Should You Hit a Dog That Won’t Listen?
📝 Summary
Hitting a disobedient dog rarely helps and often backfires, making the dog timid, fearful of its owner, or resentful. Better approaches build trust: feed the dog yourself, train patiently from puppyhood with rewards, and bond through regular companionship and gentle petting.
1 What Hitting Actually Does to a Dog
Sometimes a beating does not make a dog behave at all. Instead, it can lead to consequences you never expected.
A dog becomes timid and anxious. It does not understand what is right or wrong; it only knows it was hit for no clear reason. Fearing another beating, the dog grows nervous and withdrawn, and may even believe its owner no longer likes it and become insecure.
It becomes afraid of you. A owner who regularly uses hitting to correct a dog creates real fear. The dog tenses up at the sight of you and flinches at the sound of your voice.
It may hide and avoid coming home. A dog bonds to a person and, through that person, to a home. When the owner becomes a source of fear and insecurity, the dog naturally loses the desire to come home.
It develops a revenge mindset. Constant hitting produces two outcomes: one dog becomes fearful and avoids trouble, while another turns defiant. For example, the more you scold it for urinating indoors, the more it may deliberately urinate everywhere to spite you.
2 Better Ways to Teach Your Dog
If hitting is off the table, what should an owner do to raise an obedient, well-mannered dog?
Do not scold or strike casually. Like people, very few dogs become well-behaved through beatings. On the contrary, frequent hitting brings many negative effects, as described above.
Feed the dog yourself. To a dog, the person who buys it is not necessarily its master; the one who feeds it earns its loyalty and devotion. If you want your dog to listen and trust you, handle feeding yourself rather than leaving it to someone else.
Start training early with patience. Begin training while the dog is young, patiently guiding it on what to do and how to do it, and allow small mistakes. When the dog behaves well, reward it promptly so it learns what earns your approval.
Spend time with and pet your dog often. Building a bond requires regular companionship. Gently pet your dog so it grows used to your touch. When your dog rolls over and shows you its belly, it means you have truly won its trust and it will listen to you.
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