My dog goes nuts for neatsfoot oil. He’s not allowed to do more than smell my strap goods I’ve used it on, but I’m wondering if it would be safe to put on a tug toy? I just started Susan Garrett’s Handling 360 program and am looking for ideas for the highest value rewards and toys to teach him to tug with.
What? No!
Get a couple of these https://www.cleanrun.com/product/tug_it_original_dog_toy/index.cfm?ParentCat=1196 and fill them with meat. I got a very food motivated dog who was meh about tug tugging good on these mesh bags. They don’t last long because the dogs hit them HARD (which is good, they do the job) so I switched him over to the velcro pouch fur tugs https://www.cleanrun.com/product/predator_prey_bungee_reward_pouch_coyote_buffalo/index.cfm?ParentCat=1196 https://www.cleanrun.com/product/biggies_bungee_bunny_pouch_standard/index.cfm?ParentCat=1196 after a couple of months and shredded bags.
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Well…neatsfoot oil is pretty much just liquid cow fat. If you get high quality, pure, neatsfoot, and just use it to scent something, it’s probably fine. It’s an inherently stable product, and certainly a lot easier to handle than a bag full of meat…?
But neatsfoot is often sold as a blend with other oils, and those may not be safe. And you may be risking any tack your dog might get into!
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The meat is used for a training session. You don’t leave the meat in the bag. I was under the impression the OP was training her dog. Weird.
How is that better/safer/easier than dabbing something with what is basically stable beef oil? 
Yeah, I understand your distaste if the neatsfoot isn’t high quality, or a blend of who knows what, but if it’s pure, high quality oil, there really doesn’t seem to be a problem. And it’s sure easier than handling raw meat or prepping something cooked (you didn’t specify…)
Maybe you can detail why you think neatsfoot is so inappropriate? Because your response seems weird, I agree.
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if you use neatsfoot oil on tack, I think it is risky to then allow your dog to associate it with a tug toy or other OK reward item.
I would not trust that my dog would be capable of distinguishing the difference at all times
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Yeah, I have to say Sswor, your response comes across as pretty severe/severely negative. I am not a germaphobe in general, but meat bacteria bugs me a lot. I assume you do actually mean meat and not just meat-based processed soft dog treats.
If I were going to put meat in a bag to train with my dogs in this way, I would literally have to wash the toy after every session or I’d end up throwing it away in short order, and I’m way way too cheap and lazy for that. I might even have this problem with cheese because it would melt into the fabric.
A tiny bit of neatsfoot oil (just enough for the dog to smell - not enough to make the toy oily and gross to handle) seems way more pleasant to me - and I like how it smells too. It’s also more pungent than most dog treats I’ve smelled. It’d be nice also to have something to work with that is not “just” a toy and not “just” treats. Seems like it could be really useful and effective. Question may be moot though, since I made them a new tug toy tonight out of scrap polarfleece and the newness got them tugging really well right away.
I do have pure neatsfoot oil.
Yes, this is something to seriously consider. Lifestyle-wise, it is probably not an issue - they are not every unsupervised around tack and so far have been pretty easy to train to separate “their” stuff from “not theirs” for chewing.
If I were going to give them old strap goods that smelled like neatsfoot oil to chew on, that would be more risky.
ETA: I also pretty rarely use neatsfoot oil on tack - usually only when rehabbing something that wasn’t well taken care of. Not that that means I’d be ok with my dogs chewing on it.
I didn’t realize you were just looking for validation.
Seriously, why would you. Would you eat neatsfoot oil?
Yet you think cooked meat in a plastic mesh bag designed to encourage tug play for training is gross. I swear, nothing should surprise me anymore and yet, here I am.
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So it seems like you’re just looking for validation about the plastic mesh bag.
Who cares what tools someone else uses to encourage tugging?
I didn’t respond initially because I didn’t actually know what was in neatsfoot oil. But sure, why not, if it’s edible. I was going to say that the dog might find other types of oil just as tempting - olive or sunflower oil. Whether or not I would eat it is irrelevant. My dog likes to lick hand lotion off me also. And he eats deer poop.
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Wow, you eat everything your dog does? :eek: Sure changes how I see that horse shit mine likes to sneak a snack on… :lol:
If the OP had come here and said “I have a source for high quality, stable, liquid, beef oil. My dog is really interested in how it smells. Can I use that on a tug?” would you find it less abhorrent?
Because, frankly, this sounds pretty smart. Easier, cheaper, and cleaner than buying and prepping meat for every training session.
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No, I could give a shit. I was responding to the OP who was soliciting advice, you know, as people do on message boards. I could care less what other people do, I just thought it was neighborly to respond to solicitations for advice, so I did. But this board is full of a bunch of people who are just looking to fight, attack, and verbally abuse and I should know better. For goodness sake, just talk amongst yourselves. You bullied me into submission, you win, ok?
Uh, the only one who’s doing that here is you. Everyone else seems to be having a nice conversation, you’re spewing vitriol 🤷
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I’m curious, why would you WANT to encourage a dog to tug? I’m on my 3rd Chesapeake and we have always discouraged our dogs from that. We would prefer a soft mouth. Not criticizing, just curious.
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@Sabino, I’m brand new to this style of agility training, but what I understand so far is that you can train your dog to treat tugging as a reward, and then tugging can be integrated pretty effectively into positive reinforcement-based agility training. It can be used in “flow” of exercises working with the obstacles, which while rewarding them keeps their level of drive and focus on you up.
I also have sporting breed dogs (pointers) with naturally soft mouths, but I don’t hunt with them, so I’m not too worried about “breaking” that instinct. With these dogs, just chasing me or chasing the toy in my hand without tugging may be equivalent to tugging for them, I don’t know. I am still figuring that out. There are more experienced people than me here who can correct me.
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That makes sense strangewings, thanks.
That is correct, but different breeds might respond differently. I also have sporting dogs and none of my dogs like to tug, and never found it effective as a reward in obedience. Other people train their dogs to like it, but some dogs are just born that way. And weirdly, some dogs don’t want food as a reward, which has never been a problem for me.
I have friends that both hunt and do agility/obedience/rally, and have had no problems with their dogs transitioning back and forth. Definitely keep trying to make it be the reward for now; it can be trained and some of the play engagement exercises will help.
One of my friends used a treat bag/toy, but if I recall she used that more to teach retrieves than to give rewards. She also modified it to train retrieving a bird, because her bitch became really great a retrieving dummies and dumbbells but wouldn’t pick up a bird. It did work, and she’s competing in Master Hunter now. One of the most titled dogs I’ve ever seen - titles in conformation, agility, obedience, rally and hunt tests. But not a natural retriever, and also really laid back in performance sports and needed lots of encouragement for drive and focus.
Don’t give up - when it “clicks” - they can do amazing things!
I would be concerned about neatsfoot oil simply because it’s not sold as food-grade anything. If your dog loves the taste/smell, maybe dab his tug-toys in suet or lard, instead - both of which are sold as foods, and are made from animal fats, so there’s some chance they won’t have other funky additives!
