My husband and I are currently living with his father until we can get back to a better financial situation. His father is the type that thinks you should just smack a dog until it does what you want. I get extremely upset about this and this mentality is starting to rub off on my husband. We have a Doberman who is not soft but will try to avoid if the person starts to get frustrated or angry. I should probably also mention that we recently found out I am pregnant.

I guess I would just like some help in how to explain that hitting or smacking a dog is not the same as a collar correction and why it is not an appropriate reaction. I have looked but couldn't find a good article about it on here. I need solid evidence as to why it is harmful and not helpful. You would think that the fact that the dog listens to me the best would be enough, but apparently not...

I am really sorry that you're dealing with people abusing your pet. I've made the mistake of abusing pets before and had to live with damaged relationships between the two of us. I stopped that bad behavior and have enjoyed healthy relationships with my pets since.

Solid evidence? This is YOUR dog. Your husband might share the ownership of the dog, but you do not need evidence to convince someone to not hit your dog. This sounds like the two men lack respect for you. It may be time to stand up and demand that they take notice or else.

I swear, if someone didn't stop hitting my dog because I lack 'evidence' someone's going to the hospital for a broken nose.

Do you want people who abuse animals to be role models for your child? Do you want people who abuse animals around your child, period?

And can you have a dog who has been taught over and over not to trust humans and to protect himself from humans around your child?

This is bad on so many levels .....

Neither one of these guys ever heard of a fear-biter?

They want the dog to learn that "a hand or face of a person coming near me is a bad thing; I need to hide or run from people, or bite to protect myself"?

They don’t know that fear is not remotely related to respect?

They never heard of fair training and a dog who trusts the humans around him?



Not to mention, this dog does not belong to your father-in-law. This is YOUR dog. As pointed out already, this is abuse for the dog and complete lack of respect for you.



Real men don’t need to rely on violence. If these men stop and think about this and are honest, they will see the truth of that immediately. We are the ones with the big brains and the power. We are unable to teach a dog without violence?

Violence is not teaching. “Hitting until he does what you want” doesn’t teach anything but fear, anxiety, and mistrust.

And a collar correction (or ANY correction) is never administered “until the dog does what you want.” A collar correction is waaaaay down on the road in training, after the command is taught, after it’s proofed for distraction and venue, after the dog knows the command inside out. ONLY THEN is a well-timed and fair correction ever administered.

That is, IF the correction is needed; but here is something that’s as true today as it was when Max von Stephanitz wrote it in 1923: "Let the trainer examine himself when the dog makes a mistake or does not understand the exercise or fails in obedience and let him ask 'Where am I at fault?' "

http://leerburg.com/corrections.htm

http://www.dogsworldwide.com/drdog/contributions/omds_jr4.htm

http://maxvstephanitz.homestead.com/mvs_training.html

NO ONE ELSE EVER CORRECTS MY DOG. PERIOD.

I'm with the others, NOBODY corrects my dog but me!! My housemate understands this and never does anything with the dogs but lets them out for toilet breaks and back in crates she knows what will happen if I ever found someone abusing my dogs so if she gets visitors when I'm not home the dogs stay in their crates so maybe implement something similar around your house at the moment? you be the only one that gets to interact with the dog, is this possible? Talk to your husband and make him listen, he should be your husband first and respect you to listen to what you want and not take cues from his father on how to raise your dog if you're dead set against it, and hopefully he can talk to his dad. I very nearly had a punch up with my dad for this very same reason!!

In my view a man who hits a dog "until it does what I want" might hit you and he might hit your child.
I might be quietly re-examining these guys you are living with and consider if this situation is safe for you and for your baby.
Protect yourself as well as your dog.

Very nicely put Connie and a big ditto to the rest of her post and to what every one else is saying also.

"Do you want people who abuse animals to be role models for your child? Do you want people who abuse animals around your child, period?"


I hope you can talk to your husband and have him WAKE UP and come to his senses this type of behavior is completely unacceptable.


NO ONE corrects my dog either and if someone ever hit my dog I'd probably be spending some time behind bars.

Totally agree Connie, I can't see what behavior would constitute physical abuse, and to add: I've investigated lots of dog bites, the worst ones were to kids, often their faces from dogs who learned to be defensive around people, and the one person they see as being able to defend themseves against is a kid. In almost all of these bites when you asked how they handled the dog in the home: "oh, when he's bad, we hit him"
the dog usually gets put down, the kid is scarred.
When you live with violence, you learn to react with violence. JMHO.

I was actually in a similar situation when my uncles came to stay with me over Christmas last year.
I have a very nervous Husky who has subtle warning signals. I tell anyone who comes into my home not to touch her, even when she's lying down or seeking attention from any of them. Anyway, one of my uncles just didn't get this and started patting her when she was lying on her sign. She started getting the whale eye and I told him to stop or she'll bite. His response was along the lines of, 'if she bites I'll just beat her, she won't do it again.'
My response - if you touch her again, even if it's just for a pat, then I'll castrate you.
He laughed, but stopped what he was doing. I've tried explaining to him that she's nervous, and her aggression is just a symptom of that....
Anyway, needless to say that when he comes to visit, my dog gets crated.

For me, "smacking" a dog tells me that I've past my control threshold and reached my Howdy Doody on crack mentality as the wife used to call it.
Someone else "smacking" one of my dogs tells me that person is in deep $#!+ from the dog, me or both.

Often times "will try to avoid" can be the beginnings of hand shyness.

aside from all the good points and examples the other posters have provided , you tell those idiots if / when they ever see wolves in the wild punching each other ( until they stop doing whatever ), then it will be ok in your house .


. . . it just ain't ever going to happen .



yer dog , yer rules . hope things work out , good luck with the baby .