Do you hit your pets, and if so, under what circumstances?

No. Never. Cats do not respond to punitive training.

No.
It is not a good way to train animals.

No. Never. Is there ever a good reason to hit your animals?

There’s no point. So, no.

Never. She wouldn’t know why I was hitting her.

Never have. Never will.

No.

I do admit to fantasizing about naming future dogs after certain Jellies, so I can yell at them when they misbehave: “No! Bad Auggie/Neffie/Simone/Symbeline, bad dog!”

I playfight with my kitties and give em small taps, but it obviously doesn’t hurt them. They’re two big ass macho alley cats. Hell they hurt ME lol. But as for discipline and stuff? No, I wouldn’t strike them. :(

no never. I don’t want them to fear me ever. It’s the one thing that can do permanent damage to the relationship. A firm command they will respect but a smack won’t do anything for them.

No, I just smack a newspaper against my hand and he obeys.

No. But cats also recognize a ‘swat’ as part of their lingo. Once in a great while if my male becomes too aggressive I’ll give him a little tap on the head. He gets it.

No. I speak to them sharply, or turn my back. But I don’t strike them.

No, not ever.

@FutureMemory I hope you can back that shit up G, cuz my teeth be sharp, yah. :D

NO, never. It is NEVER ok to hit animals. Your friends should be reported to animal cruelty, or one of the animal protection services.

No. I’ve never needed to; a sharp “No!” is enough for my dog and she does as she’s told. But in any case, that kind of punishment is pointless with animals. The only thing they can learn from it is to be afraid of their owner, or of people in general.

Anyone that thinks striking an animal is okay shouldn’t have animals.

No. My brother-in-law hits his dog to “teach” him how to behave. They weren’t little swats, either – he was beating the dog and saying “NO!” My jaw was on the floor. I took my daughter and left. The dog is the sweetest thing ever and isn’t the least bit afraid of my BIL.

I am pretty sure this is how their father was with dogs. He had several hunting dogs outside, but it doesn’t seem like either my husband or his brother had a close relationship with any of them.

My husband does not hit our dog, though. The worst I have seen him do is hold the dog’s mouth to force her to look him in the eyes when he corrects her – and that was only when she was doing something really bad as a puppy.

I agree with @Coloma about cats. A little tap on the head and my cat gives me a look that says, “Okay, fine then” and lays down. I know she would roll her eyes if she could.

Yes, @Supacase, and, as a lifelong, ( now former ) horse owner, some physical corrections are necessary when one is managing an animal that could kill you in a heartbeat if not properly schooled in manners.

I had a mare once that was extremely aggressive with other horses and I had to carry a lunging whip with me when letting her in and out of the barn as she would charge in through the breezeway bucking and bolting to clear the other horses at feeding time.

If not for the ‘threat’ of the whip she would have slammed me into the walls or crushed me behind the gate.

Under saddle she was a kitten, but her ground manners needed constant attention.

I’ll swat my dogs and cats on the haunch from time to time.

I’ve given my male cat a swat on the nose when he’s being bad. He tends to chase his sister and do things like come up and swat her while she’s in the litter box, bite her ears while she’s eating, that kind of thing. He’s the alpha and he knows it; she’s pretty meek. Before we had to put our other cat down, my female was on the bottom of a 3-cat totem pole and she hasn’t regained much confidence. So yeah, if I catch my male being a jerk, I’ll thwack him on the nose with a finger. It doesn’t hurt him, but like @Coloma said, he recognizes the gesture. Most of the time, though, it’s just a strongly voiced “NO” that gets him to stop.

I would never, ever hit a duck, though. Just sayin’....

@Seelix

Same here with my two.

My young ( just turning one this month ) male cat is so funny. If I discipline him, take him down from the counter, or thwart his desires in any way he immediatly attacks my female, tackles her to the ground, sends her running and screaming. It’s become a joke now, ‘projector cat.’ haha

He takes his anger out on the female. Funny, but not for her sometimes, although they play together very well.

@Dutchess_III

lol…yes, no way to discipline a duck or goose.

My geese are bratty at bedtime, they do not want to come out of their swimming pools and go in the barn. Usually I stand there telling them ‘time for bed, come on out’...most of the time they will but, often I have to pick them up and take them out of their pools and then ‘steer’ them with a hand on their back towards the barn.

They have been especially bad this week with the warm spring weather and want to swim til 9 o’ clock. Bad little honkers they are. haha

Sic the skunk on them!

Oh yeah…what circumstances….for crapping in the house and if they disrespect my 15 year old cat. When they were in house training I’d rub their noses in it and put them outside with a swat on the rump. This means, of course, I haven’t swatted them for that reason in many years, but they do need occasional reminders not to aggressively run up on my deaf, old cat. My deaf, old cat does pretty much whatever she wants now, and I just leave it be. I let her do stuff that that she’s not supposed to, like jump on the counters. I’ll just look away. She’s earned her counter-jumping time!

Now that you mention it, @Dutchess_III, I do give the dog a little thwack if she starts harassing the cat, who is 13. Usually a firm “NO” works, but sometimes she is really into it and doesn’t pay attention to me so she gets a swat on the rump. Nothing like a hit or even a spank, just enough to get her attention away from the cat.

I don’t hit my cats (I have two). I do have a small water spray bottle I use however. Whenever I catch them doing something they shouldn’t, I just give them a quick squirt of water while they are in the action of doing it.

But one of my cats is pretty smart. They have learned what they are allowed to do, and not allowed to do, especially when it comes to jumping up on the kitchen table or counters, however they still do it knowing its wrong. When I catch them in the act, they will stand off and wait for me to get the sprayer. Once they see me grab it they run; its like they do it to spite me.