hitting dogs

[davie mac]

I am a novice at training gun dogs,a lab in my case,the thing is,i have been out with a couple of people,and they routinely hit there dogs,either a slap on the head with a dummy or a hand,i have also seen others hit dogs across the head with a lead for not staying in the sit position,is hitting a dog an unwritten rule thats not talked about? i should say i have never hit my dog,kicked the odd fence post but never the dog.

[SSS]

My lab only gets a smack when she has done somerthing really bad! If she doesn't stay, I take her back to the spot and sit her again in the same place and tell her again, its always worked for me.

[sako751sg]

A good smack does them no ill.As long as they realise what its for then it will help iron out problems.Hitting with the dummy isnt so bright though,as they can associate the dummy with a reprimand and refuse to pick up.

[buster321c]

I cant reply for training gun dogs , as ive no experiance doing it , but , you will never get the best out of a dog by hitting it .Positive encouragement is the best way allways .

[Popgun]

I never hit my Cockers if you do they will just sulk and you will get nothing out of them work wise, as for hitting them with a dummy that will put them off retriving and you do'nt need that. i'm on cocker no6 and they have all done the job ok and i've never had to hit any of them, maybe i've been lucky.

[al4x]

don't tend to hit mine, grabbing by the jowells and talking to is another matter. Its a hard one some very good trainers near me do it and they have impeccably behaved dogs. I guess it can be one hit versus a lot of other reprimands, I'm not for it but I wouldn't condemn it either

[monkeyboots]

i had a springer who refused full stop to listen to the whistle whilst learning him to quarter when he refused to listen i ran to him and pulled him by the scruff in the direction he was meant to turn whilst blowing 2 pips on the whistle in his ear but this still had no affect on him he just hunted mad and seemed to leave him more eager to do his own thing, then one day i was at a field trial and a top british spaniel handler was over here running in the trial i got talking to him about my dog he said you need to hurt him next time you run to him catch him and give him a few hard slaps whislt blowing the turn whistle well 2 days and the dog was turning 100% on the whistle so a slap or 2 seems to work with sum dogs but there is a difference in a slap or 2 than really hammering a dog as 1 man i know does

[Spaniel]

Umm slapping and hitting a dog with a dummy

If the Spaniels do not listen to a command I know she already knows, then I may catch hold of her and place her firmly back on a spot, and re-inforce the command.

Hitting a dog with the dummy could make the dog frighten of it.....that could be interesting if you want the dog to also retrieve the dummy which it associates with getting a slap from

 

If thats the sort of people you are training with, then find someone else to train with.

Dog training is about

understanding your dog

Showing the dog what you expect

The dog learning what you expect

You re-inforcing the skills already learned

 

If you are slapping your dog maybe you have not trained it correctly

[JonnyR]

I never hit my Cockers if you do they will just sulk and you will get nothing out of them work wise, as for hitting them with a dummy that will put them off retriving and you do'nt need that. i'm on cocker no6 and they have all done the job ok and i've never had to hit any of them, maybe i've been lucky.

I am on No1, so know next to nothing, and I have to say, hitting him just causes him to come back at me. He does get a good shake every now and then. Grab him by the scruff around his face. Especially effective when he has run in after I have told him to sit when combined with dragging him back to the spot where I blew the whistle.

 

What I have learnt over the last few months is a reprimand will only work if it is used infrequently so now it is 90%-95% praise and when he really does wrong he gets a very stern NO together with a growl. If and only of that doesn't work then resort to a shake.

 

I don't think my dog would understand a smack - it is not the sort of punishment he would get if he was in the pack!

 

cheers,

[Ozzy Fudd]

i only ever hit my dogs when they did something really bad/dangerous (running into the road, etc), only ever slapped them on the back side and made sure i shouted first before i did it. now all i have to do is shout and jess cowers knowing shes been bad. not something im proud of but them again im talking about rottweilers, need to have that type of control with big dogs imo

 

ps dont hit dogs around the head, they can confuse a pat with a smack, one of the main reasons dogs bite

Edited April 23, 2010 by Ozzy Fudd

[geordieh]

don't tend to hit mine, grabbing by the jowells and talking to is another matter. Its a hard one some very good trainers near me do it and they have impeccably behaved dogs. I guess it can be one hit versus a lot of other reprimands, I'm not for it but I wouldn't condemn it either

Hi mate

For a minute i thought you said jewels and then talking to it now that would have been good to see

Geordie

[monkeyboots]

If you are slapping your dog maybe you have not trained it correctly

 

the man who told me to slap my dog won many springer spaniel champoinships and made up many FTCH , he said he has done this with dogs in the past mayabe he didnt train his correctly either

Edited April 23, 2010 by monkeyboots

[Spaniel]

Think we are talking more about correcting a dog then training a dog.

so my comment was not correct

I think it may of been different years ago but these days i hear more about reward training, then physical chestisement

but each to their own.

[J@mes]

I have clipped mine a few times, but only when she has done something really bad - once when I was sat on the floor and she bit me on the nose, once when I caught her with her paws on the kitchen surface looking for food and a couple of other times when she has needed it.

 

Never for not getting a training command right though, I just make her do it again.

 

"Telling off" generally consists of being grabbed by the scruff of her neck and pulled about a bit.

[Cosd]

My dog who has now passed away weighed over 8 stone and was very muscular so hitting her on the odd occasion would have done nothing as she would not feel it. A tip a guy gave me years ago and it worked for mine, if on the odd occasion the dog does something so bad it deserves a smack, then use one or two fingers and tap there nose; And before I get attacked here, I'm not telling you to break the dogs nose!!! just enough so the dog knows you are upset and they did wrong. I never needed to smack the dog other than this method of reprimand.

[Boromir]

Dogs should learn through discipline there relatives of the wolf remember. Your the alpha and the Alpha fe/male should show his dominance through discipline. He's got to learn from you and if he doesn't listen he is getting ahead of himself and you should put him back in place.

 

I would smack when he is really bad and a grab him by the scruff of the neck and an angry voice if he not listening.

[Delbert]

Dogs should learn through discipline there relatives of the wolf remember. Your the alpha and the Alpha fe/male should show his dominance through discipline. He's got to learn from you and if he doesn't listen he is getting ahead of himself and you should put him back in place.

 

I would smack when he is really bad and a grab him by the scruff of the neck and an angry voice if he not listening.

 

I'm with BFG the noise you make is more important than the slap the way it would happen in a pack the dog is in no doubt

that he has transgressed , something overlooked is the giving the impression to the dog that you are always within reach

as I get older (and fatter) it becomes more difficult to achieve when in the field. If you can place yourself in a situation where

the dog must pass you to transgress then a tap on the flank 'en passent' will stop most dogs in their tracks backed up with a barked 'NO'

[Mungler]

There's no point smacking a cocker as part of training - as has been said they will sulk and you will get absolutely nothing and nowhere. It's also not really condusive for the fun and excitement that should be imparted into training to keep the dog on side and up for it.

 

I have given my dog a wallop, a shouting growl and then a cold hose off - but that was for rolling in and eating fox truffles. She doesn't do it any more and I reckon it worked. It's the most immediate and direct way of letting them know it's absolutely not on. Indeed, I can poke up with a lot but the fox poo thing is an absolute no no.

[MM]

ive no dogs, but could bring myself to hit one even if i did. Dogs have feelings to you know

[Mungler]

Yeah, right.

 

I have carpet, kids and an aversion to fox truffle.

 

Perhaps I should have reasoned with the dog or used some form of positive encouragement. Or maybe swimming with dolphins

Edited April 23, 2010 by Mungler

[steve0146]

I was beating on the Balmoral Estate years ago. I watched a underkeeper whistle his dog back. As it ran back, it flushed a mountain hare and took off after it. He was embarressed and got so angry. When it came back to him, he hit it so hard with his beating stick that it broke and the dog collasped. It finally got to its feet and ran off. It took him two days to find it. When my own dogs misbehave I always think back to that day and it stops me losing control. I'm not talking the odd slap by the way.

[ollie]

Although I am only training my first springer at the moment; I have worked my dads dogs for years. If the dog does wrong I would shout no and give it a slap on the snout. Although I agree with a bit of discipline I can't understand people who thump their dogs; after all it is our best mate and sometimes only companion in the field. On the other hand my mate has a pup from the same litter as my pup and it runs completely mad as he didn't show it enough discipline at the start of its training.

[jasper3]

No need to ever hit a Dog..yes grab him/her and look into his eyes and with a stern voice tell him/her off ..but never hit him/her

 

the dog learns from you...if he/ she is doing wrong..then so are you