LOSING a game of tug-of-war to your dog won’t give him delusions of
dominance, contrary to a popular theory.
Researchers at the University of Southampton played tug-of-war with 14 golden
retrievers and found that victorious dogs didn’t display common signs of
dominance—such as raising their tails or trying to stand over the
vanquished person.
Previously, dog trainers believed that dogs that beat their owners in games
were more likely to have obedience problems, and that losing dogs would be more
submissive.
Instead the researchers found that playing games like this tended to make
dogs more obedient no matter who…
