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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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]
I am stuggling with a 8 month old pit bull treeing brendel puppy ..i am a truck driver …hes already chewed up everything i have includeing my wotk shoes. I spanked him and told him no let him smrll the shoe..told him no and put it around his neck for a whole night ..i tied it to his harrnrss..for 24 hours .thats how my grandpa got our dogs to stop killing his chickens .and cats ..he tied them around the dogs back for 24 hours and they never killed another animal. Was that wrong ? I dont think it was abusive .it made them hate killing .and never did it again.. grand pa never hit our dogs .he used alternatives .that made you hate whatever you did. So im very interested to hear comments on this.
I agree with previous comments; hitting can be effective, but has to be given at the right time and with the right amount of force. Don’t overdo it, or the dog will fear you.
I have a 2 year old dog who had the tendency to run like crazy around the neighborhood when he saw the front door open. He did that 3 times. I looked for advice on the internet, about positive reinforcement, about clickers, etcetera. I even tried to run him ragged when we went for a walk so that he didn’t have any excess energy to try and run away, I spent more time with him, in case he was doing it for a lack of attention on my part. Nothing worked. The 3rd time it happened, I smacked him (not intending to really hurt him, but enough so that it would cause him pain). The next time he saw the door open, he went out and came back in a second, as soon as I called his name. That was more than a year ago.
He’s a nice, happy dog. And is the complete opposite of over-submissive and fearful. Never had to hit him again, after that.
I have a 2 year old husky named meishka and a 5 year old German shepherd named Tyson, my dad keeps on hitting meishka because she is a trouble maker, how do I stop this?
Hi, I have a female 1 year old German Shepard, and she tends to bark continuously towards guest and sometimes when a guest panics and fast-walk away she likes to chase after or charge (although she never bit anyone.) When we go on walks she likes to growl and bark at other people when walked by her or towards, so I try to avoid walking in others directions. With all her bad behavior she often has switches in her attitude, in the house she knows what not to do, and she knows some commands I teach her, No-Sit-Stay, shes still learning. So although shes a good girl, I don’t know what to do to teach her how to not be so aggressive. Any advice?
I cannot believe that any of you respondents hit your dog. Who is more evolved? If you hit your dog in my presence, I would call animal control on you. If you don’t out in the time to train your dog correctly, you should not be ALLOWED to own a dog.
Hi there. I read your article and am a bit at a loss with my rescue. He is 6.5 year old hound and we know he had been in shelters for years. We reward everything good he does and make him earn things like getting on the couch. He is really sweet 99% of the time, but then he will randomly lose it. Early I was petting him softly and he snapped and bit me hand. We tried anxiety meds, thinking he may be scared, but they did nothing. We think it is when he doesn’t like what we are doing he snaps with zero warning. The rewards have been great for getting his general behaviors under control but it has done nothing about this random snapping on us. We usually yell at him and tell him to get in his crate but he doesn’t seem to care and it hasn’t stopped the behavior. I have never hit a dog before but we are starting to think he may need stronger corrections. God forbid he randomly bite a child that is petting him. Any feedback would be appreciated.
I have a 5 year old cojack and he’s overly aggressive sometimes vicious he actually bit me for the first time yesterday and drew blood . It’s like you can’t tell him to do anything . If I tell him to go to his kennel because he did something bad he gets super aggressive he starts to growl and show teeth . He plays overly aggressive . I don’t think we properly trained him honestly . He is very spiteful I can walk him all day and he’ll turn around and still pee in his favorite spots in the house and it’s not just me he acts this way towards he does this to my family too . I don’t know what else to do I don’t want to give him away . But at the same time this behavior is beyond unacceptable . Please help !
I do sometimes hit my dog but don’t want to, the issue we have is when anyone enters the house – I need a way of disciplining her without a slap on the backside.
The issue i have is that she is a very strong bully breed, we have lots of kids around the house and I cannot risk a slip up with this type of dog. She often growls at people so I correct instantly.
She is very protective of the house and our kids and incredibly aggressive towards other dogs, we have to muzzle at the dog park and constantly distract. She wants every other dogs toys amd cannot socialize with other dogs.
With our family she is an angel and a big sloppy softy… she loves the kids and plays with each one differently depending on their size, she sleeps with them when they are sick and is an amazing animal.
I just have an awful feeling she will bite someone someday and do a lot of damage
Help
I agree that rewarding dogs for good behavior is more effective than punishing bad behavior. But I was wondering… I have a two year old dog, who, while most of the time is very sweet, can occasionally get into some mischief. One of her favorite games is to steal food off of high surfaces. In these instances, I am not sure how to react. Unfortunately, she has taken the food, so she has already received a reward for her behavior. How can I tell her in a non-physical way that what she is doing is bad? (I don’t feel that taking the plate away does anything… Half the time she has already finished it.) I can think of a few other instances like this one, where the dog has already received a reward for bad behavior. Any ideas on how to stop it?
I have two dogs, a mix breed(dogo argentino mother) and a Cane Corso. They started living together when my girlfriend moved in. Cane Corso is her dog. They knew each other beforehand, and always liked each other.
Cane corso was about 4-5months old when they moved in, and she has been nothing but trouble since.
She destroys furniture, even dug a hole in the wall, and dug through a bathroom door once whe closed herself inside of it.
Most problems arise when we feed them. Cane corso being considerably larger then our mixbreed receives a larger portion, and most of the time, when the mixbreed doesn’t finish her portion we provide it to the Cane to finish it up. However, after she eats her own, and the other dogs remains, and even gets scraps from our meal, she keeps asking for food, sniffing all over, and being extremely obnoxious. She gets fed regularly so she isn’t hungry.
When we give her food whe can barely wait to start eating and shovels it in, oftentimes resulting in vomit and diharreha. We cook quallity meat based diet for both of them.
If we make her stay before eating, she literally start shaking like an epileptic. She just can’t do it though she wants to please us. If we make her wait by the food for more than 5 minutes, she starts acting almost sick.
If she doesn’t get her meal on time, or if a meal is somewhat smaller than usual, or if the other dog eats her whole meal, the CANE CORSO keeps bothering us for hours, complaining and asking for food. If she is timed out when she behaves like this, she accepts the fine, but as soon as she joins us basck the same exact behaviour continues.
If she gets ignored, she keeps staring at us for hours. Literally. She is just staring at me as i type, not sure of the reason now. If she gets ignored enough, she intentionally does something stupid, like starts to bite on a shoe or a towel. Then when she is timed out, after she comes back, she keeps on staring and behaving the same.
This goes on and on, for many different situations but food. I.E. when we change her blanket she litterally wont sleep for the night.
We are frustrated. it’s like we can’t win with this dog.
At one point, we thought: “well, maybe she is just hungry”, and provided for her 2 days worth of food in a single serving. She completely devoured it in 5 minutes, and came asking for more afterwards.
What to do when nothing works?
other than that, she is extremely obedient, and comes immediately when called, and we are comfortable enough walking with both of them off the leash. So obedience is not a problem, it is that the damn dog is never ever satisfied, and out of that feeling she does stupid things when we’re not around or asleep.
hello,
i have a 10 month old whippet mix and he is very naughty. sometimes when he gets into things he shouldn’t such as the trash or food, i tell him “no” but he begins barking and biting, and once snarled at me for trying to get plastic out of his mouth. and after play he will sometimes get very hyper and bark like crazy and trying to bite my hands, arms, legs, anything. i thought it was puppy biting at first but he seems too old for that now. i try not to hit him but it’s hard to control him. or at the park sometimes he will run into the carpark to try to look for food, and i try to lure him away with treats but i am scared he will see it as a reward.
My 8 months old Labrador female is very greedy on food. Everything is fine with her but in case of food, she is very clingy. She keeps on waiting for food while we are having dinner and jumps on the dining table. Also, she keeps on making weird sound continuously when there is meat at lunch or dinner. I try my best to avoid physical punishment to control her but it gets out of control sometimes. She has become so aggressive and has begun to tear clothes, towels, socks etc. We live in an apartment and we have no more space.My elder brother is planning to keep her away from home and leave somewhere far away. But I dont want that. How can I control her? Please help.
How on earth do you keep a sheltie in your own yard? This dog chases everyone and everything!
Today my sheltie went through the shock fence and would not return. The walkers he went after treated him like a bear and shouted at him to go away. If they would just keep walking or say hello in a friendly way I’m sure he would leave them alone. This guy was yelling so much the dog could not even hear me.
My sheltie always breaks thru the shock fence and runs around walkers. These people think they can scare the dog away. The only thing that scares my sheltie while it’s outside is someone trying to grab him. So if they lunge for him, he runs right back across the fence. If they swat at him, he’ll just keep running around them, snapping at them. He’s way too fast to catch.
We have a stronger manual shock collar that really sucks. It makes him yelp, but unless I hold down the continuous button for 5 seconds he just continues chasing after whatever he’s got his eye on. The continuous shock makes him stop. Which really sucks, because he treats it like an annoyance on anything but 100% and just keeps chasing. One time I got him with a nick on 80% on a wet day. He went right to the door. I really scared him that day!
My husband is adverse sometimes I’m more into positive rienforcement we disagree in our training methods my staffie lab mix ( only responds well to positive) pulls on her leash no matter what I try any advice I’ve done clicker Training harnesses I don’t want to put a gentle leader on her I get glared at enough even when she’s minding herself to many people mistake it for a muzzle. Also she gets real excited to greet other dogs whining and tail wagging and hopping I’m glad she’s so happy to meet other dogs even after being bit by the neighbors dog but since she gets a bad rep I’m trying to get her on a good loose leash walking habit. Im not opposed to walking I’ll walk my dog or jog her but she seems to only have two speeds run and sleep.
My staffiemix is great she’s friendly an behaves well inside shares but I can’t for the life of me get her to walk on a leash
all that money my mother inlaw spent on a trainer she dose even do what trainer said a to by grabbing them by the scruff of ther neck my mother in law was messing with George by taping him in the face with her shoes on then that when gjnger whent afer George and ginger start going after each other for a couple of min and the finally got them to break it up and took George in to the kitchen and and she smacked her in but and then smacked her in face like twice and I was like that abuse and she was like she going to learn one way or another. and to me and she going is to be fearful of her not want to be near her what so ever
I prefer not to hit my dog but it sometimes is necessary. It’s a dog not a human.
Hi, I have a 5 year old shih tzu, normally I do not like to give him spankings but every time I give him a command, he doesn’t listen to me and instead he will growl at me when I keep telling him the command, and honestly it gets so frustrating but I do not know what to do anymore. Lately he has been very irritated because I have to put the cone on him to avoid him from biting his butt, but every time I do it he growls at me and seems like he wants to bite me and it is not like I am punishing him with the cone, I just want him to stop biting his butt because that is what was directed by his doctor. Even telling him to stop and that his action was bad he will still growl and me for telling him that he was being bad. I want him to start listening to me instead of being treated as his equal. What can I do?
Hi there!
Thank you so much for your article, I understand that this is quite a few years later bit if you get this, a response would be so appreciated because I am at my wits end!
I have a 3 month old Rottweiler – German shepherd cross, he’s a very sweet and gentle boy, and so eager to please. He’s very clever and learns tricks and words in a couple days but for some reason, he does not understand housetraining at all. We live in a big apartment with a garden outside but the garden is communal and has two other dogs in it. He loves to play with them but unfortunately this means that when I take him outside to do his business he’s too excited to run and play with the other dogs and when he comes back inside, sometimes hours later, pees and poops all over the place. I try to take him out after every meal, every morning and before bed but still he goes inside only. I tried encouraging him to pee outside I also tried rewarding him when he goes on newspaper inside but it hasn’t seemed to work..
I’ve tried hitting him (although I’m ashamed to admit it) but it makes him so afraid and sad that it breaks my heart especially because he is a very brave boy so for him to be scared is quite something.
I really don’t know what to do anymore, he pees once or twice on the newspaper but will then go all over the apartment to do the rest of his business. I’ve read soo many sites but I can’t seem to find anything that actually works
Thanks
Dominique
I was surprised to see the poll after i voted. Can’t believe 56% think its ok to sma. I think pinching ears work better. That’s what their mother used to do.
I get and believe what the article is saying. My dog got his nails clipped too high as a puppy and is externely freaked out when they are messed with. Well, I tried to get a paint print mothers days card. It didn’t go well. He bite my hand when I tried to get it done quick. I lost my cool and hit him on the snout twice. He should his teeth and I got in his face to get him to stand down. He bit my nose. I pulled away so he just nicked my nose/mouth. I picked him up and threw him outside. Look I know I provoked him. I was wrong. I let my temper make my decisions not my brain. My question is after you lose your cool and strike a dog, what do you do? I work on my temper. How do I repair the damage down? Just time? I’m not justifying my behavior but what do I do when I have hit my dog? He only bit me out of provocation. I get that.
I’ve got a 7 year old. Mixed. Friendly and active. Runs away when I’m at work and goes to neighbors house. They inadvertently reward him with food and comfort. I always know where he runs to, but when I return and try to retrieve him, he’ll run because I now use moderate corporal punishment. Getting my yard escape proof is going to take some time and money. It’s like he knows better. Spanking, etc is a gray area but I’m being defied regularly here. I vote YES for brief corporal punishment. Other than that we have a close and empathic relationship.
OK, let me get this straight. You use “moderate” corporal punishment, and that spanking is a “gray area but I’m being defied regularly here.” Sounds to me as though corporal punishment isn’t working – and in fact is probably making the situation worse. Further, do you really think your dog can make the connection between you hitting him and his behavior of running over to the neighbor’s house where rewards are waiting?
Hitting a dog or children is never an acceptable form of correction. It may work but won’t bring about the relationship desired with your dog. I have a pitbull that was beaten so much of the time that he is just afraid too much of the time. When I first got him he would sometimes bite me. He wanted to be close to me but it was too much for him. He after about two years now is much better. But you have no idea the amount of patience it took. He gets along with other dogs as long as the play doesn’t get too rough. Then I just get him and say time to go. He still will run away from me if he accedently gets loose. Thank goodmes that has only happened a handful of times and has been returned.
I think he will never completely get over the broken bones and puncture wounds he suffered in the past. Unless you are looking for problems don’t hit a dog. Especially a bully bread dog.
I’m so happy I found this article. I have a Pomeranian and is only 1 year old. I got it from my uncle because he couldn’t take care of him anymore. So we took him home, but the dog start biting my dad and my dad hit him in the head. I really think that it was wrong for my dad to do that. I told him not to do it but my dad is just very stubborn and he kept hitting the dog. I’m thankful that I found this article so that I could tell my dad why hitting a dog is a bad way of training .
My girlfriend has a Pit Bull. I have spanked her for bad behavior and rewarded her for good. The key is to not overdo it and timing. Your tone of voice is also important because it’s not like dogs actually understand English. I also pet her all the time and she knows when my hand is coming towards her, why. When we started dating the dog had a habit of biting. She’s 50lbs at 8 months so it was important to break her from it. Spanking worked in her case. She’s not traumatized, and she gets super excited when I come over. You just have to do it right.
Hi I have a 2 1/2 year old Maltese/oodle breed. And as he grows older he’s becoming as aggressive as anything and we obviously don’t have a clue as to what to do next I spite of all the other options that we’ve tried as we love him and all.
I’m on the verge of giving him up! Though I want to try one more week. With the help of your advice. Let’s say he starts to growl and bites us is best to put him in his crate as punishment for like an hour or so?
Help!
To add.. he is well exercised with 40 or so. I ite of walk everyday?
i have a pitbull dog she is active but bites everything what should be done to control her
I have a 4 month puppy very small but he is destructive wen he doesn’t get attention he is very smart but he bites and has to much energy I love him .Wat can u do to help please .
Exercise the dog more buy him big bones to chew on
I have a small shihpoo and Yorki he is very undisciplined. he bites. He scratches. Basically he is the new house owner. I love my dog but it just breaks me to see the damage he causes to our house. I read online documentaries and books about dogs and how to discipline them. But all of it doesn’t work on my dog. So when he does something bad I can’t do anything to him. We don’t have a cage for time out. I don’t know what to do.
If you have a laundry room in your home with no windows, you can put the dog in there.
Hi! I have dog, (He seems to be about 1 year old, and Chihuahua mixed with another breed), and he has behavioral issues. We need to buy a cage for him, but when he does something bad my mom hits him and yells at him. I feel bad, I kind of try to talk to her but she thinks what she is doing is supposedly supposed to “break him” (Like out of his habits). Its extremely wrong. Basically, she locks him up in our bathroom. He has torn the clothes hamper we put our dirty clothes in and he tore up the cotton balls. My mom thinks that yelling and spanking and locking him up in the bathroom is going to discipline him. Its not. I’m trying to show her a positive and more effective way to discipline him. I suspect he’s been abused before. I just want to positively show him what’s good and what is right. My mom just think that beating and abusing is only going to “break him of his habits”. I feel like I can’t show her a different way. It’s really bothering me and she once told me to spank him and I just lightly tapped him (not hit) and said firmly said “No, no, no! Don’t do that!”. I just want to discipline him the right way. I feel really bad, and I don’t want to damage him long-term. Can you please help me talk to my mom? I’m thinking about writing her a letter, hopefully she listens to me. Please help! D:
There’s a channel on YouTube called “Zak George’s Dog Training rEvolution”. You should buy the book on Amazon.com and mail it to her. Maybe she’ll read the book and watch the videos.
Hi I got a Siberian husky puppy a week ago he made 7 weeks today and these past 2 or 3 days he’s been very aggressive biting people and growling when we play with him or pick him up I beat him when he does it but it doesn’t seem to change anything what should I do ?
Hi I have a 5 yr Australian Shepherd and Chow mix. Meaning I have a very stubborn dog-son! When he was younger my husband would discipline him by spanking him for chewing up items in the house. That corrected it. We normally walk him in the yard to potty on his leash. Lately, I’ve tried to ween him off of his leash and allow him to walk independently and potty on his own. In doing that some days he goes and does what he needs to do and comes back. But we have had several occasions that he takes off running through the neighborhood. When he returns he gets a spanking for running away. Today, I just had that happen and when I spanked him he growled and me and showed all his teeth as if he were going to attack me. What can I do now to correct this behavior, as spanking him doesn’t seem to be effective anymore? Thanks!
yikes! dont do that again! You cannot trust your dog to walk on his or her own. Without running into a squirrel and chasing it, or having something else small and fuzzy catch its eye. If you dont want your dig to run off, keep it leashed and take it for walks. Easy enough. Your dog got used to going out on its own, but doesnt know the difference between in front of the house, or around the neighborhood. So you have to take that choice away from it. And I definitely wouldnt spank your dog again, under any circumstances, especially if hes baring his teeth. There are other ways, like the article says, to make your dog do what you want it to do, and refrain it from doing the opposite. Hope this helped you, good luck.
By spanking your dog when he comes back in telling him it’s not good to come because I will get spanked when I return. You can’t hit your dog for something he has already done, it confuses him and he thinks he’s being disciplined for coming home
Hey so I have a very special case and I would love some help, I adopted a dog about 7 months ago, she was already about 1 year old and apparently she grew up on the street since she didn’t understand even the most basic commands like “come” or even “no”. In the begining she was very shy and loving, but I think we spoiled her and now she thinks she can do whatever she wants. Potty training her was a little bit hard and took a lot of patience and she didn’t stop peeing inside until my sister spanked her right when she was about to pee. She is very smart and she learns tricks and commands easily, but she won’t do ANYTHING unless you show her you have a treat. Lately I’ve been taking her to the park, but when I take her leash off so she can play fetch she runs away like there’s no tomorrow, the other day she ran away and when I finally catched her I spanked her and put her leash back on. Then I went back to a big open area in an attempt to play with her again and naive me took her leash off again and she RAN even faster and further away than before. It took me like 20 minutes to catch her, when I did I just took her home and left her outside for a while, but I know I made the greatest mistake, because when I catched her the first time and I spanked her I made her understand that she shouldnt be catched, and the second time I catched her I punished her too late and it probably did way more bad than good. I tought since spanking her had worked when potty training her it would finally put an end to her running away problem, but it didnt work. Also I’ve tried teaching her a lot of stuff, but she only does it inside and if there’s a treat involved. She knows stay and come perfectly, and i’ve even practiced it with her outside, but lately she runs away in the middle of the training. It’s really frustrating because I know she is smart and she knows the commands she needs to know, but when she’s outside she forgets I even exist and she does what she pleases, when she runs away from me she even teases me. I wish I’d never tries to train her by hitting her because it has made damage, but positive training doesn’t work on her since she’s so clever, and she knows she prefers running away and have fun than a single treat. Any suggestions on what i should do with her? greetings from Mexico
I have a 9 month old puppy, shes i lab & blue heeler mix. She was a little hellion at first. We are having issues with her chewing on things she is not supposed to, such as toilet paper, paper towels, stuffing out her animals, chewed a hole in our mattress, getting in the trash, chewing on socks, underwear anything she knows she not supposed to do. We finally got her potty trained took forever. We spank her when she does wrong, we started to smack her on the nose and she is now starting to snap at us when we punish her, or show her teeth before we even go to punish her. Its my boyfriend & i. My boyfriend works out of state so he is not home as much as i am, she didn’t listen to me at all at first, but since he has been gone she is finally starting to listen to me, but now since hes home, she does not want to listen to him, she is now barking & snapping at him. Can you please help me out??
He is wanting to get rid of her if she bites him. She is a good sweet loving dog, i just want to fix this before it gets bad.
You and your boyfriend should INMEDIATELY stop hitting the dog and start clicker training her asap (not balanced training). Find a clicker trainer in your area and/or learn the basics and do it yourself. I teach my dog with treats, never hit him, never take away his food/toys for no reason, and he has never shown me nor other person or dog any signs of aggression. I used to hit my previous dogs to correct them and I’m deeply sorry for having caused them unnecessary pain. Nothing can undo the harm I caused them.
Good news is for your specific problem it looks like you simply need to work on your recall and positive conditioning with the leash (e.g. teach him leash = food). But you better make sure with a professional clicker trainer.
I have a 9 month puppy that has separation anxiety from me and if I leave the house or room without him, he whines and tears up things like the furniture I’m planning on going to college and I can’t if he has separation anxiety from me is there anything that I can do to help him get use to me leaving so he doesn’t tear up the furniture? I hate punishing him for him and locking him up in the dog carrier, but when I punish him I don’t do it hard to cause him to yelp constantly because it breaks my heart when my mom’s boyfriend does it, I only do it hard enough to get his attention and have him realize that I’m not happy with his behavior and what he did. So is there anything I can do help him he’s half pit bull and half cairn terrier
I also have a young puppy who is a lab pitbull mix. She used to have separation anxiety, but over time she got used to not seeing me. What you need to do is make sure you ignore him!!!! If he starts to whine, don’t go back to her and pet her. This will teach him that he will get what he wants if he does this. You can start by leaving him alone for a while, and if he keeps crying, stay away. When he stops crying, wait a few minutes and come back to him and give him praise. This should work.
We rescued a 6 year old dog who has really bad separation anxiety as well. I suggest crate training him, it helps a lot! Instead of having him feel like his crate is a penalty box, let him feel that his crate is a safe place! maybe buy an extra bed, or stuff a bunch of blankets and his favorite toys in there and feed him his meals in his crate. This will make it easier for him to adapt to it. When we leave the house now, we throw a treat in there or just say House and our dog would go in there. we shut the crate and leave. she would bark maybe the first 2 or 3 minutes, but they will give up after awhile (Especially if they are used to their crates)
Hi i have a pitbul boerboel mix breed dog she is 7months old i got her when she was 3months old. But i found out at the same time i got her that she is to scared i don’t really know whats the problem i suspect the previous owner hit her. Her tail is always between her legs. She knows her name but sometimes she wont come to me when i call her she behaves scared. I don’t know what to do or how to get her to stop this please help
I have a 1.5 year old american eskimo, and he’s SUPER territorial… he’s very aggressive towards my older sister at home, and will run up to her and bare his teeth and bark. I’ve tried to positive reinforcement, but he seems to not be getting it. He will tolerate her until he sees her doing something he doesn’t like. I don’t think hitting him is the answer…Although, my sister does not radiate positive energy towards him, in fact, she clearly dislikes him and he can feel it. Wondering what I can do to fix this? because it’s a little dangerous for her at home with him on a daily basis…. please help!
Is it only your sister? If so I would question why it is only her? What is it about her that makes your dog feel he has to be alpha?
My german sherpherd dog is biting me. I could not controll him. what can I do? and how to train him?
Good morning, my 10 month old Westie can get very aggressive and bite. I can be holding her and loving her on my lap, but if I try to kiss her she will snarl and show her teeth. When I decide to put her down because of this behavior, she gets extremely aggressive and tries to bite me. I may no and she runs into the back of her crate. It I put my hand in the crate she gets vicious. How can I correct this unpleasant behavior. I am presently sending her for behavioral classes, but she is very loving around other people. Please help me. Thank you.
Sounds like you have a strong willed furry pack leader in your house. I’d adopt it out and get an animal you can safely allow to run the show.
hello i have a 2 year old husky i got of a lady about a month ago we had him desexed cause he was trying to mount my other dog Rufus a 2 and a half year old border collie and was fighting if not getting what he wants its been 6 weeks since hes been desexed and hes not mounting but playing roughly and some times lashing out when Rufus or my other dog fluffy 12 yr pure Maltese that eats his food or their food and weave been keeping him tie up and letting him of 2 hours a day and walk him at night and i don`t like keeping him tied up i want him running around but i don`t want my other dogs getting hurt ,the lady we got him of did socialize or train him properly so he gets very excitable around other dogs and when we go on walks and were thinking of getting him a muzzle so he can run around with the other dogs whats your opinion on him and the thank you and i love your dogs there soo adorable
I have a 7 month old shihtzu who I’ve technically helped raised since birth. I never thought I’d be able to convince my husband to get a puppy but I still was really attached to one of the puppies my uncle’s dog had. We had a really great bond up until he turned 4 months old (when my husband agreed to keep him). We brought him home and he loved me so much, he followed me everywhere and clinged on to my every word. I taught him basic commands and some tricks like play dead and raise the roof. He’s a really smart dog and catches onto things quickly, like potty training. Anyway, a month of having him he started to ignore my commands after a few minutes and would bark constantly. I tried to do only positive raining with him but it didn’t work on getting him NOT to do things. I read somewhere to smack them on the nose when they do something bad because they feel pain and won’t want to do that action again. It appeared to work. He responded well, stopped doing those things and was a better dog. I was doing positive and aversive training on him. Then, one day, he snapped back and I smacked him on the nose to which he snapped again, so I spanked him on the butt and he stopped. Then, he started to growl when I spanked him and tried to bite. I realized if he’s responding this way it must not be working like I thought. I also believe he doesn’t trust me anymore. He use to be so happy to see me and wag his tail and follow me everywhere, nothing could distract him from waiting for me when I left a room. Now, he doesn’t wag his tail, he sits and stares at me instead of following me, when I leave a room he doesn’t even acknowledge me. He’s also been ignoring me when I call his name, I see his ears move but he doesn’t look towards me at all. Then at the dog park, oh boy, he doesn’t listen at all, I don’t exist there. He runs off with other people and dogs and doesn’t come when called or do tricks. I’m glad he likes all types of people and dogs (tried to socialize him while he was found so he wouldn’t be a mean dog to strangers and other dogs). He loves my husband SO much and every one else who enters the house. My husband doesn’t do any discipline to him, he leaves that to me because I wanted the dog. I do everything for him, I feed him, take him on walks, to the dog park, give him treats and teach him tricks. My husband literally does nothing with him but pet him sometimes. Is there any way I could get back the bond I had with my dog? I’ve started only doing positive training and trying to only have positive interactions with him. I’ve been doing this for a week and he doesn’t seem to act any differently. Well, he’ll follow me out of a room but not back into a room and he’s been coming to me when I say come here (I’ve been giving him a treat when he’s successfully came over to me). So, I feel like there’s some progress but he still seems wary of me and I’m afraid we won’t have the bond we use to have. Thank you for any help you can give me,
G
This is precisely why people need to stop using aversive training techniques. It’s such a shame that your dog no longer trusts you because it sounds like you were doing a great job of training and socializing him before you started hitting him for misbehavior.
Keep up with the positive reinforcement, give him lots of happy-sounding praise when he gets something right, keep your tone of voice when you give commands very light and sweet (not forceful or angry), make training sessions a game, don’t get discouraged or disappointed when he gets something wrong (he needs to make mistakes in order to learn just like we do), keep training him with positive methods – it helps build up trust and build a positive association with you.
Don’t beat yourself up about it – you took bad (outdated) training advice which is unfortunate but you didn’t deliberately set out to harm your dog. We all make mistakes.
It’s good news that he never bites anyone else or at times other than when he’s being hit / punished – it means it’s just a response to the hitting, not unprovoked aggression (which would be a lot harder, if not impossible to fix).
Your dog doesn’t understand why he was being hit so he probably thinks you are unpredictably violent and has decided to ignore you as a method of avoiding punishment – you need to reassure him that you aren’t violent and that the hitting has stopped. It may take quite some time of using purely positive methods, but I think if you persevere you will get there!
Good luck 🙂
Hi , me and my boyfriend have a German Shepard / Pitbull mix. He’s about 1 yr 3 mo now. He isn’t violent but he is very obnoxious , also he does not Listen to me. He will do whatever my boyfriend tells him but when it comes to me , he will do the opposite. He will poop in the house even after we would take him outside to poop , and he would poop. Then do the same inside. He knows he does wrong because he will run to his cage as soon as he poops. But he knows every time he does wrong and just takes the spankens. I am so lost on how to fix it. We got him at about 8 months old and he was NOT trained properly at all by the previous owners. Any help ?
How I potty trained my dog.
I have a 12 month old border collie who I tried spanking when he would do something wrong, like stealing a jolly rancher from the table. I spanked him and he whipped his head back, lips upraised ready to bite me. It got out of control today and he punctured my hand real good. I’ve been told when bcs do that you flip them on their back and wait for them to exhale…but I’m at a loss because we both get so upset and it doesn’t do anything but make the situation worse. He does great with his meals and he waits patiently till I say “ok” so he can eat, but when it comes to food he steals he won’t drop anything willingly. I’ve tried teaching him but it doesn’t work unless i have food readily available in my hand. I love my dog and I want to learn to treat him the way he deserves to be treated without getting upset and handling the situation wrong
NEVER EVER EVER hit a sensitive breed like a border collie! EVER.
They are extremely easy to upset, and extremely unforgiving and can hold a grudge against another person or animal for YEARS for something very minor – hitting is sure to cause bad blood between you and make your relationship breakdown.
I never once hit my border collie and in return, he never once bit, growled at or threatened me.
He too was terrible at stealing things he found on the floor outside (he never stole inside the house but outside he thought everything was fair game).
Prying the object out of his mouth didn’t work as he would just hold onto it tighter.
His “drop” command that I had taught him to drop his ball for me when we played fetch – didn’t work.
I tried dropping a bunch of keys near him to shock him into dropping it – that didn’t work.
I wasn’t going to hit him because he was a gentle, normally very well behaved dog and he didn’t deserve that kind of treatment from me.
Finally I tried tempting him to drop the stolen item with something yummier (he had a rancid half eaten bone from a broken rubbish bag on the street – I was using a piece of beef jerky to trade for the bone). When I offered him the jerky he instantly dropped the bone and took the proffered treat, I was then able to quickly grab the bone before he’d finished the treat and throw it away. No confrontation necessary, and instead of being angry at me for taking his bone, he wagged his tail and looked hopefully at me for more treats.
After that it became easier to do the “trade” for something he wasn’t supposed to have. I’d say “trade” and offer him something else, and eventually (after a few trades) just say “trade” and he’d drop whatever he had and come to me (looking for a treat).
Try it!
Hi! Okay so I am desperate! I have had my chihuahua terrier mix since he was 3 weeks old. He’s my baby. And now he’s about to turn 2. Most of the time he is the sweetest little dog, unless you are disciplining him. We used to spank him when he would mark his territory in the house and he would bite us. Eventually we stopped doing that because of things we’ve read like this post. And so then we started to smack him on the nose and say ”no toby, don’t potty in the house” but he’d still bite us when we’d smack his nose. And now we’ve done away with hitting completely and just say “bad toby, don’t potty in the house” or whatever and then put him in his cage. But he bites us when we try to grab him to put him in the crate. It’s gotten to the point to where my little itty bitty dog is actually hurting us. Somehow when he bit my husband he just about ripped his fingernail off. My husband is tired of it, but our dog is a part of our family and I REFUSE to get rid of him. I just need help. Please. Any advice? Anything at all.
How I deal with puppy biting.
How I potty train my dog.
However, dog behavior is very context dependent, so each dog and situation are different. Based on what you describe, I would get help from a good professional trainer.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/general-pet-care/behavioral-help-your-pet
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
I have a sweet and silly 1 year old sibe and would love advice on how to “undo” the negative discipline my boyfriend has taught her. He’s very physical with her while playing and especially when disciplining to the point where she will cry/yelp and has now started to seriously bite back, enough to draw blood. I believe it is his fault as she has never shown any aggression towards anyone else and this issue most likely comes for fear or pain inflicted on her. How can I work with both of them to fix the problem before it gets any worse?
I’ve got two Great Danes. Male and female. My male is attached to the hip with my wife and tends to chew on everything in site. The female is the dominant one and never listens to anything we tell her to do. In fact she’ll do the opposite sometimes. And if I try and tell her to do something she’ll start play fighting with me while barking and growling and jumping around like a crazy dog. I have no idea what to do anymore. The male is 2 and the other is 3.
I whooped my dog with a news paper when I first got her because of her barking and trying to bite new people. It took a while but she understands barking and trying to bite results in getting hit. No more problems. I don’t recommend doing this often . I only did it twice in one day and since then she no longer behaves that way. In essence she submitted and understands I am not a threat, but I’m and boss. It may seem cruel but some dogs only obey with force. If your not able to stay calm in this type of situation.I advised you to find a professional
We adopted a Chiweenee about 2 years ago, he is now 4 years old. He is very loving to my husband and I. He is loving to our son, but if our son gets too close to me, our Chiweenee is very protective and gets aggressive and tries to attack and bite. Our Chiweenee barks aggressively and tries to attack and bite anyone who enters our home also.
What you describe sounds like resource guarding behavior. Some dogs may guard food, toys, sleeping area, or they may guard their primary owner, who is a very valued resource indeed. As you describe, this behavior can become dangerous, as it may cause a dog to show aggression towards other members of the family, guests, or other dogs.
When did your dog start showing this behavior? How serious are his “attacks and bites”? Does he do this every time or only sometimes? What is the context when he shows this behavior? What do you do when your dog shows this behavior? How does he respond?
Based on what you describe, it is best and safest to get help from a good professional trainer who understands desensitization and counter-conditioning techniques.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
I help my dog with resource guarding issues by doing two key things-
1. I help him associate people coming towards him (and his guarded-resource), to be a very positive thing. I use desensitization and counter-conditioning techniques to do this. For desensitization training to “work”, it has to be conducted in a structured environment and in a very specific way. When I started doing desensitization exercises with Sephy, I did so under the direction of a good trainer/behaviorist.
In general, I manage my dog’s environment and routine so that I do not expose him to situations that will trigger a bad reactive episode. Reactive episodes will set back our training, cause him to form more negative associations towards other people, and worsen his future behavior. Prevention is always best with my dog.
2. If I am unable to totally prevent, then I make sure to stop my dog’s behavior *before* it escalates and he loses control.
As soon as I notice my dog start to show signs of tension, I redirect by giving him a very simple, pre-trained command (e.g. Sit). If he redirects, then I reward him with my attention and other rewards. If he continues with his reactive behavior, then he may lose access to the room. If he continues to be reactive outside the room, then I say time-out and put him temporarily in a safe time-out area. In this way, my dog learns that-
Sit = Get lots of attention from me and other rewards,
Reactive behavior = Temporarily lose access to me and may temporarily lose his freedom in the house.
I use leashes, gates, and other management equipment to make sure that everyone is always safe.
The article below has more on dogs who guard their owners.
http://www.associationofanimalbehaviorprofessionals.com/green-eyed_monster.html
However, dog behavior is very context dependent, so in cases of aggression it is best to get help from a good professional trainer/behaviorist.
I adopted a 5 years old dog, and the owner before me usually beat up the dog. Is there anything i can do to manage my dog? Because it always angry toward certain action that we do, maybe because it think that we want to hit him. Please, is there any suggestion?
What actions exactly trigger his reactive behavior? What exactly do you mean by “it always angry”? Does he try to bite, growl, air snap, or something else? What does he do, what do you do in response? What kind of a dog is he? Big dog or small dog?
The first thing that I do is try to identify what things are triggering my dog’s behavior and why, e.g. is it from fear? After I identify these things, then I can come up with a good plan for managing my dog and retraining him. Dog behavior is very context dependent, so for dog aggression issues, it is always best and safest to get help from a good professional trainer.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
I help my dog be more comfortable with people by doing desensitization and counter-conditioning training.
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-to-calm-a-fearful-reactive-dog#people
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/desensitization-and-counterconditioning
More on how I change my dog’s behavior.
I have a 7 month old white german shepherd (gigi) who we just got a month ago. We also have a 6 year old bichon poodle who we are sure is pregnant. No matter what gigi will not stop biting on Baileys ears, pulling on her tail, ect. Gigi also will not stop biting people, we spand her on the butt, tell her no, then put her in time out in the laundry room. When she comes out she is fine for about 30 mins then goes back to biting. Any advice?
I deal with my puppy biting by doing 3 things-
1. Bite inhibition training.
2. No-bite conditioning.
3. Structure and impulse control training.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-tips-solutions
More on how I trained my puppy.
More on how I help my dogs get along.
ASPCA article on puppy socialization.
Hey 🙂 Thank-you for this post.
I am from India and I have a 4 month old stray dog that I adopted around 3 months ago. His name is Toby. He is an intelligent dog; he has learnt to poop in a certain designated place, had learnt to sit and lie down. But he hasn’t learnt not to pee in the house, however much we put him outside. I even stopped him during the act and put him outside, and gave him a treat afterwards, but he doesn’t seem to understand.
He recently fractured his leg and went through the surgery, and since that time he has started being very disobedient and stubborn. No amount of shouting or scaring him is helping. We are getting very very frustrated. 🙁
It’ll be kind of you to help me out in this!!
When I started “training” my dog, I also used aversive training. However, as you say, scare tactics did not work well, and only made his behavior worse. I talk about why in the article above.
More on how I potty train my puppy.
More on how I trained my puppy.
More on how dogs learn.
my about 10 month old boxer puppy is mostly potty trained but he doesn’t get how to tell me he has to go potty I don’t understand how to get him to tell me this my other dog acts crazy and starts barking at us wen she has to go but I can’t get him to notify me help plz it feels hopeless
How are you potty training your puppy?
When I potty train my dog, I consistently take her outside through the same door. Some people may install a bell by the door, and then ring the bell before taking their dog outside.
After I repeated this process very consistently, a bunch of times, my puppy associated the door with going outside. Therefore, now when she needs to go, she walks to the same door and waits there. I know that when she does that, she wants or needs to go outside.