How tug toys can transform dog training using the power of play with Tug-E-Nuff’s Danny Nelis-Rouse

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to the Yappy Hour powered byYappily, the podcast for dog lovers
who want to better understand andbond with their furry companions.
I'm your host Nathan Dunleavy andin today's episode I'm joined by
the fantastic Danny from Tug E-Nuff.
Danny's company is all aboutinteractive tug toys that help dog

(00:23):
guardians play, train, and learn.
and bond with their dogs.
We'll be talking about why playis such an important part of dog
training, how it helps build strongerrelationships, and how choosing the
right toy can make all the difference.
Whether you have a playful pupor a more reserved dog, this
episode will give you some greatinsights into the power of play.

(00:45):
So grab a cup of tea, settlein, and let's get started.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour (00:52):
Welcome back to the Yappy Hour powered by Yappily.
I'm your host Nathan Dunleavyand I'm so excited to bring
you another episode today.
Even more excited that we've got afantastic guest joining me today.
We have Danny from Tug E-Nuff.
So I'm really excited tohave a chat with Danny today.

(01:13):
Danny's brand focuses on autointeractive tug toys designed to
enhance play, training, and bonding.
So, Danny, welcome to the Yappy Hour.
I'm so excited to have you here.
How are you doing?

Danny Nelis-Rouse (01:26):
Yeah.
Thank you for having me.
I'm really great today.
Yeah.
All, all all, all, all good.
Thank you.

Good.
You're getting readyfor crafts, aren't you?
You said earlier, so,

Yes.

yeah.

definitely.
I was going to mention that, but Ithought, I don't know whether when
this is going out, so, so yeah.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: No worries. (01:42):
undefined

Yeah, crafts is definitely been in full
swing now for since probablyabout November planning for us.
It's a

Okay,

major event.
And it kind of is really great becauseit kicks off our year and kind of
gets us in a good, good good, goodplace to, to push forward into 2025.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: brilliant. (02:01):
undefined
Yeah, so I'll let you know.
When it's going up.
We're hoping to get this out quitesoon because people like to sort
of binge on podcasts and stuff.
So hopefully it'll be out and, youknow, in the next few weeks or so.
So Danny, for those, I don't know how,who might not be familiar with Tug
E-Nuff can you share a little bit aboutthe company's story and what inspired

(02:21):
you to create these interactive toys?

So yeah, so talking off was started by my mom back in 2009.
So my mom, Teresa, she is agility mad.
So she's been competing in agility.
I don't know, probablyat least 20 years now.
And she had a dog called Indy a farmcollie back when she first started, who

(02:45):
wasn't really interested in, in playing.
And, and as everybody probably knowswhen you want to compete in agility,
you kind of want to get your dogsreally motivated and riled up as I.
As I like to say so Indy waslike really focused on food.
So mom made a the food bag.
So it was one of our very first toys.
So it was a little foodpouch with a handle on it.

(03:05):
She made that for herself first ofall, and some of her friends saw it.

Oh,

didn't last very long.
and yeah, so we've been goingsince two, I said since 2009.
Still for small family run.
Business.
We've got about,

that's

nine employees here who or team members, I should
say who help craft the toys, butyeah, we've evolved since then really.
So we don't even makethe food bag anymore.
So once

Okay.

that started looking at different Scents and textures that
we could bring into the type of toys sothings like the sheep fur that we use
And then looking at all the ways thatwe can evolve the toys to make them
Fit for lots of different purposes.
But yeah, that's that'skind of where we started

Yeah.

to where we are now.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Definitely. (04:00):
undefined
That's lovely.
And I love that it's still sort offamily run and you're all involved
that that's where that must makeit even more special for you.

Yeah, definitely.
It's really it's good to I mean beinghonest She doesn't she's has a she has a
lot of leisure time now, but but but he

she

it.
He deserves it

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: deserves it. (04:18):
undefined
She's worked hard so she can take abit of a backseat and hand it over
to you to To sort of run and stuff.
Oh, brilliant.
I love, I love the historyand the, I didn't know like
some of the story behind it.
So it's always good to know whatinspired the company and how you
got running, how you got started.
So your tagline is play, train and bond.

(04:38):
And that really sort of stands out.
I love that tagline.
Can you explain what that meansand why it's so important,

Definitely.
So I think we've beenchampioning champion.
I can't say that wordchampioning championing.
We've been interactive play, youknow, for more than 15 years now.
So last year we just our 15th birthday.
So we've been doing this

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, congratulations. (04:59):
undefined

And you know, it's that kind of interactive
plays is we champion it.
jumping it for a good reason.
I mean, it's, it's, it's definitelyhelps kind of build that bond
between you and your dog.
Bond it's really great for training.
So it's a really great positivereward for, you know, for training.
So when you're looking attraining, some kind of behaviour,
so whether that's recall or.

(05:22):
Or anything really, to be honest, agame of tug is a really great reward
and it is kind of that team game.
So actually you're kind of
With your dog again.
And

yeah.

that we do is all about being fun and you'll
see that a lot in a lot of themessaging that we've put out there.
We try and be as funas we possibly can be.
So that's kind of where that came from.
Really looking at the, thosekey things about why you would
want to play tug with your dog.
Consolidated into those three wordsand that's what we really live by.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, that's brilliant. (05:49):
undefined
I love that.
This really helps strengthen thatrelationship between you and your dog.
And you know, who doesn'tlove playing with their dogs?
So yeah, I really love that.
Thank you, Danny.
So we're going to be moving on toour next section now, which is the
importance of play in dog training.
So many dog guardians, pet parentsthink of play as just for fun,

Okay.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: But it's so much more than that. (06:12):
undefined
Can you explain why why play issuch a valuable training tool?

Yeah, sure.
Of course.
And, and I think it's really forwhen you think about this, it's
about about motivation and behindyou know, just like us humans, dogs
need to be motivated to, to, to

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Absolutely, (06:32):
undefined

that we, that we want them to do.
You know, whether that's in, you know,in dog sports or just in day to day life.
So I always think about it in thatkind of you know, we, if we, if we, as
humans feel motivated to do our jobsor do, you know, even go to the gym or
something like that, then we're morelikely to actually want to do those things

yeah,

Danny Nelis-Rouse: reward at the end for us. (06:53):
undefined
So, you know, I can't really thinkof a reward at the end of the
gym, but you know what I mean?

yeah, well, you feel good, you look good, maybe.

supposed to, yeah,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, takes a lot of hard work. (07:04):
undefined
Yeah, I mean, I'm not agym person at all, so.

No, I've just started going and it's
not it's not, it's hard work.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, bless you. (07:14):
undefined
Yeah.

So looking at the reward that you're going to give your dog.
So that game of tug is a reallygreat way of, of, that bond.
And you know, it is, it is fun,definitely, and it should be a
fun game for the dog, for sure.
But there's also a lot of,of behind playing that, that,
that game of tug, for sure.
So, you know, it can help, you know,improve your results, especially in

(07:39):
dog sports and things like that because

Yeah.

dog on side.

Yeah.
Brilliant.
Love that.
Thank you so much.
How does interactive playhelp dogs to stay engaged and
motivated during training?
Yeah.

Yeah, so again, it always come comes back to that bond.
It really, really does.
And actually the stronger bond betweenyou and your dog, likely you are to
experience things the eagerness tolearn get that that recall really solid.
So our chaser toys are reallygreat for recall training.
And actually, you know, if you can get ifyou can, if you can give your dog a reason
to come back to you, that's better thanI don't know, chasing another dog in the

(08:18):
distance or sniffing something in the, inthe hedge, then, you know, that's going
to really help win and get, get the dogsengaged and motivated in the game of tug.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, definitely. (08:28):
undefined
Brilliant.

also
Things are keeping thoseand keep mixing up as well.
So

yeah,

Danny Nelis-Rouse: always different rewards. (08:34):
undefined
So, you know, maybesometimes actually not.
Use the game of tug, maybe use sometreats, but then mix it up the next
time, especially with recall when you'recalling the dog back using that tug of war
game as a, as a, as, as a, as a reward.

yeah.
We want to be keeping it exciting andfor the dog to not get bored and stuff.
So, brilliant.
So, do you think that enough petparents, guardians incorporate
play into their training routineor is it often just overlooked?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(09:10):
Okay.

And that's really what we would advocate because,
you know, because of those reasonsthat we've already discussed, you
know, the benefits to, to doing it.
And, and because actuallythey can really help.
Sky skyrocket your yoursuccesses really in training.
but it's really important.
It's a game.
It's a team sport again.
So again, it helps kind of help youtalk your dog's language, which is which

(09:35):
is, which is difficult to do sometimes.
So actually, if you can have thatgame, that's really, really great.
And again, it's always back to bond.
I think every question isalways going to be back to bond.
But back to the bond that you havewith your dog and building that
for using excitement through play.
So we would always get, we would alwaysencourage dog owners or guardians
to get out there and play more.

(09:56):
And not always the same game,not always a game of tug.
There's loads of games that youcan play with, with our toys.
You know, we've got a whole section onour website about games that you can play.
So things like hide andseek are really great.
Got a game called Oh, I can'tremember what's called now.
Recall, recall rally.
That's it.
So actually getting your job todo different behaviours and then
call you back, call them back andsee how quickly they can do that.

(10:17):
But yeah, if you search for recall rally,it's a really great fun game to play.
Yeah.

undefined
Yeah, definitely have a look at that one.
Brilliant.
Thank you so much.
So we're just moving on to ournext section of strengthening the
human to dog bond through play.
So we often hear that play helpsstrengthen the bond between guardians,
but how does structured play improvethat communication and trust?

Yeah.
So, I mean that the, the trust isreally the foundation really of, of.
Of getting success with dog with betweenyou and your dog definitely for sure

Yes.

trust you then Then then you're not going to get anywhere.
You're not really going to get thoseresults that you're looking for so
actually building playing playingwith them whether that's tug or
other games Really helps kind ofcement that relationship again.
So it all goes back to bond and howyou can Again, put your dog's language.
So playing Playing with structuredgames are really important.

Yeah.

what we always say with our toys is look at the way
that you can you can keep the gamesreally short to keep your dog wanting.
So they want to keep playing with you.
It really helps build that, that,that what we call value in the toy.
So actually we want to

Yeah.

into the toy.
And that's why we always say all ofour products should be used for, with
super supervised interactive playonly, because if you leave them lying
around and the dog's got access to itall the time, it's like anything with.
with us.
If, if we can have something all thetime, it's not, it's not a treat.

Well,

not special.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: it loses its value, doesn't it? (11:45):
undefined
So there's no point in justhaving it lying around.

Definitely.
So, you know, taking that, that, youknow, having that toy is your special toy.
And I know it sounds, you know, whenI try and explain this, some people,
some of my friends, they don't reallyunderstand why, why a dog toy, why,
why the dog toys, why would the toysthat we sell are so different to any
toy that you can pick up anywhere else?
But that's essentially it.
It's really about buildingthat value into the game.

(12:12):
By limiting the access that your dog hasto the toys and then they want to play
with that toy with you, rather than just

Yeah.

kick it up in the air, or throw it around,
or tug with another dog with it.

Yeah.

it's helping to cement that bond.
And

big on sort of like making sure something's
deemed high value for the dog and it'sput away when they're not using it and you
bring it out and then if you're sort ofonly using it for sort of those special
times then the dog knows, ah, great.
So the really good, exciting thingscoming out now and this is where we're
going to play and I'm going to read dog.

them up.
Sets them up, for sure.
And that's very much really where, whenI think back to the story of the start
of the business with Mum and Indy That'sreally what it, what it was about.
Indy knew that when thattoy came out, that's it.
It's game on.
We're now,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's what you want. (13:03):
undefined

ring.
Or, you know, it might bedifferent things, but if you
can build those expectations.
Dogs are really, reallyclever at pairing things.
So actually, you, you know,if you can pair that when the
toy comes out, it's game on.
It's time between me and, andmy, you know, my guardian.
really, it's really powerful.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, that's it. (13:23):
undefined
Brilliant.
I bet you get loads of these sent intoo, but can you share any success
stories where play has made a realdifference in a dog guardian relationship?
Is there one sort of storythat sticks out at all?

Well, I mean, going back to India again, definitely.
I mean, that's the biggest successstory really of all of, of all of this.
I mean, I me and my partner duringlockdown, we rescued a dog called Bob.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, did you? (13:50):
undefined

yeah, yeah, he,

lovely.
Yeah,

he's, he's, he's, he's he's very special,
but I'm sure everybody's

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: this one's very special. (13:59):
undefined
It's, yeah.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.

unsure of the, of the situation that he, he found himself in.
So, you know, we don't really know alot about, about him and I'm sure before
we had him But we used play a lot.
So we used tug, obviously, youknow, we'd be having lots of
toys lying around that we'd made.
We used that a lot to to build hisconfidence and get him bond, you know,

(14:27):
to actually get to trust us, you know,these two new people plus an extra dog.
So we already had a dog called tiddly.
So try and get to try and get,get Bob to trust us and, and.
And one of the things I do rememberthat he'd obviously never been up a
set of stairs or a flight of stairsbefore and he couldn't, he couldn't
work out what on earth was going on.
So we used, know, play, you know,once he got up a step, you have a

(14:51):
little bit of a play with him, youknow, obviously not halfway up the
step so he could fall back down again.
But,

Yeah.

know, we used, used play as a really great
way to build his confidence.
Now he's he's a, well he's arock solid dog to be honest and

Oh wow.

Very soon have a toy named after a tug
and off toy named after him.

Really?
Called Bob?

called Bob.
Yeah, so

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: I love that. (15:12):
undefined
Perfect.

Bob, Bob, the, the, the new toy launched at Crufts this year.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Well, I'm actually going to Crofts (15:20):
undefined
for my first time this year, so I willcertainly be looking out for you and Bob.

Yes, definitely.
Bob won't be there.
Bob the dog won't be there, but Bob the

no, but Bob, Bob the tourer, yeah, that's fine.
He's a little mascot, sohe's representing Bob.
And I love that yourescued a dog fair play.
That's no mean fee and you knowthey can take up to six months to
fully decompress for a rescue job.
We don't know their history so youknow and obviously like you say that
play helped build that confidenceand again takes us back to bond so

(15:53):
help build the bond between you all.
That's lovely.

We hear these stories, we do hear stories all the
time from customers and every year wewe run our play survey just so that we
can kind of see, make sure that we'reon track with what we're, what we're
putting out there into the dog trainingworld or dog, dog guardianship world,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, that's, that's (16:10):
undefined

survey, almost half of owners that we that we surveyed said that
playing with a toy helped them tackle atraining or behaviour issue with the dog.
So we do know,

amazing.

Yeah, that it's, that it is really, really important play.
Whether that's with a token of toy orany other toy, you know, I probably
shouldn't say that, but you know,it is really, really important.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: No, tug E-Nuff, tug E-Nuff. (16:32):
undefined

Yeah.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: that's brilliant. (16:33):
undefined
That's really good to know.
And yeah, brilliant.
That's great that you'regetting that feedback.
If, if there was like some guardianswhere their dog wasn't interested,
would there be any advice to thoseguardians to, you know, if their dog
wasn't interested in play at all?

play.
Yeah.
Sometimes it takes, it takes, it takesa little bit of work to spark that,
that play drive, but once you've got it,it really, you can really harness it.
to your own to to to what Iwas going to say to your own
benefit, but it's not really.
It's kind of help that bond again, really.

Yeah.

of toy is really, really important as well.
So it's looking at sometimeslooking at breed traits.
So finding

Yeah.

going to be more appealing to different breed
traits, I guess, really, to be

Yeah.

things like, so some of our real fur toys are really great
for those terrier breeds because actuallythey really, you know, what, if you
think what they've been bred for, you

Yeah.

those, those real animal sense are going
to really get them wound up

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's it. (17:31):
undefined
Yeah.

but, you know, not one old toy, not all, not, not all
Not every toy is going to be suitablefor every dog, so it's about finding
it and also mixing it up again.
So always, you know, using adifferent toy, maybe a sheepskin
on one and then mixing up witha powerball toy on another game.
So yeah, definitely.
So you know, if your dog has a stronghunting instinct, those chaser toys are

(17:56):
probably going to be really useful becauseyou can leap into that chase, that prey

That's

get

it.
Yeah.

sure.

Oh.

know that it's difficult to choose the
toy, choose, choose toys.
So that's why.
we have on our website, our toy questtoy quest quiz, so you can answer
a few questions about your dog andthen we'll narrow down the selection
for you so that it comes up with,with three or four choices that you,
that were going to be more, thatare probably going to be better.

(18:25):
You're going to know that they're goingto be more suitable for your dog for sure.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, oh, that's perfect. (18:28):
undefined
Oh, thank you.
Thank you for that.
So we're going to be coming onto choosing the right tug toy for
your dog and I'm going to mentionone of the ones that my dog likes.
the minute.
But so, you know, you've gotlots of different toys that
you, you know, you do yourself.
So you know, nice little pluggoing into this part here, but
there's so many different toyson the market at the moment.

(18:51):
What would you say makesTug E-Nuff toys unique?

So I think the thing that really makes us unique
and different is the the educationand help that we put into in, into
the buy, into the decision process.
So again, going back to that, the

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: absolutely. (19:07):
undefined

definitely that really helps a lot of our customers
decide what, what's the best way if.
You're still not sure.
You know, we were always here,so you can always reach out
and we'll be able to help you.
But aside from that, we've alsogot our power of play course.
So that's a free course.
Anybody can sign up forregardless of whether you've

Put in.

that's what I think really sets us apart is that we, we, we
try and, and help the help the guardian.
Do more with the toy than if

Yeah.

me offer, you know, off

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Just off the shelf. (19:59):
undefined
Yeah.
Yeah.

it's really important to us that we provide all
that support and advice and help,

Yeah.

for lots of different things.
Yeah,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: really good. (20:12):
undefined
It's, to me, it sounds like it'sabout education and support.
Like you say, if you just boughtit off a supermarket shelf, you
wouldn't necessarily get that.
But with yourselves, you're gettingthat extra support and education.
I love that.
Thank you.
How can guardians choose theright tug toy for their dog's
personality and play style?

(20:32):
Would that be where your, yourquest questionnaire comes in?

would be a yeah, a really great place to start for sure.

Yeah,

what that that will do is it will take into consideration
the things that you're looking forlooking to achieve and then we'll
we'll narrow down that selection.
But the other things to thinkabout again is the breed trait.
So, you know, if if you arelooking at what you're trying to
achieve, so if you're looking to

yeah.

And the chase, you can't really go far on with a chaser
toy and they're really versatile.
So they'll always have a big longhandle, like a meter and a bit long

Yeah.

behind you, get your dog to chase you
rather than something else.
And I always say to people, it doesn'tmean you have to run up the other end
of the field while your dog is in theother, you know, you don't have to sprint,
but it's just making sweeping movementswith those chaser toys to actually,

Yeah,

like prey.
So, you know,

yeah,

does go back to that prey drive.
And

yeah,

what we're simulating when we're playing tug.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: absolutely, (21:24):
undefined

are those natural behaviours that the dog's going to

yeah,

So if you always think about what you're doing,
then it's really easy to them.
about what you might want to

yeah
yeah,

definitely that toy crust is a really great place to start.
And you know, we also, you know,again, this is just very much
about tugging off, but you know, if

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's fine. (21:45):
undefined

if you do choose the wrong toy for whatever
reason, if you contact us within45 days, we'll replace it.
No questions asked.
So,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, really? (21:52):
undefined
No, you plug Tug E-Nuff all you want.
This is what this episode's about.
It's about you and Tug E-Nuff, so that's,you know, just, that's another good

blog, blog posts on our website.
So, you know,

Yes.

free information that we put out there you know, whether
that's from talking about I think we'vegot blogs about man trailing through to

Oh, wow.

I think there's even some first aid stuff, so it's
a lot of, a lot of stuff that isn'tnecessarily always about play, but there's

Yes.

on there that we try and

Good.

guardians with.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's brilliant. (22:25):
undefined
No, I mean, this is all about yourselfin terms of plug away and it's great
that you've got all these different sortof options available to dog guardians.
So is there any common mistakesthat guardians make when
introducing tug toys to their dogs?
Yeah.

That's the, yeah, for sure.
you know, that's one of the, thethings, golden rules that we say is
that it should always be supervised,interactive, fun play, and because
we are mimicking prey with, with the,

Yeah.

With the game or with the toys.
So if you have that game of tug and youleave the toy with, with the dog, don't be
surprised to come back to a, a a chewed uptoy, but providing you you're using it as
For, for that supervised game of of play,then, then you can reap loads of rewards
from actually building that bond andthat relationship with your dog for sure.

Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.

so if you, and we kind of talked about this just a little
on, but it's about that spark, sortof sparking that play drive is really

Mm.

other thing is a lot of people will maybe
try and force the game onto

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, okay. (23:53):
undefined
Yeah.

shove the tug toy in their face, which is, which is,
can be a bit intimidating for some

Yeah.
You weren't like it shoved in your face.
That's for sure.

So so definitely going with look, letting the initially
letting the dog lead that, that, that,

Mm.
Yeah.

and it's over.
It's, it's, it's about stopping thatgame and building that value into the toy
before your dog's Got bored of it reallybecause the again, putting it away after
you finish the game builds that value

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Transcription by CastingWords (24:39):
undefined

for the dog.

Yeah,

and then also really helps you build that
that that relationship again.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: yeah, definitely. (24:48):
undefined
That's brilliant.
So I think it's important probablyto mention here as well that you've
obviously got your partner program.
So you partner with a lot of dog trainers,behaviourists groomers maybe, but dog
trainers can partner with yourself.
And they, they can basicallyhave your toys to then sell

(25:09):
on to their clients and stuff.

So

yeah.
Did you want to?

program, which is which is our affiliate program for dog, dog

Yeah,

yeah, you're right.
Dog

yeah.

Behaviourist groomers lots of different things.
So if you, if you're a dog professional.
You can definitely join so it's It'sit's an affiliate program whereby
you can get your clients a discounton buying products and Then we
pay you a commission for referring

Yeah.

to us So we've got about 2 000 dog trainers.
So currently in

Wow.

in the

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's a lot. (25:40):
undefined

Yeah, yeah, it is.
Yeah.
Yeah, and and it's that's over a prolongedperiod of time that we've that we've
done that but It's it's really good andwe're just relaunching it So if you join
now you get the opportunity to upgradeto a paid membership, but you get free
toys as, as part of that paid membership.
So you'll get 120 pounds worthof toys sent to you in the post.

Yeah.

so yeah, it's a really great thing.
And we really like working withdog trainers because, or dog

Yeah.

because they can really, going back to the educational
piece again, that's something that they.
that they can do one onone with clients that we

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's right. (26:16):
undefined

do one to many.
So, you know, our videos andall that kind of stuff really
help with that on the internet.
But actually if you're in a dogtraining environment and you know, a
client comes to you with a particularproblem and you can go, well, actually.
You know, if you use play, play canbe a really great in this situation.
Then actually you, you canrefer the client to them.

(26:38):
They'll get a discount and thenyou'll earn a little bit of
commission as well for, referring.
So yeah, it's a really, I reallyenjoy working with the dog trainers.
It's really, it's

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: No, it's good. (26:45):
undefined
'cause I met you at the PACTconference last year, and I think
I might have upgraded to thatprogram that you're mentioning.
And I've sent, I've sent out mylittle code to all my, I don't do a
lot of in-person training now, butI've got a, a dog walking business
with quite a lot of clients.
I've sent out my code, I've got myleaflets with my little QR code on.

you go.
That's the one.
Yeah.

But yeah, they're all being given out to them.
So but I got the bag of of of toysand my one, I wanted to mention it.
One of my little toy poodles, he lovesthe clam, absolutely loves the clam.
So, no, we haven't talked about the clam.
So Yeah, I don't know if you wantto maybe just touch on, on the clam

(27:27):
because I know you said like not toleave them out and all the others are
not left out because I use them formy own dogs, but they're not left out.
But the clam we do sort of leave out andobviously pop treats in it and stuff.
He literally just loves the clam.
He could keep them busy for hours.

Yeah, again, the clown was another toy that was
developed really purely for agility.
First of all, so it was for when youneeded to reward you don't get a distance
and maybe the at the end of a set of ofjumps or, or, or weaves that you could
put that one or two treats inside it.
So it's like a, I haven't got one hereactually, but I, it's like a, a clam

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, mine's downstairs, yeah. (28:00):
undefined
Okay.
Brilliant.

turned it into, into a life of its own really, to be honest.
So you can play it for lotsof hide and seek games.
So put a few treats in it, hide itin the, you know, behind the sofa
or something, get your dog to comein and sniff it out and find it.
A lot of customers actually, althoughit definitely was never designed
for this, but use it for retrieve.
So the dog will bring it back to theguardian to open up to give the treats

(28:38):
rather than get it out themselves.
But yeah, it's been a really It's areally, it's definitely one of our,
whenever we go to Crufts it's the bestseller at Crufts, we sell so many of

Oh, wow.

because it's so versatile and you can use it
for lots of different things,

Yeah,

yeah it's a

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: that's brilliant. (28:53):
undefined
Yeah.

that one out on, on the website.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Definitely. (28:56):
undefined
Well, I was so happy to get theclown because like I say, he
loves the, he loves his clown.
Brilliant.
So how can, well, actually we'regoing to be moving on to our
next section now, which is aroundenrichment beyond the tug games.
So tug play is a great form ofenrichment, but what other activities
can complement it for, for awell rounded enrichment retain?

Definitely, so, actually, thinking about the clan
would be really good, so you coulddefinitely use that tug of war game
for one thing, and it's, then maybe usethe clam for rewarding something else,
but it is about mixing up and keepingthe dog guessing what's going to happen
As we mentioned before, dogs arereally good at pairing things and you
know, you want to the more keep themguessing, especially if you're looking
to train different different Differentbehaviours and and things like that.

(29:41):
So definitely mixing up the play stylestrying a different game with the tug toy.
So look at one of those gamesthat we've got on our website.
And, you know, one of the ones that wejust did games that we just finished
filming some new games with Chelsea, whoagain I haven't mentioned, but Chelsea
fronts all our videos and she's a reallyreally great dog trainer and behaviourist.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: I don't know. (30:02):
undefined

So one of the games that we've just done
is actually hide and seek.
So actually you go and hide, getsomebody to restrain your dog, you go
and hide with the tug toy, your dog findyou, and then you have a game of tug.
So it's just about thinking aboutdifferent games that are not just play
a game of tug, which is great, but youknow it's the same if we do the same

(30:24):
things all the time we get bored of them.
So

Yeah.

it, especially with with them with your dog,
it's really really powerful.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, brilliant. (30:33):
undefined
Thank you.
What does, what role does enrichmentplay in helping dogs with behavioural
challenges such as anxiety or frustration?

Yeah.
So it gives them an outletfor some of those, some of
Of those things

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: definitely. (30:48):
undefined

So especially we say, I say a lot to people that have
never heard of the brand before.
So if they come up to us at an eventand they've never heard of us before,
you know, the things that I always say,and they'll say, what are these for?
You know, I'll say, you know,training definitely, but also just
getting rid of some of that excess,excess pent up energy for sure.

Yeah,

so actually using that game as a great way to,
to let the dog let off some steam.
Is really,

yeah.

Really cool.
And important.
Yeah, definitely.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Brilliant. (31:18):
undefined
Okay.
Do you have any go to enrichmentideas that are easy for
guardians to implement at all?

Yeah, so I would definitely say that one
of the games or things that Ido quite a lot is hide the toy.
So, again,

Yeah.

engaged in the game, so not leaving it out and finding it.
And kill it but hide the toy,get them to find it and bring
it to me and have a game of tug.
So Tiddly, my, my miniaturepoodle cross, he he loves finding
the, the, the sheepskin chaser.
He'll bring it over and thenwe'll have a game of tug of war.

Oh, wow.

mixes it up.
It's, it's a different it's a differentdifferent game, different environment,
and I'll move it around the house.
I'll be in different placesand, and kind of get him to,
to, to, to find it and, and.
And and then we have agood game, good game title.
He's,

Yeah.

he's 11 now and he still, still, still loves it.
Still loves it.

I love that you've got a poodle cross as well.
I've got four toy poodles,so I'm a bit of a poodle fan.

Yeah.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Brilliant. (32:17):
undefined
Thank you so much.
We've literally sailed throughall my questions and this
episode, so we're going to start.
wrapping it up for the sort oflast five to eight minutes or so.
Now there's just a coupleof final questions.
Danny, what's one thing thatyou hope our listeners take away
from our conversation today?

Yeah.
I think it's just about,about those three words.
Play, It's really great train.
It's really, you know, keeptraining, you know, it's never over.
Keep going.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: It isn't, (32:49):
undefined

and, and that bond is really, really
important with the way that with

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: yeah, yeah, (32:53):
undefined

really kind of helps strengthen that thing.
Strengthen the, the, the, the, therelationship between you and your dog.
So

yeah,

play train bond for sure.
But have fun with it really.
That's the

yeah,

be, there's a lot of really great things
that you can train through play.
but it needs to be fun, definitely for you

yeah,

Not, not, you know,

yeah,

your dog.
You need to be fun andengaged in the game as well.
Let's see other things.
So,

yeah,

because it's a really fun, cool thing to, to see.
Especially

yeah.

it's got Bob and, and, and.
Seeing him change throughplay and that's really what it
was, you know, that's the only

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Must be really rewarding as well. (33:35):
undefined

yeah, definitely that we managed to get him out of
his shell and, and, you know, hehad, he, he had some, some difficult
behaviours to, to begin with.
So actually, you know, it was, it was, it,it, I look back now with Rose Tintagos,
but I think it was very, it was a verydifficult time, you know but using play
really helped me help us, adapt or helphim help us to help him adapt to the

(34:02):
new situation that he found himself in.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: he's called Bob, by the way. (34:06):
undefined
I might have said that already.
It's such a cool name for a dog.
Danny, if someone is feeling unsureabout incorporating more play
into their routine, where wouldyou say is a good place to start?

So I think a good place to start would be number one to have a, to
enroll in our free power of play course,because actually it gives you, it's really
comprehensive, but it's not, not long.
It's not a, it's not a huge investmentof time, but it really helps you
understand from the, from the beginning.
Why play is important, what, how tochoose that toy for your dog and and right

(34:42):
through to then those, as all those thingsthat you can play with, with, with it.
And, and you know, I can't rememberthe number, but I, you know, we, we've
definitely, there's been, you know,thousands of thousands of people that have
been through that course and, and, andI've turned into customers at the end.
So

Oh, wow.

place to start.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, that's brilliant. (34:59):
undefined
I think I kind of know the answerto the next question, but your
favourite personal story of how playhas transformed a dog's behaviour.
I think we can obviously say aboutyour own dog, Bob because you said
he had some challenging behaviours,so it's just to be expected.
And obviously your mum's dog, sorry,her name has settled right over my head.

(35:20):
What was your

Teresa.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, oh yeah, your mum's dog's (35:21):
undefined
name, what was her name again?

Indeed.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Indy, I know, too easy, yeah, so Indy. (35:25):
undefined
So I think they're probablytwo, you know, probably main
stories for you, aren't they?
Yeah, how it's all really

you know, I speak to also one of the things I really enjoy
about about the business is speaking topeople and, and, and listening to their
stories and hearing how they've play.
You know, to, to, to to enrichtheir, their, their lives or
their relationship with their dog.
but yeah, so many, there's somany to choose from, to be honest.
But though, you know, obviously thosepersonal stories are really, really

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: powerful, (35:57):
undefined

memory.
Yeah, definitely for sure.

yeah,

but yeah, there's so many so many different stories
that I've heard that are really great.
Great examples of whyyou should give it a go.
If you haven't, you shoulddefinitely give it a go.

yeah.
I mean, what I've taken from it isthat obviously you know, don't leave
the toys out because you need themto remain, you know, they need to
remain their value, their high valueand obviously also about tapping into
the dog's natural breed, specifictraits and their instincts and stuff.
And you've, you know,you've got toys for that.
So I think that's really important,but you know, who doesn't want

(36:34):
to have fun with their dog?
Who doesn't want to, who doesn't wantto play, you know, play, having fun.
You know, I'm often, I'm big on sortof saying that training is for life.
So it doesn't just stopwhen they're a puppy.
You know, I've, I've trained olderdogs that are 12, 13, 14 years old,
but, you know, training is for life.
And, you know, Have, have fun with yourdog, play, have fun, strengthen that bond.

(37:00):
You know, it's great.
And your toys and yourbusiness help people do that.
So I think it's fantasticwhat, what you're doing.
Danny, could you please tellour listeners the best way to
find out more about Tug E-Nuff?

I think, well, the best way first of all is to
go on to the, to the website.
So if you just search tug E-Nuff, onGoogle, you'll, I'm sure you'll find us.
Definitely for sure.
And then we're also on the socials.
So

Yes.

and Instagram.
We are on Tik TOK, but.
I'm trying to get involvedin that too much, but but,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Me neither. (37:32):
undefined
Yeah.
Yeah.

so definitely online our power of play course, so
definitely take that one or, or watchthose videos and these new games
that we're, the games videos thatwe've, that we've launched, and we'll
also be at a lot of shows this year,

Yes.
Yes.

We are going to, where else are we going?
We're going to Good Wolf.
We're going to,

great.

where else?
We're going to the London.
So there's a new showstarting the London Pet Show

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, okay. (38:01):
undefined

there.
and then for the dog professionals,we're also going to a lot of
professional events this year.
So we'll

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, great. (38:06):
undefined

we're actually going to a few in, in, in the States this year.
So, so it'll be at theclicker Expo in March.

Don't

be at, I forgot.
There's another one thatwe're going to, but I forgot,

worry.

so many, we've got an events page on our website.
So if you

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: I'll put it here. (38:24):
undefined

they're all on there and we keep them updated.

Yeah.

and yeah, so,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: And Are you do you have like a shop? (38:30):
undefined
I know you're based downin Devon, aren't you?
So can customers cometo the, the venue or?

so are yes, they can.
So are we don't have a shop here.
so

No, no.

but this is where we manufacture a lot of the products
and we do a lot of logistics from here.

Yeah.

can pop in and, and, and buy

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, brilliant. (38:49):
undefined

got an option on the website as well for you
to pay and then collect from us.
So if you're

undefined

on the website and then come and

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: I was wondering. (38:57):
undefined

Yeah,

undefined

this year, if we're going, if this goes out
before crafts, we're also going

Yeah.

click and collect option for craft.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Excuse me. (39:06):
undefined

can place their orders before crafts and then come
and pick it up from us at the show.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, that's amazing. (39:11):
undefined
So yeah, I did wonder whether peoplecould come to where you were based.
And yeah, that's really great.
So I'm going to put you on thespot now because you may not
know about this question, but

Okay.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: The Yappy Hour is invited lots (39:22):
undefined
of different experts from thecanine professional field.
I actually interviewed Clara from theMuzzle Movement Recently, and that episode
actually goes out live tonight and I saidto her, yeah, I said to her, who should
I get on to the, I asked her the samequestion, who should I get on the API?
And she said yourself.

(39:43):
So I was like, ah, a littlereveal for our clients.
Danny is coming on soon.
So she mentioned, she mentionedyourself to come on and how
you've helped them out loads.
And she also mentioned someonefrom Perfect Fit as well.
But is there anyone in the industry?
without putting you on the spottoo much that you think that we
should invite on to the yappy hour.

I mean, yeah, I would have probably have said Clara, but she's
got in there, got in there before me.
I mean, there's a couple ofpeople, definitely for sure.
So Sarah from My Anxious Dog,she's really, really passionate
about about about reactive dogs.
Awesome.
Dogs are labeled reactive.
she's really, really great.
And then also from our kind ofpartner network, Nikki Nikki French.

(40:23):
She's really

Perfect.

really really, we do a lot of stuff with her.
So yeah, definitely.
It's

Ah,

of people there for sure.

undefined

that I would suggest,

So, so

Ah,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: three times now, so she (40:36):
undefined
was on my list of contacts.
So you Andrew Howe and Sarahhave now mentioned Nikki.
So she's definitely on my list to,to get on, but we've already had
an episode come out with Sarah fromMy Anxious Dog, so that's great.
She's been on, but Nikki keepsgetting mentioned, so I definitely
need to reach out to her.
Danny, thank you so much for taking thetime for joining me today on the Yakker.

(41:02):
I know you're very busy, you're preparingfor crafts and stuff, so it's been great
just to hear more about, obviously,your journey and the business's journey
and I found it really interesting.
I know our listenersare going to take a lot.
away from this conversation.
So thanks again, Danny, for joiningme on the Yappy Hour today, powered by
Yappily, and we'll see you next time.

Thank you so much for having me.
It's been really great.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Thank you. (41:27):
undefined

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

24/7 News: The Latest

The Joe Rogan Experience

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}How tug toys can transform dog training using the power of play with Tug-E-Nuff’s Danny Nelis-Rouse

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

24/7 News: The Latest

The Joe Rogan Experience

All Episodes

How tug toys can transform dog training using the power of play with Tug-E-Nuff’s Danny Nelis-Rouse

Stuff You Should Know