How Do You Discipline A Dog?

[squirtsmom]

When my daughter c omes over with her dachsund, he is very dog aggressive with my boxer mix. Squirt just walks into the kitchen, and it is on. This last time, she started hitting him. On the back, and on the head. It is true that Mr. spike was pretty vicious, but I thought you were not to hit a dog for punishment, right? She really smacked up on him, and I was surprised. Wouldn't you put them in the crate or som ething else?

 

[rij73]

Never hit a dog... period.

The dog should be on a leash in your house so she can correct him with gentle, quick tugs on the leash to keep his attention on her. Tell her to do some reading on how to handle dogs!

 

[Bobsk8]

If my daughter had a dog aggressive dog that went after Smokey, I would ask her to leave the dog home when she visits....

 

[Amstaffer]

Hitting a dachsund in the back is not only foolish it is dangerous. If they feel they HAVE to use Corporal Punishment...Try using the "snaping" of the index finger on the large muscle on the dogs hind leg...I wouldn't do that with such a small dog but it will work much better than hitting.

With my dogs, I just gently poke them with my index finger in a major muscle, it doesn't hurt but it gets their attention and lets them know I am not happy. I also follow the poke with a "hey". After they get used to that you need only point at them and frown and 90% of the time that is plenty of correction.

 

[RD]

No hitting.

If Ripley gets wound up or snarky, I pick him up and remove him from the situation. No attention to the behavior whatsoever, since Ripley thrives even on negative attention. He usually gets 15 minutes in his crate, then I let him back out.

If Dakota gets too wound up over something, i give him a tap on the muzzle. A tap. One finger. If he gets himself into trouble, I grab him and haul him away. I try to keep most physical contact as positive as possible, because I want him to always feel comfortable with me touching him.

My main form of "discipline" for Dakota is guidance. He's a very biddable dog and almost always listens to me when I tell him something. If he does something I really don't like, I let him know. Dakota is a Border Collie and takes that verbal correction to mean "stop doing that NOW". If he doesn't listen to the verbal correction, he gets the nose tap. If he's so wound up that he doesn't notice the nose tap, he gets removed from the situation and confined for a little while.

 

[ToscasMom]

Was this the dog that had another incident earlier on this board with a bite? If not, please forgive me. But I have to honestly tell you that if this were my daughter's dog I would tell her not to bring the dog to my home again unless and until she gets some professional training with the dog and deals with his aggression problems. It really isn't fair to your dog and just maybe one day your dog will finally have enough and fight back. This might put your daughter out a little bit but it's worth it in the long run if she has such an aggressive dog that she is obviously not in control of. She really isn't dealing with it if she isn't consulting with a professional. Maybe she imagines that because he is a small dog that "no harm done" Her dog is processing these things and probably thinks he can pretty much go anywhere and behave that way, and hopefully there won't be an incident one day when a person or pet owner isn't very forgiving about it. Smacking the dog isn't going to help one bit, in fact it might make him even meaner. A professional trainer would make your daughter understand this and deal with her problem with her dog in a more helpful way.

I tip my hat to you for your patience.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

I would use a leash to prevent and interrupt the aggression.

However, I agree with others that I would not have this dog in my home until it has had this behavior modified.

 

[Saje]

It's not your dog so all you can do is try to point her in the right direction as far as training goes. Other than that the dog shouldn't be at your house. If it was my dog I'd be using some strict time-outs. Emma (creatureteacher) helped me when Nanook and Mikey were fighting so much. They still fight and have to be kept separate especially when we feed but the time outs helped a lot. Nanook was always the one that instigated and it helped her realize that wasn't acceptable behaviour.

 

[MichelleJ]

IT's never, in my opinion, helpful to hit a dog. Also, as someone else pointed out, it can be so harmful to such a small dog. Please encourage your daughter to get some training in how to handle her dog. If she doesn't learn to properly control/train him either she or the dog could do real harm.

 

[DanL]

With a small dog, just telling them "no no skippy, mustn't misbehave" is enough punishment. After all, they are small, what harm can they do, and aren't they are so cute when they act all tough like that?

Just kidding. I don't have any advice to offer that is any different than what has already been posted. I wouldn't let her dog in your house till his problem has been addressed. It's not fair to your dog or to you.

 

[bubbatd]

A two finger nose tap is enough here ... with a no or leave it etc.

 

[SizzleDog]

I agree with the others - don't allow this dog in your house until your daughter works with her dog on reducing his aggression, and I'd keep them separated when she does come over.

As for punishment, I think it varies from dog to dog. Ronin cannot be punished physically, it's out of the question. If he's doing something wrong, I call him to me, problem solved. If he continues, I warn him in a low, guarded voice. If he still continues (or if he's doing something that is worse) he gets yelled at... that's punishment enough for him - he'll stop what he's doing and slink over to me, sufficiently punished.

Ilsa is a completely different story. She has always been a very, erm... snarky bitch. Yelling and warnings have no effect on her, nor does tapping or light swatting. Her punishment is this: if she's doing something wrong and ignores my warnings, I walk over and grab her, *lead her away from what she's doing*, and make her lay down - by herself. She is allowed to get up shortly after and gets a cookie and petting (to reward her for staying put). But that's really the only thing that works for her.

Aggression is a completely different issue though - I wouldn't even begin to advise how to fix an aggression problem... that's a question for an expert!

 

[whatszmatter]

a tap on the nose, swat on the butt, hitting on the back, whatever, in that situation when the dog is fully turned on, and attacking another dog, is more likely to get you bit, seperating them by grabbing collars and lifting or grabbing back legs if you can hang on to a dog that is going to fight its hardest to get away from you and difuse the situation is the best.

Then get to a trainer and controlled situations so you can work on the DA.

 

[Saje]

With a small dog, just telling them "no no skippy, mustn't misbehave" is enough punishment. After all, they are small, what harm can they do, and aren't they are so cute when they act all tough like that?

lol dan I wanted to give you a swat!

 

[dr2little]

Physical correction of any kind is totally inappropriate and unnecessary. It only serves to allow the human to blow off steam and teaches the dog absolutely nothing.

I can't imagine EVER laying my hands on my dogs or any of my clients dogs.

Breaking up a fight is a completely seperate matter and requires safe separation but certainly doesn't warrent what came next as you described it. There are ways to startle dogs apart if necessary too.
No matter what happened, I'm affraid if I ever saw someone do that to a dog she'd be the one needing protection...

Like the others suggested, the dog would not be welcome in my home and a behaviorist would be recommended....strongly recommended..

 

[Denaluvscorgis]

I also agree with everyone else....no hitting!! I have a Dachshund also...I would also suggest her keeping the dog on a leash in that type of situation for sure.

 

[squirtsmom]

I told her he cannot come over anymore because I don't want squirt to eat him. I also don't want to get bit. I told her not to hit him, and we will see what happens next.

 

[bubbatd]

To give myself some slack ... the only time I've tapped Ollie is when I first got him and he didn't know " release " or " give " or " drop it " . His jaws would clamp and I couldn't get the object out of his mouth ............. MANY objects ! Now he'll give up when he see 2 fingers raised above his nose. Poor boy had been hit in the past as when I raise a hand to pat him quickly in passing , he flinches !