Poll: Is hitting your pet the right way to punish it?

[_tinned_magpie_]

One thing that my brother and I have always disagreed on is how to treat our dog. My brother is of the opinion that petting the dog is spoiling her and the best thing to do when she misbehaves is to give her a good beating. To quote a saying of his: 'if they're not shitting themself, you're doing it wrong.'

Personally, I think this is a terrible way to treat an animal, and it's always made me angry. I don't think it works when it comes to training them, and that it gives you a miserable, nervous pet far more likely to bite than any other dog. I don't want a disobedient pet (my method is raised voices and giving her 'time out' in her bed), but raising my hand to her seems like way too much.

It looks like I've won this time around as my parents agree with me, but what do you think, Escapist? How did you train your pets?

 

[oppp7]

I normally try to get mine to listen to me with treats. That seems to work occasionally.
Edit: It probably depends on the situation, as it always does. I mean, if your dog is attacking someone don't hold back anything.

 

[katsumoto03]

Dude, your brother is a real asshole...

No, it's not okay to beat your dog. That's animal abuse and if it's the case then either you need to keep a close eye on your brother or give it to a family that will treat it right.

 

[Marter]

If it disobeys, give it a slight tap. Nothing damaging, but make sure it knows it did something wrong.

It's worked for me.

 

[Colour Scientist]

What's the point of having a pet if all you do is abuse it? I don't see why your brother would even want a dog if petting it is spoiling it.

I trained my dog to do the usual stuff(sit, etc..) by giving him a treat everytime he got it right until eventually he did it without. He's pretty old now though...

 

[Ham_authority95]

My cat begs at the table and annoys the crap out of everyone, so I usually just lock her in my parents' room.

As for training dogs, I've never owned one, so I wouldn't know about that.

 

[vento 231]

That's cruel, you can make a nice dog mean, and a mean dog bite, so treat it with respect, unless it is causing someone/thing else harm, punish it at most with a light spank, certainly not untill it "shits itself".

 

[Stoic raptor]

I heard spraying it with water from a spray bottle works. Not just pets, but little children too.

 

[VanityGirl]

*sigh*

This is one of the most debatable things to ask, it's the "spanking your kids question"

Allow me to enlighten.


My Pop, who's 70 years old, owns a dog. This dog was alway excited to see him and jumped on him. My Pop has trained dogs before but was having trouble keeping this dog from jumping on him. He tried the "crossing your arms" trick and what not, but nothing work. Finally, my Pop used the oldest technique... Anytime the dog jumped on him, he'd lightly pop it on the nose with a wooden spoon.
The dog does not jump on my Pop now and shows no signs of fear of my Pop. (She fears the wooden spoon.) Please note that he doesn't BEAT the dog, but just gives it a tap on the nose.

 

[_tinned_magpie_]

Dude, your brother is a real asshole...

No, it's not okay to beat your dog. That's animal abuse and if it's the case then either you need to keep a close eye on your brother or give it to a family that will treat it right.

Thankfully, I don't think it's going to come to that. My brother only lives with us a couple of months a year, and he's pretty much outvoted on the idea. The rest of the family would tear his head off his shoulders if he tried, so all he's done is threaten.

And yes, he's a royal prick.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Animals learn by operant conditioning (so do humans to an extent but that's not the focus here) so either method will have similar results. If you are training them to do something treats and the witholding of treats work perhaps as a better incentive than physical violence. Animals need to feel loved, and if you beat an animal it won't have that connection.

Also, depending on the type of animal you're training, it's always a good idea to remember that most animals we have domesticated still retain a streak of the wild animal inside them, and pushing it too far, particularly with certain breeds of dog, is a sure way to get your face bit off once it realises it has more strength than you.

This happened to a family friend, he was training a doberman, using violence as his method, and when it suddenly found it could bowl him over with ease it one day tackled into him and he broke his hip pretty badly. The dog got sent to a shelter and he hasn't owned an animal since.

 

[Brandon237]

If it was really naughty, you hold the animal by the scruff of the neck. Violence is not necessary.

But you must still be the one in control, be firm, but don't injure. Don't scream and shout, they just ignore that.

But beating it is wrong, maybe you should do something to persuade your brother that beatings are bad. I am against hitting animals, but children, if he learns his lesson...

 

[WrongSprite]

Anyone who beats an innocent animals deserves to be slowly decapitated.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Maybe one (perhaps two) smack one the nose if it's misbehaving at most, but I don't think beating it is necessary.

 

[_tinned_magpie_]

*sigh*

This is one of the most debatable things to ask, it's the "spanking your kids question"

Allow me to enlighten.


My Pop, who's 70 years old, owns a dog. This dog was alway excited to see him and jumped on him. My Pop has trained dogs before but was having trouble keeping this dog from jumping on him. He tried the "crossing your arms" trick and what not, but nothing work. Finally, my Pop used the oldest technique... Anytime the dog jumped on him, he'd lightly pop it on the nose with a wooden spoon.
The dog does not jump on my Pop now and shows no signs of fear of my Pop. (She fears the wooden spoon.) Please note that he doesn't BEAT the dog, but just gives it a tap on the nose.

That seems reasonable enough to me. I'm open to the idea that a tap can work as a deterrent - my dad used to tap her bottom with a newspaper when he lived with us, so I know it works. She's never held a grudge and still adores him. But my brother is an advocate of making the dog fear you, which is far removed from your dads idea.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

If it's a dog, yes. If it's a cat, NO! IF YOU HIT A CAT YOU'RE A MONSTAH!

 

[LikeTeeth]

The thought of hitting a pet makes me feel ill.

There are better ways.

 

[_tinned_magpie_]

If it was really naughty, you hold the animal by the scruff of the neck. Violence is not necessary.

But you must still be the one in control, be firm, but don't injure. Don't scream and shout, they just ignore that.

But beating it is wrong, maybe you should do something to persuade your brother that beatings are bad. I am against hitting animals, but children, if he learns his lesson...

I wish. He's nineteen and twice my size, and not above going for his siblings if they provoke him.

It's nice to dream about though, when he comes out with crap like this.