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Last weekend our Leash Your Fitness trail running class was running in Scripps Ranch when we came upon an off leash Pit Bull with his dad & mom. The dad proceeded to call him & the Pit Bull didn’t respond & eventually ran over to his mom. He wasn’t bothering us at all & we kept running.
As we ran by, the dad started beating the dog for not listening & a gal in our group told ( well she actually screamed at) the dad that beating your dog is not the answer & if you are doing that in public than what do you do to the dog in private? Do you think that is why the dog didn’t go to the dad because the dad beats him?
Of course we were just running by and do not know the history of the dog, the dad or anyone involved. But no dog deserves to be beat, our dogs trust us and we have to train them in a way that they “respect” us enough to WANT to listen. They have to know that we are the Alpha but beating them is not the way to do this.
When I was growing up in Pennsylvania, I had a dog named Addy. I had her since her birth. Her mom was our German Shepard & her dad was our Rottweiler. She was the sweetest dog & everyone loved her. I spent countless hours training her. I remember many snowy days that I was out in the yard walking the perimeter of our three acres teaching her to off leash heal & also the boundaries of our property.
Addy went EVERYWHERE with me. I even picked my car because it had a large back window for her to look out. When I moved to an apartment, the manager did not want Addy to live there. I had to BEG the manager to give it a try.
Back then in the early 1990′s, our dogs were outside dogs and lived in kennels (yes, even in the snow!) We had a kennel built for her at the apartment as there was a huge yard. Addy used to bark non-stop & I would go to her kennel and (I hate to admit this because it bring tears to my eyes) beat her so she wouldn’t bark. I didn’t want the manager to kick us out.
Addy trusted me with all she knew. I never remember having her on a leash and she would listen to every command I gave to her. If I would leave, she would lay in my parking spot until I got home. She just didn’t like that kennel & was trying to let me know that! Of course today, I know much more about dogs & ever since the incident on Saturday I have been having nightmares about beating Addy so she wouldn’t bark because I feel HORRIBLE about it. How could I have done that to the love of my life?
The moral of this story is, no matter WHAT your dog does–do NOT beat him/her. There are tons of dog trainers, behaviorists, psychologists, shows, youtube videos, books etc. that can help you “fix” any problem that you may be experiencing with your pet.
Beating your dog will NEVER help you gain their trust & you will NEVER get the outcome that you want. We ended up bringing Addy into the house & she became an inside dog and the manager never kicked her out, as a matter of fact, all of the neighbors loved her & to this day I still have the bell one neighbor put on her collar at Christmas time! She then moved with me all over Maryland and I never had any other problems with her (well, maybe a few minor incidences now that I think about it!) but I NEVER beat her again. I miss that girl!
