Is swatting a pet like a dog or your stinky filthy disgusting cats immoral?

[hobbsyoyo]

Sorry about the title, I couldn't help it.

But seriously, is it wrong to swat your pets to discipline them?

My dog decided to bark out with her high-pitched ear-murdering bark (you know what I'm talking about if you have a dog) last night. Typically, I have sonic zappers that blast ultrasound at her when she barks but they had dead batteries and at 2 in the morning I'm not going to replace them. So I swatted her along with a 'shut up' command.

This worked for about 5 minutes (long enough for me to fall back asleep of course) but then she did it again. This time I swatted her and I know I put some anger into it and I regret that. It's never good in my opinion to discipline an animal through swatting with anger.

But as I contemplated my stinging hand and how I overdid it, I wondered, is it always immoral to swat an animal?

Are there better ways to discipline animals?

I don't really think there always is. For sure, when you have time you can work with them and train them, but there will always be slip-ups on their part and in the moment sometimes the only way you have to discipline them is with your hand.

What do you all think?

 

[useless]

i agre wit your title hobbs, cats lick they butt and crap.

Although becareful with dogs, they are cool and should be treated with decency, befitting it's high status.

 

[AlpsStranger]

I've smacked my dog before when she tried to charge the front door and run out into traffic ( she's big and strong enough to potentially get through a storm door. ) I feel a lot less guilty about stinging her a little than I would about letting her think it was okay to run out and get hit by a car.

 

[MobBoss]

You should never do it out of anger, then you just have a dog that will do it, then just run from you.

Instead of hitting them, we use a combination of positive feedback (treats) with a clicker; and time out in a kennel for really bad behavior (continually disobeying a 'no' or 'leave it' command).

Only time you should swat them (lightly) is when they nip at you. Reason, thats exactly what another puppy would do if nipped. Its basically learning if they nip, they get nipped back, so social good manners...and when they stop, give them a treat to reward positive behavior.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Do you find the kenneling thing works? My concern is that they aren't smart enough to make a connection between their actions and the punishment. Certainly some dogs really are too dumb to make this connection in my opinion but I could be wrong. What kind of dog do you have.

Yeah, hitting her out of anger is really bad and I felt bad for it. I try to avoid hitting her at all but as I said without other tools for the job such as the sonic zapper I don't know what else to do. And I do smack her and any other dog that so much as bares their teeth at me. I do not tolerate aggression of any kind.

 

[ace99]

If you can hit you kid you can hit your dog or cat. Same principle applies.

"Don't touch the stove!" *Whack*

"Stop barking!" *Whack*

 

[warpus]

Dogs you should never have to hit. They are intelligent enough for you to train them to do whatever it is that they're doing that you want to hit them for.

Cats are dumb though, but.. I still wouldn't hit one.

 

[AlpsStranger]

I solve the cat problem by not owning one of the stupid, half-feral things

 

[Borachio]

Keeping any animal is a real responsibility, imo. I know it's not easy to train a dog but I don't believe it's necessary to hit them under any circumstances. Ask a dog whisperer, or read the manual. Same as with a child.

As for a cat, I can't see swatting them is going to do anything.

 

[Phrossack]

There's no real point in punishing dogs. They rarely understand why they're being punished, and will just feel fear and confusion. But I'm lucky to have a dog who almost never misbehaves, and when she occasionally gets into a trash can, all we have to do is look at her and ask her what she did, and she goes down, groveling and licking our shoes, before we forgive her about three seconds later and she licks us with joy and relief.

God, I love dogs.

 

[MobBoss]

Do you find the kenneling thing works? My concern is that they aren't smart enough to make a connection between their actions and the punishment. Certainly some dogs really are too dumb to make this connection in my opinion but I could be wrong. What kind of dog do you have.

It works, but you have to act quick to associated with the behavior. Wait too long, and you lose the chance.

We have a 4+ month old Chesapeak Bay Retriver/Lab mix female and yes, she is pretty darn smart so thats definitely an advantage there. But she can certainly be willful.

The other thing that helps is to make sure your dog is getting the amount of exercise it needs. I mean our pet is soooo much easier to handle when we excercise her consistently. We dont and she gets all kinds of antsy.

Yeah, hitting her out of anger is really bad and I felt bad for it. I try to avoid hitting her at all but as I said without other tools for the job such as the sonic zapper I don't know what else to do. And I do smack her and any other dog that so much as bares their teeth at me. I do not tolerate aggression of any kind.

The problem with that is agression can just create more agression. What happens if your dog gets aggresive with someone else?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Keeping any animal is a real responsibility, imo. I know it's not easy to train a dog but I don't believe it's necessary to hit them under any circumstances. Ask a dog whisperer, or read the manual. Same as with a child.

As for a cat, I can't see swatting them is going to do anything.

Dogs you should never have to hit. They are intelligent enough for you to train them to do whatever it is that they're doing that you want to hit them for.

Cats are dumb though, but.. I still wouldn't hit one.

Do you folks own dogs? How many different breeds have you had? They aren't all the same and some really are quite dumb and some have uncontrollable compulsions. Chihuahuas tend to pee everywhere and certain breeds of dogs (mini scnauzers) tend to bark a whole lot. Granted you can't stop a true compulsion and so hitting the dog over it is pointless. At the same time, sometimes negative reinforcement can change their behavior temporarily but needs to be constantly reinforced or they forget.

What I'm trying to say in a rambling way is you can't simply train some dogs and some breeds to do or not do some things. You just can't.

As for hitting the dog, I do wish I had better tools. I even feel like the sonic blaster is only marginally better than swatting.

It works, but you have to act quick to associated with the behavior. Wait too long, and you lose the chance.

OK. I will have to get a kennel and try it with my dog but she isn't smart and I'm afraid it won't take. Worth a shot though.

The other thing that helps is to make sure your dog is getting the amount of exercise it needs. I mean our pet is soooo much easier to handle when we excercise her consistently. We dont and she gets all kinds of antsy.

Oh yeah for sure. My dog gets regular walks (almost daily for an hour). Unfortunately, her barking has never been affected by how tired she is and it's her only real discipline issue.

The problem with that is agression can just create more agression. What happens if your dog gets aggresive with someone else?

I should have been clearer, when she does this, I don't act to be aggressive, I act to be very firm with her. I do swat her but I also I grab her by the neck and push her head to the ground and don't let up until she submits. There is a difference (at least in my mind) between that and just smacking her. Thankfully, she's never had a problem with being aggressive towards people. She doesn't get along too well with most dogs but she gets along very well with every person she's ever met. She thinks everyone wants to be her best friend - so I haven't had to discipline her for baring her teeth more than a couple of times.

 

[ace99]

The problem with that is agression can just create more agression. What happens if your dog gets aggresive with someone else?

Hit harder.

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

 

[warpus]

Keeping any animal is a real responsibility, imo. I know it's not easy to train a dog but I don't believe it's necessary to hit them under any circumstances. Ask a dog whisperer, or read the manual. Same as with a child.

As for a cat, I can't see swatting them is going to do anything.

I have a friend who trains dogs for a living. She would be absolutely livid if she found out that dogs were being hit.

If you train them properly, you will never have to do that. The downside is that it takes a lot of effort and you need to know how to do it properly in the first place, so you have to educate yourself.

Not to criticize anyone in the thread, but.. yeah, if you get a pet, do your due diligence! If it's a dog, start training it as soon as possible.

 

[Borachio]

The other thing that helps is to make sure your dog is getting the amount of exercise it needs. I mean our pet is soooo much easier to handle when we excercise her consistently. We dont and she gets all kinds of antsy.

I think this is so true. Dogs need loads of exercise. Much, much more than people realize.

 

[squadbroken]

If your hand is stinging afterwards that's not a "swat".

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I also feel like a bad person now but I really don't know what else to do.

If your hand is stinging afterwards that's not a "swat".

I acknowledged as much. Do keep up.

 

[Akka]

My dog decided to bark out with her high-pitched ear-murdering bark (you know what I'm talking about if you have a dog) last night.

This particular case makes any violent action toward the dog acceptable and moral.

(and we can know what you're talking about not just if we have a dog, but if anyone in a 100m radius has one too)

Edit : If you want to punish a dog, the best way is to grab it by the neck and shake it. You don't even need to do it harshly, the very move means "bad dog" in dog language.
And don't worry, it's not because you are angry once or twice that the dog will become traumatized for life, just like your kid won't hate you just because you slapped him.

 

[Borachio]

What causes the high-pitched ear-murdering bark? Do you mean the howling at the moon one?

 

[AlpsStranger]

No, it's distinct and my dog does it too. You'll recognize it because cracks will form in your skull around both of your temples.

>100 LB Female dogs are absolute pros at it.