My vet told me not to play tug of war and I read it on here too. That its bad for their teeth and it teaches aggressive behavior. So now the question is when you have people that want to play with your puppy and they make growling noises and play tug of war what do you do. Im trying to get her not to do that and here are people (that probably dont realize) that are teaching her bad things.

Ask the offending parties to NOT play with your puppy that way. If they do not comply, do not allow that individual access to the dog. Tug of War can most assuredly teach a puppy to be aggressive with people. My Button wanted to engage in tug of war games, but I would just let go of whatever toy she was doing it with. She soon stopped.

That said, it has been my experience that dogs playing tug of war with each other sems to not have  negative repercussions. They seem to perceive this as play and not aggression. But I never (and won't let other humans) engage in the activity with them.

Interesting thread. I agree that you should ask people not to do those things with your pup - it is your pup and you make the rules.

As far as the tug-of-war being bad for dogs it sounds like it depends on the dog. I can see where it would build a tendency toward dominance, especially if that tendency was already there...especially if done with children. I can also see where it would build confidence in a very submissive dog like my Gavin. Vets probably don't want to explain all that to a client so they just say "don't do it".

Yaz LOVES to play tug. I think she likes tug more than fetch. She does growl when we play tug but I have never been fearful of her becoming agressive. As a matter of fact there have been times when she has lost her grip on the toy and bit my hand in her attempt to get the toy back. She pins her ears and backs off immediately. I don't even have to say anything. She just knows the difference. I DO worry about hurting her teeth so we are very careful that SHE is the on tugging. We just hold.