This is a simple post, and it’s simply titled “dont’t hit your dog! – ever”. I don’t think many people could get that confused with anything do you? Well, you’d be surprised at how many idiots out there still do hit their animals…
There is absolutely no reason on earth why you would need to hit your dog. If you refer to an earlier post about when i said you have to make yourself the alpha male of the pack in order to get your dog(s) to follow you, you can briefly think now about the amount of times you have actually seen another wolf attack a member of its own pack. This is very rare, and only really occurs when there is a serious conflict or they are playing; it is never done to issue commands and assert themselves.
I saw someone walking their dog the other day on a piece of barren ground with not too many people around. The dog had been let off the lead and the owner has allowed the dog to run off quite a way in front. When the owner decided to turn back he decided to shout the dog to come back. the dog did not listen and continued to do what it wanted. The owner became very angry and continued to scream quite hysterically at the dog, and it made no difference at all. When the dog decided to come back it received a huge smack on the backside that made it whimper. Now answer me this. Would you come back to someone calling you if when you arrived you were to get a massive smack? No, i wouldn’t either.
The owner clearly didn’t have control of the dog anyway, but despite that, what he should have done when his dog returned was to praise it and give it lots of attention, and perhaps even a treat.
Reward good behaviour, and never use aggression and violence to deal with bad.
Tags: discipline, Puppy Training, training dogs