Inhumane training-I'm worried!

fattykitty

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My grandparent's puppy was jumping on us so my grandpa cuffed her, slapped her, yelled at her, and held her between his legs. I was horrified. I wanted to yell, "YOU CAN JUST TURN YOUR BACK AND SHE'LL STOP, OKAY?" I'm not feeling well.
 

2dogmom

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That's really overkill. All the puppy was trying to do was play. They're full of energy and need a lot of love and patience to grow into good dogs. Doing that will simply make the dog scared stiff of your grandfather.
 

trillcat

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Hitting an animal, any animal, is NEVER a proper training method! It will teach the dog that this is acceptable.
When the puppy jumps up, your Grandpa or you can take the pup and hold or place him tummy up. It is a sign of dominance over them. A firm (not hurting) hold on the snout and a look in the eyes reinforces this. It is not mean, it is what wolves and dogs of all breeds have done to teach what is and what is not acceptable.
I did this with a very snappy hight spirit puppy, a samoyed. My dad laughed saying how will you teach her holding her like a baby? I teach her by being the alpha.
 

sarahp

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Maybe you need to explain to them that she's a puppy, and wants to play (maybe not an ideal match if your grandparents are older and not the playing type). Suggest to them to start obedience classes so she learns good manners, and when play time is.
 
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fattykitty

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Thank you for the advice. The problem is, I had already suggested some reputable training and told him where to find positive dog training books. Later (I wrote this while at his house) he was screaming at the puppy when she was lonely (and barking)
. I told him he was just reinforcing this behavior, and he just laughed and said the damn puppy would learn. He also was joking about animal abuse. I'm not sure what to do. I want to help, and I try, but I don't want him mad at me. We have already had some pretty ornery moments with each other. It's probably just as well she has some behavior issues (she is past the super-needy stage) because she was from an online puppy mill, sadly.
 

pami

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You are going to have to step in and either call someone in your area (your local rescue groups can point you in the direction). That is not acceptable at all, no matter who is doing it. He needs to be educated on animal care and until then, this puppy needs to be away from him.

You can go to petfinder.org and on the left type in your zip code and get a list of local rescue groups.

You have to step up for this puppy she has no one else. This is abuse.
 

rosiemac

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Unless you say something to him it's going to carry on. If he's talking about animal abuse, joking or not he could mean it after what he's been like with the puppy?.

This puppy needs a voice to speak up for it, and that has to be you
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by fattykitty

I wanted to yell, "YOU CAN JUST TURN YOUR BACK AND SHE'LL STOP, OKAY?"
Maybe you should do that next time. You might actually get his attention!!

When I come across people like this, I find that the last thing they will do is actually listen to advice. So I just demonstrate things that I know the dog will respond to in a positive way and make darn sure that they see it. I watched my neighbor throw a coffee cup at her dog a few weeks back because he was being aggressive (duh - no wonder). She couldn't control him. So when I did to Bruno what you wanted to say to your Grandpa, Bruno did his best to lick my hand in submission and when I wouldn't even let him lick my hand, he sat perfectly calm for me. My neighbor was stunned and asked what I just did to make him act that way. That's when the real conversation began.
 

Asteria

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Originally Posted by Pami

You are going to have to step in and either call someone in your area (your local rescue groups can point you in the direction). That is not acceptable at all, no matter who is doing it. He needs to be educated on animal care and until then, this puppy needs to be away from him.

You can go to petfinder.org and on the left type in your zip code and get a list of local rescue groups.

You have to step up for this puppy she has no one else. This is abuse.
I agree 100% with Pam. It's not okay to EVER hit any animal, especially a playful little baby who doesn't understand at all. Animals don't have their own voices; someone has to speak up for them.

All he has to do is turn around and ignore her until she realizes that it just won't get her any attention when she jumps up. Nat has a good idea of demonstrating this if confronting him doesn't work.
 

rosiemac

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Originally Posted by Momofmany

I watched my neighbor throw a coffee cup at her dog a few weeks back because he was being aggressive .
How on earth did you hold back Amy?, i would have seriously lost it with her before i showed her how it should be done
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by Rosiemac

How on earth did you hold back Amy?, i would have seriously lost it with her before i showed her how it should be done
I've lived in the country too long to know that there is a different mentality here and confrontation never works. I take a lot of very deep breaths when it comes to some of my neighbors.

But I DID talk her into getting Bruno neutered!
 
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fattykitty

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Thank you. I plan to make a call to the ARL ASAP. This has been a stressful past few days. i think A LOT about the puppy and I'm really upset with my grandfather. This isn't okay and really angers me. In fact, I'm ashamed for not contacting a rescue group earlier. Is there anyway I can call without disclosing my name? Thanks for all your support. I truly do appreciate it.
 

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Originally Posted by fattykitty

Thank you. I plan to make a call to the ARL ASAP. This has been a stressful past few days. i think A LOT about the puppy and I'm really upset with my grandfather. This isn't okay and really angers me. In fact, I'm ashamed for not contacting a rescue group earlier. Is there anyway I can call without disclosing my name? Thanks for all your support. I truly do appreciate it.
Don`t feel bad. It has to be very difficult with him being related but you are doing the right thing by reporting him


I`m not sure how things work over there but I`m sure if you explained that he is your grandfather they would be understanding. I can`t see why he wants the dog anyway if this is how he is going to treat it.

Good luck I`m sure you would feel a whole lot worse if you did nothing
 

sweet72947

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Originally Posted by Trillcat

Hitting an animal, any animal, is NEVER a proper training method! It will teach the dog that this is acceptable.
When the puppy jumps up, your Grandpa or you can take the pup and hold or place him tummy up. It is a sign of dominance over them. A firm (not hurting) hold on the snout and a look in the eyes reinforces this. It is not mean, it is what wolves and dogs of all breeds have done to teach what is and what is not acceptable.
I did this with a very snappy hight spirit puppy, a samoyed. My dad laughed saying how will you teach her holding her like a baby? I teach her by being the alpha.
Please don't follow this advice. Alpha rolls and other such dominance theory related things are from from faulty wolf studies, and are not good ways to train a dog. Please see this link - http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/iwma.../alphawolf.pdf

For teaching a puppy not to jump up, simply turn your back on them, or teach an incompatible behavior, such as sitting, and reward when all paws are on the ground. If that puppy continues being slapped around like that, he's going to wind up with an adult who is either fear aggressive, or just very fearful in general.
 
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