There was some interesting research (which I am trying to find again) that looked at a set of dogs playing tug with a) other dogs and b) their owners.
They found that dogs (although seeming to enjoy it) never solicited tug games with each other, that the play was more competitive.
On the other hand, nearly all the dogs would solicit tug games with their owners, leading the researchers to opine that tug games with people were seen by the dogs as cooperative, bonding activity rather than competitive.
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