Training tugs are a very important part of working a dog in training. Many people think they are only used for puppy work. These people are wrong. The shorter tubes are a great training aids for drive building and are used throughout the life of the dog. The beauty of these tugs is they are soft on the dogs mouth and teeth.
Tennis balls are very, very hard on dog's teeth.
Bite tugs are a much better alternative. Bite tugs are also much better than solid hard rubber balls on strings. When a young dog is accidentally hit in the head with a hard rubber ball he will loose drive. When the same dog gets hit by a tug he ignores the situation and continues to chase in drive. I choose to have my tugs made from this fabric to get as much durability as possible without un-necessary wear on the dog's teeth.