20/09/2025
An important message....
I want to start by saying this very clearly: I would never physically hit a dog. But I know some people do, and many argue that punishment “works.” And in one sense, they’re right punishment can stop a behaviour in the moment.
The real question isn’t does it work but what does it actually teach?
For punishment to genuinely teach anything, two things must happen:
1. Your timing has to be absolutely perfect.
2. Your dog has to clearly understand what behaviour is being punished.
That’s an extremely high bar. Most of the time, people don’t meet it. Instead of learning “the rule,” the dog learns fear, confusion, or mistrust.
But owners will often say “I only had to slap him once and he never did it again.”
That might seem true but unless you can read canine body language fluently, you may miss the subtle signs of anxiety or stress your dog is carrying. And even if your dog seems fine with you, that doesn’t mean the same “lesson” will make sense in every other situation.
Dogs don’t think in right and wrong, they make associations.
Imagine this:
- You slap your dog for jumping up.
- Later, a child reaches out to stroke them.
- To your dog, that hand coming towards them feels just like the moment before they were slapped.
In that split second, your dog may think: “Not again.” Instead of tolerating it, they defend themselves. And that’s when bites happen.
Once a dog bites, there’s no taking it back. The dog can’t explain they were confused or scared. To the dog, a hand reaching towards them feels the same whether it’s to slap or to pet. In that split second before it happens, those experiences are identical.
The outcome is that the dog loses their home or even their life. But the real cause wasn’t the dog’s choice. It was the punishment that created fear and defensive reactions in the first place. Owners may believe they “corrected” their dog, when in reality they set them up for a tragic mistake.
In short: Punishment might look like it works, but the risks are enormous. You can’t control what your dog has actually learned, or how they’ll respond in another context. And when confusion turns into a bite, it’s always the dog who pays the price.
