Shouting At Dogs?

Question

My friend has a corgi dog (you know the one that leaves it alone all day) He came home the other day after walking her and she ran straight up the stairs with her lead on and accidentally which brushed against the wall and made it dirty. Usually she stays lets him remove the lead from her but this time she didn't. He then got very angry and shouted at her very loudly to come back down the stairs which she did but she had her ears down and looked dejected. Was this cruel? do you need to shout at animals if they don't do what you want them to do?

Answer 1

No, you don't. All he's teaching this poor dog is that she can't trust her owner. Dogs don't learn anything worthwhile through fear and a dog who obeys because of fear is never trustworthy. A corgi is by it's very nature a very obedient dog and neither needs nor deserves this kind of treatment - especially for something so minor.

Answer 2

Dogs have very acute hearing and don't need to be shouted at. Your friend shouted because he lost his temper and is unable to control himself. He is obviously is a bit of a bully.

Nothing was to be gained by yelling at her - the wall was dirtied and frightening the dog wouldn't make the dirt disappear.

All he had to do was simply call her to him in a civilised manner and remove the lead.

The dog is just as obviously very obedient and simply made a mistake by running upstairs with her lead still on.

Of course she had no idea what she had done wrong and although she came when told she was very afraid.

Unfortunately man's best friend is often the butt of man's ill temper.

Answer 3

We are not perfect and our frustrations may sometimes come through when dealing with our pets - as they can when dealing with other humans.
From experience, no, you don't need to shout at animals if they don't do what you want them to. However, if you are impatient or cross, as he obviously was, you may shout to try and get a quick response. The dog will respond quickly to try and keep you calm. However, the effect of your cross voice can wear off and you end up with a dog that doesn't respond to either pleased or cross voices!
Personally, I prefer to keep my dogs motivated to obey and although I will use a firm and raised voice if necessary, will never shout at them. I don't find it necessary and want them to obey out of willingness rather than fear!
You seem concerned about this corgi. I'm sure your gut instincts about whether it is happy or not are right and I hope you can do something about it.

Answer 4

Shouting at an animal is not the right thing to do. It's all about tone. He could have just as easily changed his tone with her and she would have listened to him. I do think it's cruel to yell and scream at your dog (or any other animal). This easily confuses them and can cause more behavior problems. Dogs especially just want to please us and learn best by using positive reinforcement, rather than harsh yelling. You should talk to him about it and maybe even do some research online or contact a local dog training organization to get some literature which you can then give to your friend. My puppy school teacher has 4 Corgi's and they're smart as whips! And she taught them through positive reinforcement, not screaming at them!

I also have 4 dogs, 3 Miniature American Eskimos and an Australian Shepherd puppy and they have all learned through positive reinforcement. As a matter of fact, one of my Eskies was housebroken by the time he was 8 weeks old (he was born here). Never yelled at him for any accident in the house. Firmly said "No" when we caught him having an accident and took outside immediately. Did the same with all my other dogs and it does work. My Aussie took longer to housebreak, but every dog is different.

Please speak up for this dog, as she obviously can't speak up for herself. I'd hate to see the yelling 'graduate' to hitting.

Thanks for being concerned! Good luck!

Answer 5

While we were going through my Lab's separation anxiety, I would come home to a destroyed house every day. She would escape her crate (no matter what we did, 3 different kinds of crates) and chew everything, couch, tupperware, pillows, curtains, remotes, tables, you name it. I would walk in the door and immediately be angry asking her, in my deepest voice, what she had done (didn't know any better at the time as I have never had such a destructive dog in my life) although I never yelled at her or hit her, she would hide from me and crawl across the floor with her head and tail down looking up at me completely terrified. I would open the door and she would run to the edge of the yard, lay down and wait for me to tell her it was ok to come back in.

Once I realized that damage I was doing by showing her my anger, I had to change my ways. She was becoming a VERY submissive dog who would pee if I even looked at her when I got home. Even on the days she didn't destroy anything. She got used to me being angry when I got home every day. She couldn't associate it with anything she did.

Now, I completely ignore my dogs when I get home. If there's a mess (rarely) I clean it up without saying a word. They sit by the door and watch me, only now they're just waiting for me to say hi to them. She knows I'm not happy, but I remind myself that they are dogs and they are young, they'll grow out of it. And it is getting soooooo much better as she is about to turn 3.

I saw what I was doing to her and it was changing her temperament. I didn't want that to happen. So in my opinion, yes, yelling is bad. If my dog sensed my anger from just my body language and reacted that way I can't imagine what this is doing to the poor Corgi.

Answer 6

our dog got shouted at the other day. it was the first time in her life (but she is only 6 months).

we had been playing rough and after we had all settled down she jumped up on the couch and puked on me and the blanket i was curled up in. so i opened the sliding glass door to shake the excess puke off and she took off running! the glass door leads to the pool area and the back gate leading into the yard is left open (i know it shouldnt be, but the gate has warped and doesnt close anymore). this is the way she goes out to go potty, but always on a leash. well, she bolted and went thru the gate and i chased after her and turned the corner to see her standing halfway down the fence line. i couldnt help it and just screamed "Gobo get inside NOW" and man did she hightail it back in the house. she knew she was in trouble and it was the only time she had ever been yelled at before. but i also know that i over reacted because i freaked out, it was about 10pm, pitch black out and the area is heavily wooded, and since she is an almost completely black dog, i knew i would have lost sight of her immediatly. i want her to be trainned well enough to stay in the yard, but she isnt at that point yet and i was going to risk her taking off even further.

but on a regular basis, its wrong. its verbal abuse, just as it would be if it was a child, but even kids need to be yelled at sometimes.

Answer 7

Yelling at dogs will not do anything but make them AFRAID to come to you. When a dog comes to you, it needs to be a positive thing (or else if they get loose one day, calling it won't help).
Unfortunately people are so hard-headed and you can't tell them anything. Especially MEN. They seem to be the ones to yell the most. You should just comment on how you don't think it's helping that he yells at his dog next time he does it in front of you. Offer him some training advice you can find online.

Answer 8

Sounds like your friend did a crap job of proper training in the first place, otherwise there would be no need to shout. Dogs respond much better to positive reinforcement rather than negative. Tell your friend to get into some proper obedience classes so he can learn how to handle the dog PROPERLY.

Answer 9

The more often your friend does this, the less likely his dog will continue to come back to him. Just as with dealing with children, people in general, they respond better to a calm assertive voice than they do to yelling. As mentioned, if he continues yelling she will be less and less likely to want to come back to what she sees as an angry, and possibly violent or aggressive owner. Whether he hits her or punishes her or not, it starts with the tone in his voice. In the wild, the alpha dog doesn't do much more than a stern growl to correct behavior in the rest of the pack. They do not fight with the lower members unless there is a struggle for leadership. Dogs view their pack hierarchy the same way, the alpha should be able to correct them with a stern voice.

Answer 10

she sounds like a good dog. a lot of dogs would have run and hidden after being yelled at. it was probably his fault for letting her go with the lead on. he's the human after all. in his defense, though, he only yelled at the dog. some people would have done a lot worse. i don't think it qualifies as cruel, just a little harsh.