# Why Do Dogs Love "Tug of War"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 7, 2013, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571 "2013-02-07T07:39:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/1 "2013-02-07T07:39:16Z")
My stepson’s Labradoodle is 4-yet she is like a puppy-always bringing a stuffed toy and pressing it int my hand-so she can initiate some tug of way. She never stops-sometimes I get tired and tell her to stop-she meekly comes back and wants to play again. Most dogs seem to love the game-why? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/2 "2013-02-07T07:45:59Z")
I suppose it has a instinctive similarity to a dog or wolf yanking away a chunk of a dead animal, or ripping it apart between them. Plus dogs like to bite things, and they like to interact with their humans; tug-of-war is both. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/3 "2013-02-07T16:26:37Z")
Because they suck at Monopoly. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/4 "2013-02-07T17:29:08Z")
What’s not to love? Interaction with you. Exercise. The game of seeing “who wins”. Sort of why kids like throwing a ball at an early age, or biting/chewing on anything they can get their hands on. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/5 "2013-02-07T18:15:22Z")
I think it’s gotta be instinctive. I agree they like the interaction and the bitework, of course, but I do think that in pre-living-with-humans packs they would tug on pieces of prey as **Der Trihs** suggests. Think about it – it’s useful to be able to divide up the food, especially since dogs share food altruisitcally, and it helps make swallow-able chunks as well. But dogs don’t have cutting boards or vises – nothing to hold the chunk in place while they saw with their teeth and pull…_except_ another dog on the other end. So it’s a useful behavior to share a tug with a pack mate, and most useful behaviors get modeled in play because play is how they are learned. So I speculate that dogs thought tug-of-war was fun even before they merged their destinies with humans. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/6 "2013-02-07T18:20:26Z")
By the way, you have no idea how much they can love tug-of-war until you’ve played with a bully breed. Ancestral bulldog lines have been bred for about two thousand years for the purpose of biting and holding; it’s literally part of their nature. Tug-of-war is like a religious experience for my Simone; she stares into my eyes with an intensity that says “this is what I was born to do!” True story – I developed tennis elbow shortly after we adopted her. My doc asked, “any new behaviors in your life you think might be contributing?” ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/7 "2013-02-07T20:23:20Z")
When I first got dogs of my own, books I read said it’s a dominance thing that we should not play tug of war with our dogs (or let them growl over toys/food). None of my dogs ever showed an interest in it so I haven’t tested this theory. And this information is at least 15 years old. ---
**Author:** ![OneDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c68b51/32.png) [@OneDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneDay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/8 "2013-02-07T20:28:18Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > My stepson’s Labradoodle is 4-yet she is like a puppy-always bringing a stuffed toy and pressing it int my hand-so she can initiate some tug of way. She never stops-sometimes I get tired and tell her to stop-she meekly comes back and wants to play again. Most dogs seem to love the game-why? My Doberman needs it to release energy, and uses it to interact with “her people.” I also believe it’s an innate drive they have which goes back to them killing prey so they could eat. Tug with my moose is exhausting, so we tied a thick rope in a tree. She’ll go out there and tug and tug trying to pull it down – it’s good exercise for her, and keeps her teeth strong. ---
**Author:** ![OneDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c68b51/32.png) [@OneDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneDay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/9 "2013-02-07T20:35:00Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > When I first got dogs of my own, books I read said it’s a dominance thing that we should not play tug of war with our dogs (or let them growl over toys/food). None of my dogs ever showed an interest in it so I haven’t tested this theory. And this information is at least 15 years old. The tug-causing-dominance-issues thing is absolutely FALSE. Some dogs have a herding instinct, but they are fiercely protective of their human counterparts and would not hurt them. If you train your dog and treat it well, then tug is a game that just strengthens the bond between a dog and its owner. Now, a dog should NEVER be allowed to growl over their toys or food EVER – this is negative behavior and it is dangerous. I solved this by free-feeding my dog (food is always available to her which has kept her at a perfect weight), and socializing her with other dogs when she was a puppy. She is more protective of me than anything – doesn’t like other dogs getting near me – but she’s fine with small dogs and kids. ---
**Author:** ![OneDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c68b51/32.png) [@OneDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneDay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/10 "2013-02-07T20:38:08Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > By the way, you have no idea how much they can love tug-of-war until you’ve played with a bully breed. Ancestral bulldog lines have been bred for about two thousand years for the purpose of biting and holding; it’s literally part of their nature. Tug-of-war is like a religious experience for my Simone; she stares into my eyes with an intensity that says “this is what I was born to do!” > > True story – I developed tennis elbow shortly after we adopted her. My doc asked, “any new behaviors in your life you think might be contributing?” LOL I can relate! My Dobe lives for her tug games. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RedMud636](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@RedMud636](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedMud636)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-love-tug-of-war/649571/11 "2013-02-08T02:54:01Z")
Ive resided with a GSD, Rottweiler, Bull Terrier and a Dogue de Bourdeax and they all loved a good tug -o- war, with me or each other… Quite a sight when they get into it…We never let it go on too long though and always made a point of my gf or I stepping in and putting a stop to the fun, or settling things down as approriate. That kind of thing can cause dogs to become possesive or aggressive if its done a lot IMO. Especially with such breeds its important to be firmly in control and carefully watch their goings on…As for why do they love it, its probably the same reason a bunch of young kids would soon starting doing the same thing if you gave them a rope. It fun, a social thing, stimulation, competition, a test.