Hitting pets

[Jaed]

Why would there be a need to hit a child or a pet? Both respond to voice/body language. A time-out, restrictions, thats all it should take. My dogs do not leave the yard, and are extremely well behaved without ever being hit. My child is respectful, smart, friendly, and has rarely been in any kind of trouble. She has never been hit either. There is absolutely no reason physical discipline is needed if you know what to do.

[zorkuus]

Do rights or lack there of, make it "the right thing to do" ?

No, but you asked why such a pratise is in place and I gave an answer.

[Biggayshammy]

I couldnt bring myself to smack my dog.. ever! Normally snapping my fingers at him makes him stop whatever hes doing that hes not suppose to do. As for potty accidents its normally my fault for either not taking him out when hes ready or I stay at work too long etc etc. just look at him! i couldnt be strike that!

[Violent]

Yeah, I'm cautious to not over-anthropomorphize, since I know dogs don't have exactly the same emotions we do. Still, shame or remorse is really, really clear. Like, completely unmistakable. I suppose in the case of dogs, there's probably some pack submissive element to those things too, but the head down, sad attempts to nuzzle up seem pretty clear to me.

My kitties, on the hand, don't seem to give much of a damn about my opinion of their behavior.

Right. I think you would need most of the emotions we humans have, as a dog. To survive in a "pack" type of society. Due to a hierarchy, who gets to do what, when. Who gets first dibs on food & mating, things like that. They would have to have a concept of "Right & Wrong" behaviours (at least in their terms) to make the whole thing work.

[Goatfish]

As someone who has helped raise and train dogs, it's really dependant on what you consider 'hitting'. A light slap on the side to get the dog to pay attention is perfectly fine, and is used quite often in training. Basically the issue is that now people see anything as abuse or cruelty if it causes even the slightest bit of discomfort, when in all honesty, discomfort is needed for advancement. You aren't going to go out and start ripping the nails off a dog because it disobeyed an order to pick of a bird, but you will lightly pinch between the toes to get it to open its mouth so it can learn what it needs to do without you shoving your hand in the dogs mouth. Spoon feeding anything is no way to teach it to do something by itself.

[Violent]

I couldnt bring myself to smack my dog.. ever! Normally snapping my fingers at him makes him stop whatever hes doing that hes not suppose to do. As for potty accidents its normally my fault for either not taking him out when hes ready or I stay at work too long etc etc. just look at him! i couldnt be strike that!

Nice dog there =D And I agree.

[caractacus]

Does spraying water in their face count as hitting?

[zorkuus]

If my cats does something bad i flick them on the nose.

Why? My cats behave just fine without me doing anything physical on them (apart from lifting them out of somewhere where they're not supposed to be). Maybe your cat is used to stopping bad behavior by a flick on the nose (is it?)? If you had used a different method from start then it would be used to that instead, such as simply using your voice.

[Lagwin]

Spanking a child isn't unlawful, beating them however is.
You spank a child if it dose something severely wrong...it's a learning tool because no one likes pain and if it is inflicted when doing something you're likely avoid doing so again.
Spanking a dog has the same effect...would never try it on a cat or any other pet though.

[Slummish]

Sometimes pets and children both require a swift swat to the ass. More than that is abusive. That is all.

[Defengar]

only had to use "violence" a few times on my dogs.

twice on one for attacking the other one (hit him hard enough once to make him knock it the fuck off both times)

spanked the other one when he stole a slice of pizza and spilled my drink when he jumped on the table after I left the room. He hasn't done something like that since.

[Nario64]

[Neponc]

I think physical discipline for kids is needed, just look at how each generation is physically punished less and less and each generation is getting worse. Kids did not mouth off to adults in the 1950's because the adults would smack them back then.

They did the same thing to women in the 1950s

[Eggers]

Children may not understand a lot of things, but i guarantee you that one thing they do understand is pain.

[caractacus]

This whole thread is starting to remind me of that south park episode where they try to bring in super nannies to make Cartman behave and eventually they get a dog trainer

[kruor]

When you feel like you should be slapping a dog, you should slap yourself. Dogs are so easily trainable that you can use words and body language to get your message across, and its like a disappointed parent to their child, and they know.

Train your dog(animal, didn't read whole thread). There are many books and things. I have a 90 lb Rottweiler PUPPY, and I will never hit her. My body language or words speak for themselves, and she knows.

[zorkuus]

Children may not understand a lot of things, but i guarantee you that one thing they do understand is pain.

But pain doesn't necessarily teach them WHY they did something wrong, it only teaches that they did something wrong.

[Deleted]

Pets feel pain.. We know this to be a fact. So why, (to the best of my knowledge) is it legally "okay" to say, spank a pet once, or smack them in the nose with a rolled up newspaper?

Because they're less receptive to training that consists of sitting them down on the naughty stair and speaking to them.

That said, I don't think spanking a child is any worse than giving a dog a slap on the flank. I do think beating your animal "with a weapon" isn't necessary, just as I think caning children isn't necessary.

The OP seems to completely disregard the fact that pain isn't some definitive stimulus, there's a difference between a slap on the leg and beating something to a pulp.

[Deleted]

Just the thought of hitting a kid or a pet makes angry, couldn't bring myself to do it. Don't understand why people need to use violence when they could just take away privileges or reward good behavior. I don't have kids but I know my cousin just gives treats to his dog when it behaves well and does stuff like make it stand outside for a while when its bad, and its turned out to be a really fun and loving dog. (It's a rescue dog which was abandoned and was likely subject to violence by its previous owners)

[lockedout]

Making a pet feel "sad" about their actions is more or less necessary to train them, since things can't really be explained to them. A smack on the nose or something similar seems perfectly fine, as long as it's sufficiently rare.

Actually striking out of anger, with intent to cause pain - that's childish at best, and certainly immoral.

This is the worst way to train an animal especially a dog but any animal. Fear should never be used as a training technique. Reward (food) is the best way to train any animal with the best results.