Friend hit her dog, what should I do?

Question

my friend woke to find her dog had chewed up her kitchen. She then told me the dog got really punished and im not talking a smack on the nose. This has discusted me and i dont know how to carry on a friendship with someone who could do this. she was my best friend and usually such a caring person, I am repulsed that a friend could do this to a animal. ( the dog is ok ) but i know it could not have been, It makes me cry, especially as ive only ever seen her show love to the dog. Please dont think this is something that happends all the time, even tho i know once is too many time. could u carry on a friendship as i havent spoken to her since and not sure if i can again

Answer 1

Well, if your friend beat the dog, and that is what it sounds like, this is wrong.  The dog didn't know what he did was wrong, and by beating him after the fact, he wouldn't know what he was getting hit for.

If you haven't done this already, talk to your friend, write a letter or email, somehow communicate how you feel.  Explain that beating the dog was wrong, and is considered animal abuse by the law.  Also explain that you can't be friends with someone who thinks its okay to beat animals. and that by beating the dog, you are going to make the dog fearful, and he might bite out of being scared.  Your friend deserves to know why you don't talk to her anymore.  And the dog deserves a better person to take care of him.  

And no, the dog is NOT okay.  He now knows that his person can beat him anytime, for no reason that he can think of.  He will always have this thought in the back of his mind.    

Answer 2

i wouldnt talk to her again because i love dogs and if she hurt one i woudnt be her friend anymore

Answer 3

Unless your friend beat the dog, I don't think it's that bad...don't over react to it!  Beating a dog is cruel, but not a "bop" on the nose or slap on the butt.

Answer 4

Well, it depends on what exactly she did. You would need to elaborate more on that. "Really punished" doesn't tell us anything. If she got carried away and smacked it hard on the butt...not that bad. If she beat it or likewise abused it, that IS a problem.

I have little tolerance for anyone who abuses either children or animals. If it was an isolated incident and wasn't all that serious, you can maybe talk to her about what to do as to NOT put HERSELF in that situation again. Perhaps recommend to her that she crate the dog.

If it was a serious case of injuring or abusing the dog, I would inform animal control and cut all ties with her.

Answer 5

If she's hit the dog, and the dog's OK, I think you're seriously over reacting. You've obviously not seen the way that working dogs are trained in the farming & hunting world!

I live in a farming area, and the normal method for unwanted puppies & kittens is still shooting, drowning or clubbing them to death. Sick, but it goes on.

Smacking a dog when naughty isn't exactly in the same league.

Answer 6

How your friend takes care of her dog is her business. I spank my little min. pin sometimes because just telling her "no" doesn't stop her from doing things. If your friend's dog can't be trusted to roam free in the house at night you should suggest having your friend put her in a crate when she's not with the dog to prevent that type of thing from happening. My dog is crated at night because I know she could get into trouble if she wasn't.  

Answer 7

I think a best way to carry on a friendship with her is to try to talk about things and make sure that she feels remorse for what she's done.  

There is no excuse for that, no matter what the dog did.  Unless you are being attacked, I believe that for no reason should you hit a dog.  

It really is a personal decision whether you'll be able to forgive her for what she's done.  This is a terrible offense.  To take a good look at how someone treats other people, you should always look at how they treat their pets.  (It is not how someone acts towards their equals, but their helpless inferiors.)

I would need some time away from this particular friend.  Maybe you should just give it a few months to see if she comes to you with an apology and feels extremely, truly sorry for what she's done.  

I feel really angry about things like this, too, but you will never know until the apology happens whether you are ready to accept it.  

The longer you ignore her, the sooner she will figure out what it is that offended you so much.  

If she doesn't apologize and says it's within her rights to hit her own dog, I would never speak to her again.  

If she apologizes, then it's your decision on whether or not you forgive her.  

Just wait for that moment, and everything will work out itself.  

I know it's hard to be patient in the midst of such an injustice, trust me, but best of luck, and I'm glad the dog wasn't hurt.

Answer 8

as a aspca supporter and a future veterinarian i would let her kno what she did was wrong. dogs are not as strong as what people may think and it one hit could severley hurt a dog

Answer 9

Discuss with her on how you thought her dog should be punished, and maybe she'll see that there are other options compared to really hurting the dog.

and if this was something that happened overnight, then the dog might not understand why its getting punished in the morning! She'll have to just fix everything up and keep an eye on her dog.

Maybe you should advise her to find a training book for the dog? Or some kind of dog book?

Best of luck!

Answer 10

If you didn't actually see her hit the dog, is it possible she's exaggerating? How does the dog respond to her? I've used the occassional tap on the nose/behind with a newspaper to train a puppy. Could she just mean that? I think you need to tell your friend how you feel, and try and get to the bottom of exactly what happened. If she has hurt the dog, then you have to decide what matters most, your friendship or your principles. Personally, I think you can always get new friends, but principl,es are alot harder to recover.

Answer 11

(thats rubbish lisa, how wud u know if a dog can feel pain or not, anyway of course they do, i hope you dont have any animals )

i think you shud talk to ur friend about this, if she falls out with you, thats up to her really, but hopefully she'll feel bad for what shes done now shes had time to think also. if she doesnt like what you have to say, then i guess that'll be ur mind made up. good luck xx

Answer 12

no i don't think i could be friends after knowing that, but only you can try and keep or walk away from a friendship.

you can tell your friend how shocked and upset it made you?

also tell her.......how would she explain the injury's to a vet should it come to that? and remind her hitting or smacking a dog on its head can kill it!

her dog wont respect her or think of her as a leader, just a predator or someone to be very fearful of, once this happens, she may never win its trust ever again, and the dog will live in fear for the rest of its life, that's abuse .

not nice.

Answer 13

I think that you are over reacting.

Have you ever gone out and bought a Kitchen?? do you know how much they cost??. What would your reaction be if I came to your house ans started to destroy it???

What I am saying here is look at the whole picture, I do not condone violence of any sort Human or Animal but there are occasions when a person or an Animal goes to far.

Maybe if she has a chewer she should get a crate but I would suggest getting over yourself on this, it is a bit drama queenish.  

Answer 14

Lisa you might think a dog doesnt feel pain, which you dont know. But you do know that if a dog is hit by someone he loves he will feel emotional pain. That dog will now fustrate her even more now, tell her dogs dont learn by punishment thats how it causes aggression. They learn by correction. Tell her how you feel, be straight up

Answer 15

I don't get it, what did she exactly do to the dog??

Answer 16

To be honest it doesnt really hurt dogs when you hit them. They are stronger than they look.

Answer 17

(Lisa Does it hurt when some one hits you ... YES it Does so what make you think it doesn't hurt the dog )

I would talk to you friend first and see what she says about the hitting, If she thinks it is Ok to hit a animal then I would say you should not be friends with her and you should call animal services on her.  If you shouldn't hit a child then you should hit a animal.  

Answer 18

well the dog is ok and that is the main thing.why did she get a dog if she was not propped for something like that.

Answer 19

Your so called friend has no idea on how to treat her Dog ! A Dog should NEVER be punished as the Dog did not know that it was doing wrong (in your so called friend's eyes !) Your friend needs to seek the Advice of a Pet Behaviourist ! Her Vet should have the necessary Contact Details ! Battersea Dogs & Cats Home operate a Behaviour Advice Line Tel: [phone] from 12-00 p.m. to 5-00 p.m. Monday to Friday (Calls cost 25p per min) or email [e-mail] !

If you think that the Dog is in (imminent) Danger then you can call the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) on their RSPCA Cruelty Line Tel: [phone] !

Answer 20

Hmmmm... there are a number of issues here.

The first is your friendship... sounds like it needs some repair and that your friend needs some help with a few things...

The first step should be a discussion to let your friend know how you feel. She should know that you do not agree with what she has done and she should be told why. Sounds like she needs to be reminded about the responsibilities of proper pet care and being humane.

Sounds like she may be frustrated and not know much about dog training... so this would be the next step... to get some good videos from a library, go online to find help with training and to also go to training classes so that both she and her dog will understand how to exist together peacefully.

Here is an article which may help to start the conversation...

Good luck with this. Hope your friend turns this around in a positive way.

Answer 21

if a friend of mine did that to their dog i would find it really hard to speak to them again. apart from the fact that a dog is part of the family(i beleive so anyway) its very wrong to inflict pain on a poor defenceless animal. if this is out of character for you friend then there may be some under lying reason that make need to be resolved. i think you should talk to her and find out wats going on. if theres no explanation for her behaviour then you may have to reconsider who this person is and you may have not known her as well as you thought good luck

Answer 22

well, the dog is fine..no matter who you ask...you will ALWAYS get "hit the dog" as a answer...sorry  

Answer 23

ask her if she thinks its right what she did if she says no even tho its cruel you should 4give her she was probs so mad she felt violence coming on ive never hurt anyone or anything but i get that all the time

Answer 24

Get the story straight first. Ask her what actually happened and then try to find out from her how hard she actually hit the dog. If you decide not to be talk to her when she actually only shouted at the dog she might be offended. Nothing should be treated that way and if she actually hit the dog hard then i wouldnt talk to her anymore : )

FREE HUGS EVERYONE x*x

Answer 25

it does not hurt a dog when people hit them i am not say that what your friend done was right though there are other ways of making a dog see that it has done wrong. however i think you should tell your friend your views and take it from there. i would not throw away a friendship.

Answer 26

Ugh I hate people who do this!

I was at a friends house once and he hit his dog like 4 times quite hard when we got home for chewing something up and

1. I truly believe a tap or once is a correction to stop the behaviour,

Multiple times like that is someone just enraged and beating an animal to release their anger at a situation.

2. There is no point disciplining an animal well after they have done something, they don't really understand wtf they are getting punished for, unless they are doing it. They live in the moment.

And to the people that say hitting dogs and other animals can't feel it that much I still think thats a really wrong sort of a way to deal with being angry.

Anyway I was mortified and told my friend what I thought and we weren't really friends anymore as he was offended ..worse still he was a dog groomer.  

Answer 27

The problem is, if you don't punish a dog exactly when it does something naughty then it doesn't know what on earth it has done.  I suggest you talk to your friend and tell her you're disappointed and maybe she should be looking at why her dog destroyed the kitchen if it doesn't normally do it rather than battering it for something it will not realise it is being battered for.

Answer 28

What a caring person you are, Please ignore the inbreeds who say  its  ok to hit the dog ,"their tougher than you think"!!!!!.those people need to visit a few rescues were they see dogs so traumatised and timid through that type of responce.maybe then they will change their minds,But as for your "friend" Id have to tell her .,you were moving on .as to treat an animal with a beating is not acceptable. Its most probably the 1st time YOU have seen it happen .but it doesn't mean its the 1st time it has happened.

The poor dog would not be aware why it was getting hit, If as you say your friend woke to find the kitchen chewed .then its probably happened hours before she got up,and the dogs not tying in the kitchen with the hitting, unless the dogs  caught in the act and TOLD OFF .then its not going to know why all of a sudden she walks up to it and smackes it,

Id have a word with your friend and  tell her .she doesn't do it again or you report her, Keep a note of the date so you have evidence .

Answer 29

WOW! ummmm  just dont say anything to anyone about and give my prayers to her and her dog..(thats just mean)(next michael vick)...lol

but umm jsut dont tell anyone about it really

and go up to her and ask what happened to her dog if she lye about it tell ehr you saw it and the you dont want to see herdo anything that druel or evev jsut plain cruel to that dog again cause she could get rested for doing that

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