# Dog Teasing Owner?



## Harland (Jun 12, 2009)

Well, for a while now my dog has been "teasing" me. She will take her toy and come near me acting like "take it, come on" then pulling it away and growling when I try to take it away. Is this normal?


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## Dakota Spirit (Jul 31, 2007)

She's most likely trying to entice you into play. If you watch dogs play with each other they will frequently exhibit such behavior, trying to get one to chase the other. 

If it bothers you though, you can always teach the Leave It command (it's a good one to know, anyway) so that your dog will drop her toy when asked.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

It's not much different from what we do when we want to entice a dog into a game of tug. If the dog doesn't show immediate interest, we wag the item, stick it front of his face and pull it back, hide it under the arm, and etc....


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## RandStrauss (Jun 24, 2009)

She's trying to get you to play and wants you to chase her for the toy. She's just trying to get your attention. Ignore it if you don't want to play. If you want to play, chase her down, tackle her and take the toy to establish dominance. Rinse and repeat.


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

RandStrauss said:


> ...tackle her and take the toy to establish dominance....


Uh oh. Slowly I turned, step by step....


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## RubyLove (May 4, 2009)

RandStrauss said:


> She's trying to get you to play


Makes sense.



RandStrauss said:


> If you want to play, chase her down, tackle her and take the toy to establish dominance. Rinse and repeat.


Doesn't make sense.

Why would you ever chase and tackle your dog?


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## Harland (Jun 12, 2009)

Ruby that does kind of make sense. Think, dogs out in the wild do tackle to show power over each other.


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## Dakota Spirit (Jul 31, 2007)

Wolves (or wild dogs) also don't typically weight significant amounts more then their counterparts. Not all dog/dog behaviors can be applied to a dog/human relationship.


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## RubyLove (May 4, 2009)

Harland said:


> Ruby that does kind of make sense. Think, dogs out in the wild do tackle to show power over each other.


Perhaps, but my dog is not a wild dog and my dog knows i'm not a dog. If I chase and tackle her she is going to freak out, not think "oh this means she's the boss of me". She does what I say through training and because I look after her and make it worth her while, not because I tackle her when she wants to play.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

All dogs are not the same. If I tackle my dog, he's gotten exactly what he was after when he started "teasing" me. Slamming him to the ground is the BEST GAME EVAH!


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## RubyLove (May 4, 2009)

Marsh Muppet said:


> All dogs are not the same.


Agreed. Which is why I would never advise someone to do it over the internet... you can't have a real idea about the size/temperament of someone else's dog, so you can't tell them that they should tackle them.

My first post should have said "Why would you ever _advise someone to_ chase and tackle _their_ dog?"


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## pattymac (Oct 11, 2008)

Depends on your dog for sure, some dogs love to wrestle, mine included. Others like to run and chase each other. This is definately an invite to play. If you don't want to play fine, then don't. Or wait and you initiate the play. With my dog, I'll do both, if I'm just sitting there doing nothing and she brings me a toy, sometimes I'll play but if I ignore her for a bit, she goes and entertains herself. She's always willing for a good game of tug or a bit of a wrestle.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

I agree with both camps 

Larger dogs and retrievers love to be chased, and if they understand that you are playing, tackling may not be a problem with younger dogs, who don't have arthritis - My retriever is 9 years old, so I don't tackle him, but I do roll him and grab his legs. He lies down or walks away when he's had enough, then comes back to pester me to pet him... And I walk away when I've had enough.

You should have a feel for how roughly your dog wants to play, but you also want to temper that with not getting over-excited. 
1. If your dog takes something and runs away, make sure that you can call him back. You don't want him to learn that stealing something and running is allowed.

2. Most dogs like to be chased, but make sure that the game stops whenever you want. If the dog accidentally escapes and you have to chase him across the street, bad things can happen. But I see no problem in a fenced yard, if you're up for the chase.... as long as you can stop and recall.

3. I still play fight with my older dog. And, if you see some of the pictures of Ian Dunbar, he fights with his Malamute... but it is obvious that it is under control. .... Your mileage may vary.

- Hank Simon


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