Two Barking Dogs

Per Wikipedia:

Tug of war, tug o’ war, or tug war, also known as rope pulling, is a sport that directly puts two teams against each other in a test of strength.

The term may be used as a simile to describe a demonstration of brute strength by two opposing groups, such as a rivalry between two departments of a company. Often, there is a third party who is considered the “rope” in the tug o’ war.

So, the “dog experts” say, tug of war is good. Its a fun way to play and interact with your dog. And, besides, almost all dogs like to play tug. (Except Clover, that is.)

The “other dog experts” say playing tug of war with your dog is bad because it causes the dog to get agitated and can cause them to play too rough, or cause aggression or dominance issues.

There are so many experts on so many topics. What the hell did we do before Google?

Around my house, this is how it works:

Cosmo will find a dish towel on the floor or in the laundry pile, or he will dig through the toy box and find the tug of war toy/rope. He will dance around with the toy in his mouth, flip it in the air, jump up and catch it, and run around the living room for a few minutes saying, “Woohoo, look what I have!” He will then approach Clover and try to stuff the toy in her mouth. She will invariably get up and move away, and perhaps go hide out in the closet. On the very rare occasion, she will grab hold of whatever he wants to tug with and they will play tug for a while. When Clover is done with all of Cosmo’s foolishness, he will abandon her, and zero in on me.

This is where tug becomes keep away, and that is a whole ‘nother story!