Product Review: Tugaway Raccoon Reward Pouch

Zip thinks the Tugaway Raccoon Reward Pouch is the only thing worth getting excited about at agility class. This thoughtfully-designed toy has features a velcro treat pouch covered in soft fleece on one side, and a piece of real raccoon hide on the other. The handles are braided fleece with rope reinforcement inside.

Photo by Erin Koski

I bought this tug toy for agility class, right before we took a break for several weeks. Sisci Godzilla is going back to basics for the new session, just because it fits my schedule better. Zip and I are doing baby beginner agility even though she has most of the foundation behaviors already. This is her very first class experience of any kind, ever!

Sometimes I forget what a big deal classes really are for dogs. Mine can do all sorts of wonderful things in my backyard, at work, or at the park. Put them in a new place with a bunch of other dogs and humans with varying concepts of manners and personal space, and it's a whole different game. Godzilla spent her first three agility classes stress sniffing and staring at everybody and everything. She was introduced with some agility obstacles, but mostly she just processed the general environment and became familiar with this new concept.

Photo by Erin Koski

With this in mind, I had very low expectations for Zip's very first class ever. It was a very, very easy class, we worked on asking for and rewarding familiar behaviors, teaching our dogs to follow along on either side, tugging as a reward, and basic training concepts.

The first thing we started with was clicker training. Zip came to me terrified of clicking noises. We've slowly worked up to using a very quiet clicker as a marker for extremely exciting rewards. Half a dozen people popping noisy box clickers? Nope, nope, nope! We ended up taking a stroll while everyone else practiced their clicker skills.

Zip is not terribly food motivated, sometimes I think she eats the treats just to be polite. When the clicking stopped and we finally came back to class, she just sort of melted into the grass and couldn't engage with me. That was when I pulled out the Tugaway Raccoon Reward Pouch.

Photo by Erin Koski

No exaggeration, Zip suddenly acted like a completely different dog. She's never seen this toy before, but she immediately became obsessed with it to exclusion of absolutely everything else in the park. From overwhelmed and shut down to focused and engaged in an instant.

Pros: Sturdy enough to handle a whole lot of tugging. The fur is attached very securely, more so than on our bunny bungee pouch. Secure treat pocket can be used to help motivate a dog that is less toy-motivated, or hold a squeaker. Two-loop design gives multiple option for holding the toy.

Cons: This is a shorter toy, so harder to keep your hands out of harm's way if you have an overly enthusiastic tugger. To get a choice of colors, you have to find a physical storefront and choose from their selection. I don't think Tugaway does custom colors.

Bottom Line: Tugaway is a home business in Wisconsin, and they care enough about their product to tell you exactly where the hides used in their toys came from, and what they were tanned with. Not only are their tug toys superior to everything else I've used, I also get warm fuzzy feelings when I give them my money. Go Tugaway!

Product Review: TugAway Bungee Reward Pouch

The TugAway Bungee Reward Pouch is a tug toy with features. The nylon bungee handle is attached to a velcro pouch that is covered with real fur. It comes in several colors and with different bits of real animals, I've seen them in bunny, bison, coyote, and sheepskin.

Photo by Erin Koski

This toy is clearly designed with Brisbane in mind, because I haven;t found anything that he goes quite as crazy for. Sure, he likes to tug, but the TugAway really ups the ante. First, it's basically an extremely sturdy pouch that closes tightly with velcro all the way across the opening so that no treats can leak out at all. This means I can stuff it with the most horrible, smelly, godawful treats on earth to make it uber-motivating.

Photo by Erin Koski

Second, the TugAway is covered with actual dead animal. Brisbane has bunny fur. Between that and the treat smell, this toy gives him an instant case of crazy-eyes. The rabbit skin isn't totally durable, he has managed to rip a big hole in it so the toy looks extremely ratty, but this has not decreased his motivation in the slightest.

Third, the TugAway has a bungee handle. This means that it creates tugging action like a springpole, storing some of the energy Briz exerts and uses it to tug back so I can use less effort to swing him around by his face.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Where to begin? The sealed pouch means I can use food as a motivator along with the toy. I can toss it in front of him and have him run to it and then open it and give him the treats. It's sturdy enough that he can't get to the food on his own in the time it takes for me to catch up and open it for him. The bunny fur probably taps into the part of his brain that we normally only use when hunting gophers.

Cons: I'm told that when the dog lets go the bungee effect can cause the toy to snap back and hit the handler in the face, but Briz doesn't willingly let go of it so I wouldn't know. Bunny fur isn't the toughest material out there, and bit of it are currently blowing across my lawn. The slightly-shredded pelt and general disorderly appearance of the TugAway is kind off gross for non-dog people. I suspect the velcro fabric pouch concept goes over best with herding breeds, retrievers, and other dogs who are on board with the concept of humans solving their problems for them. I think a more independent dog would just take off with it and shred it at their leisure, but I have not actually experienced this because I'm not a big fan of primitive/Nordic/hound/terrier breeds.

Bottom Line: At agility class I carry this thing draped over my belt like a sordid trophy. It's slightly macabre, just the way I like things. Also, Brisbane wants to bite it more than he wants to bite almost anything else. Best tug toy ever, I just have to keep it out of his reach when we're not training.