I don't believe in hitting dogs no matter what they have done! Or any animal for that matter, I believe in a gentle yet firm handling. I know someone that hits there dog everytime he did something bad, now everytime his owners find out he did something wrong while they were away they couldn't find him for a couple days because he would hide so he wouldn't get hit. By the time that they had found him they forgot about what he did and were so happy that they found him that he didn't have to worry about being hit. I find that very disturbing!