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.
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, 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.
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 have an 8 pound Yorkie and he is about a year and a half. I got him from the shelter and i believe he was abused. He’s extremely intelligent and learns commands well but he won’t stop pooping in the house. I will literally take him out and walk him for 20-30 mins and he’ll wait to get in the house to use it. Lately however, I’ve been teaching him the word “potty” and he seems to understand that The only problem is that his pooping schedule is odd. He normally wants to go at 1 or 2 am when I’m obviously asleep. How do I change up his time? I’ve been trying to feed him earlier in the day in hopes of making him go at a reasonable time.
I set up a fixed routine for my dogs which also helps to keep their potty schedule more constant. They are more likely to do their business after physical activity, so I make sure to exercise them well earlier in the day, and have calm time before going to bed. I always let them out for a potty before sleep time.
Here is more on how I potty trained my dogs.
Maybe you could get a pee pad and make him go on that, then put the pad on fake grass , then he knows to poop on ‘grass’, then move that to outside and praise him every time he goes potty on the pads/fake grass. He is probably trying to hide his poop from you because he knows you are sleeping. He is scared of getting in trouble. Reward him peeing outside too. Reward all of the attempts at going potty outside.
I give my a dog a treat after he poops outside, right when he does his business. It keeps him from eating his poo and he will go a small amount just to get his treat…. He quit pooping in the house, plus for months I took him out to walk quite often, now he comes to me when he has to go out.
we use a crate. place him there him before you go to bed, and take him out first thing in the morning to go “potty” He instinctively, will not want to poop in his own crate/area where he sleeps, and he will feel safe there. Then reward him when he goes outside. he will learn a pattern from it over time. We have a shitzhu, small dog, very intelligent, very emotional, hates when you are upset with him, loves to please you. We have also had success using a squirt bottle for the un-necessary barking. works like a charm. We have at times, had to flip him upside down on his back and hold for a moment when he is being aggressive to show him we are the pack leader, and not him. The crate worked like a charm to teach him a poop schedule. However, you have to wake up at the same time on the weekends to be successful. LOL! to them, Saturday is no different than a Tuesday.
hi, my dog always runs out the gate when ever one of us leave and then he comes back 4 hours later even though i take it out 3 times a day! i have tired hitting it and i have tried putting it in the conservatory all night displine room. but it seems too not care about it
This article from the ASPCA has a pretty good list of techniques on how to teach our dog to come when called.
I also teach my dogs door manners.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-escape-why-dogs-run-away#door-manners
With dog training, it is important to time our reward or punishment as close to the target behavior as possible. If we punish a dog when he comes home, he will not know what he is being punished for because the escaping behavior happened a long time ago. Or worse, he may think that he is being punished for coming home.
Here is a bit more on how dogs learn.
Hi, thank you for our advice! I have a question, i have a 4 month old shiba inu who is adorable and brings us a lot of joy, however we have one main issue with him:
When we give him his chewing bone (made of bull skin) and we try and take it back he becomes like a little devil. He screems aggressively, bites really hard and barks. As soon as we manage to get it he calms down all of a sudden so it’s really from one second to the other. He also becomes like this when he vomits as he wants to eat it so if you approach him he goes crazy! Other than that you can put you hand in his bowl while he eats no problem.
He bit us a couple of times and quite hard so I was wondering if you had any advice on how to stop this behaviour.
Thank you,
Hara
Here is a bit more on why dogs get aggressive over food and toys.
I also do bite inhibition training with my dogs to teach them to control the force of their bites when interacting with people.
When my Shiba Inu was young, I put a drag lead on him so that I could more easily control him, and keep him away from stuff he is not supposed to eat, e.g. vomit. I only use a drag lead with a flat collar (*not* an aversive collar) and only when I am around to supervise.
However, dog behavior is very context dependent. For aggression issues, getting help from a professional trainer may be best.
Hi. I have a blue healer mix. And lately he’s been very aggressive towards my other animals and he really doesn’t like my boyfriend because he will randomly snap at him. Idk wat to do?? I wud never hit him but how do I get him to stop????
I do desensitization exercises with my dogs to teach them to be more comfortable around people and other dogs.
People desensitization exercises.
Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises.
However, dog training is very context dependent. In cases of aggression, it is usually best to consult with a professional trainer who can visit with the dog, observe his body language, environment, and routine, before coming up with a plan for retraining.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hello. i have a 2 yr old pit that a friend gave me. and she has been chewing all our furniture andpeeing and pooping on the floor for a yr we smack her but put hot sauce on our furniture and she goes outside for least 4 – 5 hours a day and plays out her energy . Idk Wat else to do
Here are some things that helped me potty train my dog.
Supervision and consistency were both very important while potty training my dog. I set up a consistent routine for my dog, so that his potty routine also becomes more consistent. I make sure to always take him out when he wakes up, and after any rigorous activity. Other times, I supervise him well so that if I see any potty signals, e.g. going to corners, circling, I can take him out right away and reward him very well for doing the right thing.
Hi.
I need help…i have a 4 month old pit bull retriever mix..she constantly bites and her previous owner played rough with her..so she thinks its ok to bite and rough house..shes a good dog..but I want to know what I can do stop her from bitting me..
Thankyou
Here are some things that I do with my dogs to control their biting behavior-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-tips-solutions
I also do bite inhibition training with them, so that they learn to control the force of their bites.
Hello,it was nice to see a picture of your husky pop up when i logged into your site,I need help with something and would love to hear back from you.I have a two and a half year old Siberian Husky named Chi,we had an incident where one of the feral cats in our street was in our backyard and was confronted by our Dog,my partner and i went out to try to save the cat and our dog got hold of it as was intent on killing it,my partner was trying to restrain my dog and he was bitten by her several times,i would say because of the nature of the situation and also he was hurting her in an attempt to free the cat,he is saying that she should be put down and that she is a risk to my Children,she protects the Children and anyone that belongs to our Family,she has in the past 2 months also caught 2 possums that have entered our garden,she is being territorial from what i can see,the feral cats,many of them jump our fence and come and eat her food,scratch her and threaten her,i have had animals all my life and i think this is what you can expect from a Dog,anything that comes into our garden would be very lucky to get back out again,please give me your opinion,i also was bitten several times by the cat in an attempt to save it,but it ended tragically. . .Kind Regards Katrina.
Hello Katrina,
Siberian Huskies usually have high prey drive.
Dogs chase prey based on instinct. Some dog breeds have higher prey drive than others, and some dogs within a breed may also have higher or lower prey drive.
A bit more on Siberian Huskies and cats.
Both my Sibes have high prey drive. They also like digging for earth critters in our backyard, so we have a relatively large area where they can dig. We trained them not to dig in the landscaped area. We also trained them to “Leave-It” and to “Drop” objects willingly. If something unusual is happening in the backyard, I can usually hear it, and then the key is to interrupt my dogs early, before they totally switch over to instinct.
When a dog is already in a highly excited state, and we try to physically restrain him, he may redirect that energy onto us. This is why people get bitten when they try to stop a dog fight. Here is a bit more on redirected aggression and other types of dog aggression.
Here is a UPenn study with the following results –
i have a 5month old belgian malinois,she playfully bites my hand when i try to pet her, fix her collar and when my hand gets too close to her face. how do i make her stop??
Here I some things that I do with my dogs to stop biting-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-tips-solutions
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
I have a 2 year old beagle that I inherited from my parents. He chews everything, eats cat poo out of my kittens litter box and if the cabinet door where the trash is kept is left open her gets in the trash. My kids love him, so I really want to train him so they can keep him. Any hints?
Some things that help with my dogs –
1. I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program. This motivates them to follow house rules and do work for me because it is the best way to getting food and everything else that they want.
2. I walk them every day (1 hour or more) and redirect their energy into positive and structured activities. The more energy they spend on structured activity, the less energy they have to come up with their own unstructured activities.
3. I set up a fixed schedule and a consistent set of rules. In this way, my dogs know exactly what I expect from them, and what they can expect from me in return.
4. I dog-proof my house. Beagles and other scent hounds are bred to seek out smelly things like thrown away food and cat poop. What works best with my dogs is to set them up for success and remove all these tempting ‘treats’ until I know they are well trained.
Here is a bit more on-
How I trained my puppy.
How dogs learn.
Hi there,
I have a 7 year old female golden retriever who is a fantastic dog, except when she gets on my couch! We made the mistake by allowing them on the couch but we recently moved and purchased a new couch and are now trying to keep her off the couch. She is a very smart dog which puzzles me as to why she keeps doing something we NOW don’t want her to do. We know this is a confusing time for her with the move and new rules but she knows she is not supposed to be on the couch. When we leave she gets on it, when we are sleeping she gets on it. I know she is on it because I see her hair and feel the warm spot where she was laying. It’s even getting to the point where she will hear my alarm going off and get off the couch because she knows I am getting up. I don’t know what to do. I am getting so so angry about this. She has her own dog bed and she does lay on it but she prefers the couch. I am not a believer in spanking or hitting an animal but she is getting me so frustrated I find myself wanting to. She absolutely hates lemons so i thought maybe squirting lemon juice in her mouth would be some form of pubishment…..i dont know.
Any advice you can give would be so much appreciated!!!
Thank you!!!!
Yeah, my Husky puppy Lara also likes sleeping on the couch. I think it is because we spend a lot of time on the couch, and it smells a lot like us.
With my Husky Shania, the key to couch training is supervision and consistency. I have to be there every time she tries to get on the couch. I no-mark and then body-block her away. If she gets on the couch, I carry her down right away. Then, I tell her what to do instead, e.g. do a Down by the foot of the couch. If she does this, I reward her very well for it, with attention, food, and a scratch session.
In this way, she never gets rewarded for being on the couch, but she *does* get rewarded very well for lying down next to the couch. During Shania’s training, if I am not able to supervise, I put her in an enclosure so that she cannot get onto the couch on her own.
Dogs are very clever and they are very good at observing us. They will quickly figure out, for example, that they can get on the couch when we are not around or are too busy to supervise. Once they get on the couch, they get rewarded by being able to sleep on a nice surface that smells like their people. This will encourage them to keep repeating the behavior.
With my dogs, I find that the best way to stop an undesirable behavior is through consistency –
1) make sure they never get rewarded for the bad behavior,
2) tell them what to do instead, and then
3) reward them really well for the good behavior.
This will motivate them to repeat the “good” behavior instead of the undesirable one.