Dog toys work great as tools to help with behavior modification. Some creative thinking and cool toys combine for effective training.
Things to consider: How to break dangerous habits, ideas for diggers, and teaching a dog to drop objects.
Stop Her Biting Habit - Training toys can help you break a mouthing or biting dog of this dangerous habit. If your dog is prone to biting at strangers both two-legged and four, train him to hold one of chew-style dog toys in his mouth whenever the two of you are out on a walk and whenever someone comes to the door of your home. Training your dog to always greet you and others at the door with a toy in his mouth can also break him of barking whenever anyone shows up or passes by.
Handling the Digger - Any dog toys can be training toys in the proper circumstances. Consider the case of the chronic digger: here is a compromise you and he can make to keep her from tearing up your lawn. Choose a spot in the yard to be his designated digging hole. Dig a starter hole in the spot yourself and fill it with a number of his favorite dog toys, covering it all up afterwards with dirt and patting it down nicely. Then take your dog to her new, designated digging spot and make a few digging motions there yourself to get him started. Once he realizes that this spot, unlike all others, yields fabulous and exciting prizes, it will be the one spot he returns to repeatedly. In addition, if he ever grows tired of it, simply get some new dog toys and repeat the same process in the same spot all over again.
Tug of War - Despite what you may have heard about the game "Tug of War" promoting bad, aggressive habits in dogs, it is actually a natural part of their upbringing in the wild, where pack mates learning tugging as a cooperative act in feeding. The trick is for you to always retain control and prevent the game from ever turning into an actual competition. Never "let" the dog win. Intersperse playful tugging with commands to "drop it" and reward the dog with praise or a treat if he obeys. If the dog gets too excited, end the game. Use only dog toys designed for tugging training purposes, and keep them hidden from the dog whenever they are not in use. Lastly, never let your dog rope anyone into playing tug of war with any objects other than his tugging training toys.
