I just acted like a bratty puppy. When my dog was sitting there playing with a brand new toy, I'd walk up and say "give me that!" and tug it, but not actually take it away. If a toy wasn't interesting then I'd pretend to kill it by bringing it up near my mouth, and pretending to bite and shake it. Then I'd run away from my dog, toss the toy, and kick it. It didn't take very long until she wanted to steal the toy away from me. When she did that, I'd laugh then hop around, then take it back from her.
After I did that with one toy, it became easier to do that with other toys. I did learn just through play that some toys aren't as nice on her mouth. Like ropes, I have to be careful. They can't be to thick or to hard, otherwise she can't grip it right.
Eventually I bought a kong tug toy. The kind that has a rope on one end and a soft pillow looking thing on the other. But I kept it in the car and saved it for when we went to the park.I introduced it the same way as the other toys, by dragging it on the floor and running away with it.
Once she tugged it, I'd start praising her, but I'd also be watching her energy levels. If she got to crazy I'd pull the tug toy next to my knee and freeze. After a few seconds she's stop and look at me like "what's going on? why did you stop?" then I'd praise and go back to tugging.
After about 10-20 tugs and freezes, I introduced the "Tug" and "Drop" cues. And I'd do this a lot. Pretty soon the tug toy was only a game of tug and drop. Later it became a game of tug, drop, catch, tug, drop, catch, etc. Now I can use the toy as a reward for any command. Like sit, down, wait, etc. However that tug toy is still only a park toy and stays in the car. I have other tug toys for the house.
A friend of mine has a dog that loves squeaky toys. My dog doesn't care much for these, but her dog goes crazy for the squeaky. So she ended up buying a Kong squeaky ball. At home she can put treats in it, but at the park she just throws it.
