Do you smack your dog?

Question

Like not beat him or throw him to the ground, just a smack on the nose or something.

I do and I find it helps him listen to me, especially when he's so giddy and playing rough.

But I've noticed that some people are shocked at this though... I can understand if i beat him up and actually injured him or marked him or something, but I think a smack on the nose is fine.

What's your opinion?

(I dont use this as my form of training btw, and people saying i'm being cruel and horrible etc, will be ignored. I'm just looking for opinions...)

Answer 1

It is not necessary to smack your dog.

You do not have control over him if you need to do this.  

Answer 2

i think its fine to gently smack your dog so he knows its wrong but hitting him hard to the ground is, in my opinion terrible.  

Answer 3

I NEVER smack my dog...it will only make him afraid of me, and that's not the goal of discipline

Answer 4

I agree with you...we use positive training and never hit our dogs as such..... but some times they get a light smack on the nose if they are way out of line....

Answer 5

It's no more necessary than it was for your mother to smack you in the face. Instead, grab the dog's snout with the tips of your fingers to mimic a wolf pack-leader holding a pup's snout with her mouth (not your nails!). While holding the snout, insist that the dog look at you and tell him NO, or STOP. I think that's more effective than smacking.

Alternatively, if dog is overly rambunctuous, roll him (don't pick him up), roll him onto his back and hold him there for a few moments. This is a pack-leader's gesture of dominance.

Answer 6

i just give my dog a tap on the head and she listens to anything i say now so it really works i told somebody and they did it to all there dogs and they all listen to here now so i guess u could say it works to give them a tap on the nose and anybody whose saying ur cruel to animals while ur really not u r just 1% cause the way u hit him/her may have felt alot harder to him/her other wise 99% they will listen to u alot better and well i hope this helped u sorry if it didnt i tried my best and sorry i typed so much and heres a picture of my dog this will just look a little diffrent not much though just go here >   http://www.flickr.com/photos/20638544@N0...      

Answer 7

Nope, I wouldn't smack a dog on the nose every. You can seriously injure a dog by smacking them on the nose. Dogs don't learn by being hit, they learn thru proper training. I think hitting them on the nose is abuse.  

Answer 8

There are much kinder ways to get your dogs attention.

No I would never hit my dogs.

And yes you are cruel.

Answer 9

In a world where dogs are starved, bred to death, chained to poles in the backyard and beaten....no, I don't feel a "tap on the nose" amounts to cruelty.  

But, I do feel there are other, perhaps more effective ways to train a dog, without using your hands to inflict punishment.  

A true "alpha wolf" in a wild pack rarely resorts to physical aggression.  Baring of the teeth and dominant body language are usually enough to elicit respect among lesser wolves.  Physical force is avoided by an Alpha, used only when a lesser wolf is guilty of a major transgression, such as actively challenging an alpha's status.  

Conversely, high-ranking "wannabe" Alphas are often marked by frequent displays of excessive force towards other low-ranking wolves.  A true Alpha rarely needs to display his power, rarely needs to make forceful physical contact with another wolf, whereas higher ranking wolves who can't quite be Alpha, feel the need to display physical power quite frequently.  Other wolves definitely know the difference.  

Getting ultimate respect from your dog, and getting that dog to unquestioningly view you as Alpha takes a good deal of consistent effort.  It can be harder depending on how dominant and assertive your dog is, in the first place.  But early training, using the NILIF method, and establishing a clear, fair set of "rules" from the get-go usually does the trick.

Once a dog totally regards his owner as Alpha, all that should be required to get his attention and correct any "mild" infraction is a stern "NO!" or "SETTLE DOWN"....coupled with prolonged eye contact and dominant body language.  (This is the equivalent of the alpha wolf's body language and snarling/teeth baring).  Any further force is really unnecessary, once you have established this kind of rapport with your dog.

Again, I'm not saying what you're doing is necessarily "cruel" or even that it won't work.  However it is always a good idea to be aware of other training methods, and ways to correct a dog without being physical.  What you're doing might NOT work with another dog you may own in the fututre.  Some temperament types and/or breeds of dog don't react well to this.  A very dominant type of dog might view you as a "wannabe Alpha" and one day decide to challenge your leadership if you consistenly feel the need to use your hands for punishment.  

I had to learn a whole new way of thinking about discipline when I got my breed (Basenji), because they don't react to it the way many other dogs do.  They will shut down with physical punishment and will even bite back if they feel unnecessarily threatened.  

Answer 10

yeah when he is not doin wrong you got to smack him to make him know that what he just did is not good

Answer 11

NO!

Answer 12

I do not believe that smacking a dog does anything except make him afraid of you.  If you smack him because he is giddy and playing too rough , he may just associate the smack with playing and just stop playing.  Positive reinforcement is a much better way to get things done

Answer 13

Everyone has a different opinion on punishment.

Some people spank their kids..some people are offended by it.

As long as you are not abusing your dog, IN MY OPINION,there is nothing wrong with it.

I tap my dog's nose if he gets frisky with my other dogs.Sometimes me raising my hand up halts his bad behavior.

Ok people...look at it this way.What if your kid was walking away from you in a crowded place? you would grab his arm right? does that mean that is abuse? NO.

Get over yourselves.She is not talking about ABUSING the dog.There is a difference between tapping the dog on the nose (which would not even damage or hurt the dog no more than the tap) and just plain smacking the dog upside the head.

And guess what? TRAINED dogs act up too.They are not perfect.No person and no dog is perfect.

Answer 14

No, don't smack either one. I have been frustrated enough to want to, but don't. I often use a spray bottle with water in it to get my point across,if they don't listen to verbal commands.Hitting your dog can make them hand shy and not trust you.

Answer 15

No, i NEVER hit any of my dogs. That is the worst thing you could do.  Learn to train your dog properly. I believe all hitting does is make your dog afraid of hand movement and of you. Would you like to be hit when you did something wrong? i didn't think so.

EDIT: its unbelieveable how many people still believe in hitting there dogs.

Answer 16

Okay I'm going to sound like a sexist a*****e here,but 99.99 % of women DON'T know how to raise dogs.There,I said it.(i'm not refering to the person asking the question,I'm just naming the people who think it's cruel to hit a dog) My girlfriend had a 2 year old terrier mutt who used to tear the house apart and basically get away with everything,and she thought "aww I have to show the puppy love and kindness and it will listen to me!"

WRONG.Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.

Soon as i started dating her,I WAS NOT going to live with that dog.I asked tonnes of other men/women on how to train a dog.

What I have concluded?

Women: Give it a stern NO and give it lots of treats.Pick it up and love it

Men: get a crate,take it for walks,show it who is boss.If it bites you give it a tap on the nose. etc.

after getting a crate,not letting the dog sleep on the couch or out bed,and the most i've ever Hit the dog was tap it when it bit at me or other people,we now have a new dog who doesn't act up.

If i acted up as a kid,i got a smack on the bottom.the old school hard-assed way.the way it should be.

treat the dog the same,but not a hard smack on the bottom,a light tap on the nose.

*waits for thumbs down*

Answer 17

its ok he needs to listen too you your his owner but be a little gentle er

Answer 18

i just salpped my pitbull and tossed him over and told him to go lay down.hes chewed my couch cushion 3 days in a row.everytime i come home and yell at him and tell him no he learns nothing.now my 500 dollar love seat needs a new cushion and i doubt when i leave tomorrow he will stop chewing the cushion in to pieces?so tell me at the end of the day wtf am i suppossed to do?i dont believe in hitting my dog he is well trained actually.but i have no clue what to do when hes chewing my furniture into the garbage can?and trust me he has tons of other toys and things to chew so dont give me ignorant no brainer suggestions.

Answer 19

Yes of course, as long as you don't leave a mark, make it cry or physically or mentally harm it, it's ok we do have to reinforce discipline to our canine friends.

Answer 20

Don't listen to the people that say that's bad. I have a yorkie and when he behaves bad we hit him(not to hard of course). Just when your dog does something you don't like hit him on his hind legs or the back side and say NO strictly It helped when my dog does something bad. What type of dog do you have?

Answer 21

I poke my puppy on top of her nose (the muzzle? Bridge?) with one finger if she's being too mouthy with me. It's more like "Hey, you know better." and it's never harder than if I were to tap someone on the shoulder if I was trying to get their attention. If I'm trying to get her attention however and calling her name doesn't work, I try stomping my feet, clapping my hands, snapping my finger, and if all else fails, I blow in her ear quickly.

Answer 22

NO WAY!!! I would never do that. I treat my dog with complete respect. There's other ways to train a dog than to hit or abused him/her any way. Plus hitting dog just makes things worse and it causes aggression

xx

Answer 23

never hit your dog!!!!! a light tap to correct unwanted behavior is fine but never ever hit your dog

Answer 24

No. Why would I smack my dog when I can make our lives easier by properly training her?

If she is misbehaving or is not responding to me then it's something that *I* am doing wrong and *I* need to fix things (because I am "pack leader"), either by more one-on-one training or by going to a professional dog trainer. All bad behavior can be solved by proper training and I rather not take the lazy way out and start smacking my dog to get her attention - I want her to pay attention to me by the tone of my voice, not by me becoming physical.

I think most of you people who enjoy taking the easy way out need to read up on your dog behavior and training.

Edit: Exactly  - wild dogs will assume dominating POSTURES, they rarely get physical when they want other members of its pack to show submission. There are a thousand and one ways to teach your dog to be submissive by training, posture, and voice. You are just plain lazy.