I'm looking for articles that talk about the effect of hitting a dog. I would like it to have facts in it not just someone's opinion on it. I'm trying to prove to my mom that hitting is wrong. You know how dogs chose to either fight of flight, well Piper chooses fight. You hit her she growls and if you than try to move her, her whole body goes stiff. I've try telling everyone she doesn't like being manhandle and has the right to say so. I try to keep them from leaning over her and physically moving her. Anyway my mom says she doesn't like Piper growling and making a fuss when she gets hit.
You know because she suppose to stand there and be okay with you hitting her.
Yeah no she has the right to say "I don't like it. So I only have a chance of convincing her and convincing her will be beneficial because Piper is "hers" so if she realizes hitting is bad she will try to keep the boys from hitting her.
The main reason for her being hit is counter surfing and raiding the garbage. I'm still struggling to get through to her. We have been working on It's your Choice, but haven't had time lately.
I don't know any articles although I found Karen Pryor's book "
Don't Shoot the Dog" (the link is to a free pdf download) very helpful for making me more aware of the damage we can do to our own souls by resorting to hitting living things. When I was in a place with animals which were being dealt with negatively recently I was appalled by what the small children there must have been subconsciously learning from seeing that when living creatures don't do what you want you respond aggressively. Unless those children are challenged in their thinking they will always have that in their subconscious directing their decisions and affecting how they deal with people as well as animals - I know that because when I began to deal with my dog in a more positive way that quickly spilled over to how I deal with people too. I see with you that how you deal with people is positive and giving just like you deal with Missy.
I would like also like to suggest something different to articles.
Perhaps you could think about what questions you ask your mother. I don't mean pointed questions, they just annoy people even more, an important part of questioning is to really LISTEN to the other person's point of view and ask the questions that really arise from that listening. The thing is if you try to argue a position (even using articles) people instinctively go on the defensive, like Piper, they fight or flight. If you listen to what they have to say and ask a question in response they have to dig deeper into their beliefs and thoughts to come up with the answer.
Once when I was talking to my mum about Gus I said he didn't even notice when I was frustrated, my mum replied that he KNEW when SHE was angry, without really thinking I asked her, "But does he know why?" There was a thoughtful pause, "No he doesn't." And in that instant I knew that my mum had changed.
These are some of the questions that I was asking myself when my own thinking was changing...
What kind of behaviour deserves punishment?
What criteria do we need to apply to decide whether someone deserves punishment rather than further explanation?
Can a dog tell what is morally right from what is morally wrong?
Can a dog steal in a moral sense?
Can I ever be angry with and intentionally inflict pain on other living things without being in the wrong myself?
What is my being negative/mean really teaching the dog in each specific context where it occurs?
Now I'm NOT suggesting that you go ask your mum those questions, we can ask ourselves blunt questions like that when we are really seeking to grow however those are not the questions to ask other people when you are trying to help them grow but they don't know they need to! I am just trying to give you some ideas of what kind of areas you could explore. If questioning is something you are already familiar with I'm sorry for the derail.
I still pop in every now and again. I'm keeping my eye on you! 