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Dog Discipline – Should We Beat or Hit a Dog as Punishment?

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Spanking, beating, and hitting a dog, is sometimes used as a form of dog discipline or dog punishment.

After all, biting a dog’s ear worked for Cuba Gooding Jr. in the movie Snow Dogs. Therefore, will such pain based techniques work for us too? To answer this question, we must consider how dogs learn.

Dogs learn through conditioning.

  • They repeat behaviors that get them good results, and
  • They stop behaviors that get them bad results.

Based on this, there are two schools of thought for stopping problem dog behaviors – reward obedience training and aversive obedience training.

Shiba Inu and Siberian Husky lying next to each other. They are best friends.
Dog Discipline – Is It Bad to Beat or Hit a Dog?

Is It Bad to Beat or Hit a Dog?

Spanking, beating, and hitting a dog are all aversive techniques. Pain is delivered to sensitive areas of the dog, such as his ear or muzzle, when he performs a bad behavior.

The argument for this type of dog discipline, is that the pain will discourage a dog from repeating undesirable actions. Every time our dog does something bad, he gets an unpleasant result (pain), which will hopefully dampen his resolve to perform the same behavior.

However, the problem with aversive training, is that it is risky, too personal, and there is no good way to redirect the punishment.

Our dog knows that the pain originates from us, and is not a natural result of his actions.

As a consequence, our dog may end up learning the wrong lessons, including:

  • Hitting, slapping, and biting is a fun game that my owner plays with me. Let me try playing it with him, and with others. A dog may arrive at this conclusion, when the pain is not delivered with enough force. Too much force, however, may result in fear aggression.
  • A person’s hand or face coming toward me, is a bad thing. I should run away from people, or bite the hand or face that is a threat to me.
  • My owner, or a person coming toward me, means pain. I should stay away from people, or keep them away by growling and biting.

If we do not deliver the pain with good timing, with the proper force, and in exactly the right circumstance, our dog may get confused as to why he is getting punished. He may become fearful and stressed, because he is unsure how he can stop the pain from recurring.

As a result, spanking, beating, and hitting a dog may lead to even more behavioral issues, including fear aggression as well as submissive urination.

For these reasons, using physical techniques to punish a dog, is not very good dog kung fu.

Do your own research and don't just blindly follow whatever a dog trainer tells you.
Resource based dog discipline results in a stronger bond and a happier relationship.

If Not Beating or Hitting a Dog, Then What?!

If beating or hitting a dog does not work, then how can we teach our dogs right from wrong?

How can we get our dogs to behave and not engage in destructive behaviors?

The answer lies in the other school of dog discipline, namely reward based techniques. Some positive based authors that I like include Patricia McConnell, Karen Pryor, and Suzanne Clothier. Contrary to what some may say, reward based methods does not just involve “giving food to our dog”. Rather, it allows us to gain pack leadership through the proper control of resources.

Siberian Husky Shania doing a sit, and licking the hand that feeds her. Reward training.
Reward methods result in a dog licking our hand rather than running away from it.

Siberian Husky licking/kissing girl on chin and doing chin nibbles.
Reward methods result in a dog licking our face rather than biting it.

We may not realize this, but we already control all of our dog’s resources. For example, we decide when he gets to walk, when he gets to eat, what and how much he gets to eat, when he gets to play, what toys he gets to play with, when he has to go to sleep, what he can chew on, and much more. All we need to do, is teach our dog this fact –

He is NOT in control, WE are.

For example, if my dog jumps on me and bites my hand during feeding time, I tell him that this behavior is unacceptable, by using a no-mark. Then I ignore him, and he does not get his food, until he has calmed down. In this way, he learns that –

  • Waiting calmly for his food in a down position = Get food quickly,
  • Jumping and biting = Food preparation stops.

If he continues with his bad behavior, I say Time-out, and I remove him to a time-out area. This teaches him that if he cannot behave around people, then he does not get to be with people.

We respond to all other bad behaviors in a similar way – by restricting our dog’s access to his most desired resources, and only giving him rewards when he has earned them through good behavior.

Different dog behavioral issues will involve different tactics, but the overall strategy is one of resource control and proper management.

Dog training - Man doing focus exercises during a play break.
Reward based dog discipline is safer because there is little danger for our dog to become fearful, aggressive, or stressed.

But Dogs Hit, Bite, and Physically Correct Each Other …

A common argument used to justify physical corrections, is that our dogs do that to each other, therefore, it must be natural and right.

It is true that dogs will sometimes hit and bite each other as a warning, or to correct behavior. Dogs also hit and bite during play. They are able to do this, because they have very good control of the placement and force of their bites.

However, dogs are not humans and *we* are not dogs. We do not have the same physical strengths or control as our dog. We do not have sharp teeth or claws, we cannot run very fast, and our jaws are not very strong.

This is why it is a very bad idea to physically challenge stray or loose dogs. Logic dictates that we do not wrestle, hit, or physically engage with unknown dogs, that may be aggressive. Similarly, we should not slap, beat, or hit our own dog either. Rather than do a bad job at pretending to be a dog, we should play to our human strengths.

As a human,

  • We can open and close doors.
  • We can drive to the store and buy food, toys, and other good stuff.
  • We can open sealed bags, cans, bottles, and more.
  • We can reason, build, and develop long-term plans.

In essence, our human abilities give us control of *all* the things that our dog needs or desires. This makes us into natural leaders, because by controlling the pack’s resources, we control the pack.

Girl training three dogs using rewards (group shot).
By controlling the pack’s resources, we control the pack.

Finally, when a dog physically corrects another dog, the other dog may decide to fight back.

A puppy may allow an adult dog to correct him initially, but when he grows up, he may learn to respond in-kind with aggression. For this reason and more, I do not allow my dogs to physically correct or bully each other. As pack leader, I set the rules, and I enforce them through the control of resources. If there are any conflicts, my dogs will alert me. I will then do my best to resolve the conflict in a fair and consistent way, which does not involve any hitting, biting, or puncture wounds.

Just because a dog may sometimes hit and bite other dogs, does not mean that hitting and biting is good, effective, or even particularly humane. The assumption or assertion that physical punishment is better because our dogs do it, is a logical fallacy. In fact, there are many things that dogs do to each other and to other animals, that we need to manage, redirect, and retrain. This includes –

  • A dog’s drive to hunt neighborhood cats,
  • A dog’s instinct to guard resources (with aggression if necessary),
  • A dog’s inclination to bully a weaker dog,
  • A dog’s impulse to fight-back, and more.
Husky Lara play-fighting with Shiba Inu Sephy (close-up).
Just because dogs hit and bite each other, does not mean that *we* should do the same, in play or otherwise.

Does Beating or Hitting a Dog Work?

Pain based techniques may stop problem behaviors in the short term, but it is not the most effective type of dog discipline.

There are many difficulties and risks that may cause our dog’s behavior to degrade, rather than improve. Using it to stop one problem behavior, may inadvertently cause five other bad dog behaviors to crop up. In addition, the effect of beating or hitting a dog may degrade over time, as our dog gets habituated to the pain.

In contrast, reward based methods are safer because there is little danger of our dog becoming fearful, aggressive, or stressed. We are not delivering any pain to him, but simply withholding the rewards that he has failed to earn.

  • Reward based discipline encourages our dog to figure out how he can get in our good books, because that is the quickest way to get what he wants most.
  • Aversive dog discipline, on the other hand, encourages a dog to avoid us because there may be pain involved.

Ultimately, resource based training allows us to forge a stronger bond with our dog, and makes him into a responsible canine, who works for what he wants.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

~~ [Mahatma Gandhi]

Girl in blue petting and showing affection to Siberian Husky puppy (Shania), with Shiba Inu in the background.
Ultimately, reward training allows us to forge a stronger bond with our dog, and makes him into a responsible canine, who works for what he wants.

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Comments

  1. I have a 7 month old male German shepherd. He has been very disobedient and I have tried every non physical way to teach him, but it seems as though none of it is working. We got him since he was 2-3 months old and hes always seemed to have this behavior, it seems as though the only way to help is if we spank him, i hate doing it, but sometimes he leaves me no choice.

    Reply

  2. I have a German Shepard puppy, and lately she’s been acting very spoiled, she’s sick so I cannot take her out of my room so if I go out or even I I’m watching a movie in the living room with my family she will throw her water and food bowl around, tear up her pee pads and bark like a crazy dog, I don’t know why she’s been doing this and it just started, and if I hit her and tell her no she will run under my bed and hide untill I leave then she does everything all over again making a mess of my room, I take her out every couple hours to do the restroom and walk so I don’t know what is causing her to act like this, please help!

    Reply

    • she’s sick so I cannot take her out of my room

      How old is she? How long have you had her? What is she sick with? Why can’t you take her out of your room – is she vomiting? Are there other dogs in the household?

      Puppies have a lot of energy, and therefore need a lot of supervision, training, and structured activity. When I got my youngest Husky puppy Lara, all she wanted to do was follow me around and interact with me. I set up a fixed schedule for her that includes a lot of structured playtime, training, and activity. I also used a lot of frozen Kongs. In this way, she has many positive places to put her puppy energy.

      During her scheduled nap time, I put her in a puppy enclosure and put that enclosure in the living room where I work on my computer or watch t.v. In this way, she can always see her family, and won’t get stressed, anxious, or lonely. Then, I slowly desensitize my puppy to alone time, by starting with very short periods (seconds) and slowly build up from there. In this way, my puppy learns to be confident on her own and does not develop separation anxiety.

      Physical punishment will introduce more stress into the situation, increase my puppy’s anxiety, and likely worsen her behavior.

      How I train my puppy.
      How I set up structure and teach my puppy self-control.
      ASPCA article on separation anxiety.

  3. Help!! I have a 7 week old female Pomerian mixed with Shih tzu puppy. She is really stubborn!! I have tried everything from putting her in her kennel with no toys to slapping her on the butt and have also raised my voice at her but she will not stop biting me it got to the point were she has made me bleed. I sometimes sit down with her on the floor to play she starts bitting my legs,arms and even tries to bite my face I tell her not to do it and sometimes she growls at me and even tries to attack me. I am really worried and would not want her to an aggressive dog. Is this normal behavior since she is still a puppy?? Is she teething?

    Reply

  4. I have a 10 week old Great Pyrenees puppy that is house trained, however she keeps peeing in the living room. She will only do it when she knows someone is watching her and I think it ma be for attention. When she does it we tell her no in a stern voice and put her outside, but she never seems phased by it. Yesterday she did it again so I smacked her on the muzzle as well as scolded her. As soon as I did it she ran away into a corner and started making noises that sounded like a child screaming. Less than a minute later she was back to her playful, loving self. Did she make those noises because I hurt her? I don’t think I did cause I didn’t hit hard but either way I feel bad.

    Reply

  5. hello ,

    my husky started to act strange specially before i go to sleep , after walking her late she knows am going to sleep and let her alone , yet she started to PLAY soft biting my hands as she’s is playing , i had so much fun and start going very late to bed, after 5 days the bites became stronger , that when i trying googling how to stop her biting, i found a tip to slap her on the muzzle, and now i tried it , after a little bit of biting force became stronger , strange thing happened to her , she suddenly got shocked , and acting half parrelized , such as holding her left arm UP then DOWN then UP again on her muzzle, and now she doesn’t want to speak to me yet scared.
    any hint ? I FEEL BAD VERY BAD.

    Reply

  6. Our Pomeranian we estimate to be 8-9 years old. He was dirty and homeless about 2.5 years ago when we took him in. He has no teeth. We mush up all of his food for him. He also has the beginning of a trachea collapse, and honking cough, but infrequently. Also, an enlarged heart.

    His problem seems to unique. He barks when he is tired and wants us to be quiet. So, every evening after he eats around 5PM, he gets really tired looking, and starts to bark.

    We have 2 joining rooms for him to go to sleep. One is quieter and more peaceful, the other is where we watch TV, eat, etc. He refuses to leave us, and go to the quiet room. he must always stay in the room where we are. He just wants us to be quiet and sleep too.

    So, we have a tired dog barking at us every night because he wants us to be quiet. But he refuses to find his own quiet area. It’s only after all the lights are out, and everyone sleeps that he will stop his barking.

    My wife believes in controlling him through beating him. But that causes him to get defensive and bark stronger and really strain his trachea. They will fight, and he will get exhausted and stop barking for a while. But it doesn’t always last. and eventually he’ll start barking again, and she’ll get to the point of teaching him a lesson again.

    But I view her actions as pushing him towards his death.

    He doesn’t want a food reward. If we give him a tiny dog pellet that he can swallow, he’ll often leave it untouched. He only seems to be interested in eating during our regular meal times.

    Otherwise, he’s our best friend in the morning, and during the day. He sleeps a lot. He loves to go outside and walk twice a day. We take him outside for two 30 minute walks. He gets plenty of exercise. After walking, we feed him, and he sleeps. It’s mainly in the evening when our lives turn to hell with non-stop barking. I can see that he looks extremely tired and just wants quiet. But he won’t go sleep in the other room!!!!!

    Any advice?

    Reply

    • Has he always shown this behavior? How many times do you feed him in a day? With my dogs, I adjust their daily schedule to set them up for success. For example, I may feed my dog less but more often (same total daily food). In this way, my dog has a morning, afternoon, and late evening meal. After my dog eats, it is sleep/quiet time for everyone.

      Have you tried feeding him in the quiet room and then keeping him in there afterwards? Is it possible for someone to stay in the quiet room with him and perhaps read a book until he falls asleep?

      With my dogs, I try to set them up for success by carefully managing their environment and daily routine. When in doubt, I get help from a good professional trainer.
      https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help

  7. Please help me. I need advice. I love animals and ha email loved them my whole life. I ha email this little dog greyson who is 4 months old. He is my baby and I love him with all my heart. He does not listan and he CONSTANTLY bites and gets in the trash. I want to know how to train him right. His biting problem is getting bad and when someone knocks on the door and comes in he barks for at least 30 minutes. I love him and want to help him. Can you please give me advice on what to do?

    Reply

  8. Hey i have a german shepherd mix and it is 6 months old. I have not started training and i don’t know what to do. Please help?

    Reply

  9. My 1 year old dog has too much energy for me to keep up with. She gets bored very fast and whines and cries if she’s at home for too long. I walk her 2 times a day cause thats all i have the time for. But she always wants to go back on the street. I think it may come from the fact that she spent her first half year on the street (in india where i live) before i took her. So her life and amuzements are on the street. But it’s getting hard to let her go out when she wants to, she gets dirty, gets in to fights with other street dogs etc.

    What’s a good way to calm her down, not get anxiety when i leave her alone and want to stay at home more or come back when i call her to?

    Any advice would be appreciated, i’ve read alot and informed myself but in india, its a whole different situation going on! So i would like a more personal answer to this
    Thanks

    Reply

  10. I have a 7 month old Pit that keeps chewing on my new deck. I have sprayed with the bitter stuff from the pet store and I do not know what else to do. When I get home and find the spots I take him to all the areas and tell him no and spank him on his butt. Any ideas? My husband and I love him but can’t have him chewing on our new deck. I have two other dogs out there with him so he is not alone and has toys. He doesn’t chew on stff inside only the deck…. Need help ASAP.

    Reply

    • Does he only chew on the deck when no people are home? Does he get stressed when people leave the room he is in? Dogs may sometimes chew when they get stressed, and some dogs get anxious when there aren’t any people in the house, even when there are other dogs around.
      http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/separation-anxiety

      As for correcting behavior, I need to be around to supervise and redirect my dog while he is performing the behavior. Correcting after the fact does not work, because my dog does not know what behavior he is being corrected for. While training my dog or changing behavior, timing and supervision are both extremely important.

      More on how dogs learn.
      More on operant conditioning.

      However, dog behavior is very context dependent, so when in doubt, I get help from a professional trainer who understands operant conditioning principles, has good experience, and is properly certified.
      http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help

    • But that doesnt explain why he chews on the deck… You just told us some shit we already know. I have a german shepherd who is very mean he has always been mean since he was a baby. Not to me to other people,however,he is also aggressive towards me. For example when I want to put on his harness he snares,more like snare and not a snarl because he doesnt growl or bark just pulls his gums back ready to bite. randomly he will start to bite my hands as I am walking. I kept saying he is just a puppy but now at 6 months he is getting a little better but I rough him up. I don’t cause what he perceives to be pain because he doesnt cry. It is like a Bat,I shove him either away,grab him by the back of his neck and tell him to lay until he complies,or relinquish him to his cage. He does listen to my commands,lay,sit,GO,move,come. However he is biting me and doesnt get I don’t like when he does that. When he is good I treat him good,when he is bad i treat him bad. He does know bad from good so I don’t understand. I also train him every day,he doesnt get anything for free either.

      I start to think to myself,well,now I see why some animals end up in shelters. I could blame my lack of patience,I could blame the fact that it is my girlfriends dog,but the truth is,I am failing.

      I am running out of patience and he is going to end up with less. I have 10 acres of land,toys a dog house,I feed him good,treats the WORKS. And he is aggressive to me. What am I to do cut his balls?wtf is the point of having a purebred if you are going to end his “superior” genes. These are excellent dogs they should reproduce. I wont but the shelter will.

      I feel as if some humans should accept that some dogs are just dogs,they are wild animal they stink,and you have to clean their shit. Cut their nails,brush them,and train them as if they were children with down syndrome.

      Anyway.
      I need a dog expert,the dog takes a liking to me,he follows me everywhere and every morning he greets me like I was deployed for a year. But I am getting sick of his retardation. Just answer me this,do I wait until he is older and see as I planed to. Was going to wait until he turns one. Or just get rid of him?

    • Hey try getting nylabones , or those bone/toys that are made of wood (safer wood than real wood) i have a pit and i have bought him lots of nylabones, he loves those, and a few wooden chews, and i always keep him with chew bones and lots of toys