Does hitting my dog for bad behavior cause anxiety or aggression?

Question

My parents are big advocates of training via spanking/hitting with items on the butt for bad behavior. Like if their dog chews up a shoe, they hit her with the shoe. It worked to train bad behaviors out of their dog but now she is very anxious. I tried spanking with Persephone but it seems to be making her aggressive. Is this method a bad way of training? My parents say that you have to make the puppy cry, but I could never bring myself to make my puppy cry. She is smart, but so stubborn. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 7 months and 2 days old | 20 lbs

Ana M, DVM · Accepted Answer

Thank you for submitting your question. Your parents are wrong. Hitting a puppy hard enough to make it cry is abuse. This is not an appropriate way to train a dog. It had been the recommendation so time again ago, but has been proven ineffective at best and as you have seen in your pup harmful. Punishing a dog by hitting them makes them fearful of you. It will build anxiety and can cause the dog to act out in aggression. Hitting with the offending object does not teach them anything. Dogs do not make past associations as in they will not remember chewing the object or why you are upset. It is the dog owner's responsibility to keep objects out of reach of the dog. This can be achieved by crate training the dog to keep them and your belongings safe while the dog is unsupervised. I hope this information helps you and Persephone!

Does hitting my dog for bad behavior cause anxiety or aggression?

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