One of the primary features of the dog toys in this food motivation category is that we get more options and control for [...]]]> Motivating our agility dogs to maximum performance sometimes requires us to shell out the groceries! Training dogs with treats is a proven training and accepted method and I still use treats occasionally myself.

One of the primary features of the dog toys in this food motivation category is that we get more options and control for the ‘payoffs’, and we get more mileage out of our treats.

Grocery Control

Food Motivation dog toys allow your dog to smell, taste and feel the yummie treats inside the toy without actually getting the treat, yet. They can play tug with the toy ‘fighting’ for their goodies, which will raise their excitement and stimulation level. And they can chase the thrown toy, or catch it in the air, but they’re only going to get the morsels inside when you decide the time is right. This allows you to use food to your best advantage, and to reward when and where you decide.

Where’s The Beef?

You can use any contents with these super tough food pouches, from favorite dog treats to cooked or raw people foods. A personal favorite of mine is steak scraps. I taught my submissive Border Collie to ‘take’ using the Soft Tug N Treat and steak scraps. You can use hamburger, chicken, salmon skin or cheese whatever floats your dog’s boat. Personally I go for fragrant foods, I think the smellier the better.

Not Just For Food

These dog toys can also be used to teach dogs to track animal scents, drug detection and cadaver work. Any scent object can be placed in the Velcro pouch and carried or dragged to your target location by the convenient handle. It is possible to attach a line or leash to the handle of this toy to make dragging the toy easier.

To reduce the amount of handler scent on the toy we suggest you get a helper to load the toy then loop a leash through the handle of the toy to transport it or drag it. Once you’re at your target location, simply release one end of the loop and drop the dog toy to the ground.

Side note: both the name and the design of the Tug N Treat toy has been copied by another company. We guarantee our products against defects in materials and workmanship.

These Tuffy’s are not beginner tug [...]]]> Excitement and safety are always priorities here at Genuine Dog Gear. I’ve designed our new furry dog toys: the Ram Tuffys and Rabbit Tuffys specifically to be safe, while creating a top speed excitement in your dog. I’m happy to report that they’re doing their job.

Not your Mama’s Tug Toy

These Tuffy’s are not beginner tug toys. I’m not implying that you’re going to get hurt using them, but they do create a very high degree of desire in dogs. If you’ve got a chewer and you’re not watching closely, your dog tug toy will wind up in bits and pieces in a heartbeat.

Additionally, if you have a couple of aggressive or competitive dogs in your household, you’ll want to keep a close eye on these as they could easily start a fight. These are not the kind of dog toys you can turn over to the dogs. You’ll definitely want to be involved in the games.

Rabbit Rules

Dogs love rabbit. I guess it’s their natural instincts. There must be something in the smell that just goes click for them, like chocolate, fresh baked bread or the smell of money does for us.

I’m guessing it’s a fundamental survival/hunting drive that kicks in for them. It doesn’t matter what the mechanism is that gets their wheels spinning. All you need to know is that this rabbit fur dog toy will drive your high rev dog up the right tree. If you’re looking for a good dog toy to push your dog training to the next level, I recommend this one.

Sheepy Love

A Sheepskin dog toy may be preferable for your dog if you have a herding breed as opposed to a hunting breed. We put sheepskin in a lot of our tug toys to create drive and it works very well. If your dog hasn’t seen furry dog toys before, I recommend starting with sheepskin and working your way up to the rabbit dog toy after your dog has seen the sheepskin for a while.

The same is true if you’ve been dog training with rabbit fur dog toys. Your dog may really respond to the novelty of sheepskin.

Fur Origins

Sometimes we get asked where our fur comes from. So, if you’re wondering, our sheepskin comes from New Zealand and the rabbit fur comes from France. In both cases, the animals are raised for the table and the skins are harvested as a part of that process. Neither of these skins comes from the orient or a third world country. We buy our skins from American companies who import them for resale.