J. AccettaThe zoom is at 6:00. Dog starts chasing its own shadow. It's jumping off the couch. It's going into the kitchen, into the bathroom. It knocks into the water bowl. Those zoomies are because your dog is overstimulated. No matter how much you yell, no matter how much you try to get their attention, they just can't focus. 00;03;07;21 - 00;03;28;05Michael J.