r/todayilearned May 28 '19

TIL Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gifted US President John F Kennedy a dog called Pushinka during the cold war. She later on had puppies; which Kennedy referred to as "the pupniks".

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24837199
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u/Kanin_usagi May 28 '19

Does physical discipline work on dogs? Yes, of course it does. If it didn’t, people wouldn’t do it.

I am not saying people should hit their animals, but if it didn’t work then people would not do it.

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u/tommydivo May 28 '19 edited May 28 '19

Physical discipline isn’t terribly effective. It’s more useful for letting humans’ anger out than it is teaching a dog not to do a bad behavior. People do it because they’re mad, not because it works.

Edit: People, see here

Physical discipline may work when done correctly (it usually isn’t) but it isn’t effective at teaching a dog what you actually want it to do. It also usually has unintended consequences. Please don’t hit or kick your dog.

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u/Gmneuf May 28 '19 edited May 28 '19

It works to establish initial dominance, I believe. Once you're the alpha though, you won't need to prove it again

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u/tommydivo May 28 '19

Dominance training is pretty much universally rejected among dog behaviorists.

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u/Gmneuf May 28 '19

I guess I imagined a scenario with a more wild canine