I feel evil

[petlover]

I feel evil. I got mad at Hallie today and I slapped her on the face. I also called her stupid. She is not stupid. I can't believe that I slapped her. She won't even look at me now. I told her that I was sorry, but she didn't forgive me. I hope that you guys are not mad at me for showing mistreating to my sweet pet. This is a picture of Hallie. I feel so bad. I hope you guys aren't mad.

This is when she was shaved. Her hair has grown back now though. That was in the summer.


Are you guys mad?

[Karen]

Never ever do that again. Never. To her, or to any other dog.

I do not blame her for being wary of you. Hitting a dog (or a helpless child) does not solve anything, and often creates larger problems.

How could we not be upset?

Promise you will never do that again, and take her for a nice, long walk, or whatever her other favorite activity is, do that.

I am not mad at you, I have however lost respect for you.

[CamCamPup33]

I agree with karen.. Why would you do that? What do you think you would accomplish hitting her? did you think she was going to understand that you were mad because of the bad thing she did? She doesnt know.. Please dont hit your pet, it wont solve anything..

How could you hit that sweet face?

[GoldenRetrLuver]

Right. I would be scared of you too, if I was her. Hitting is totally uncalled for, no matter what the case may be. Don't do it again.

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by Karen
Never ever do that again. Never. To her, or to any other dog.

I do not blame her for being wary of you. Hitting a dog (or a helpless child) does not solve anything, and often creates larger problems.

How could we not be upset?

Promise you will never do that again, and take her for a nice, long walk, or whatever her other favorite activity is, do that.

I am not mad at you, I have however lost respect for you.

I agree. You don't slap an innocent animal. They don't know any better. You aren't getting anything through them by hitting them. Its just uncalled for. Never do that again. Never ever ever.............to any animal. They don't understand. They don't deserve that!

[lv4dogs]

petlover, is there a reason you hit your dog? I do not mean to offend you or upset you but I reccomend not hitting your dog. Always try positive reinforcement training methods. Now I know sometimes your anger gets overwhelming, &/or you just may have been taught other methods but there are other options out there.

I am sorry for how others reacted w/o knowing any background info. They may be or may not be right.

what was the cause? How old & what breed is your dog? (I am guessing sheltie?.. shaved???, maybe even a touch of terrier mix??) If it is a sheltie why is it shaved??? Is he/she spayed/neutered? Have you been through any training or obedience?

Once I/we know more info we may be able to help you some more.

She sure looks like a sweat nice dog!

[Karen]

I can anser some questions of yours. She is a Sheltie, which we know from other posts of petlover's. Shelties are sometimes shaved in summer months just for comfort's sake, as they have a heavy double coat, suitable for the windy Shetland Islands, but not necessarily for a hot humid summer here!

[GoldenRetrLuver]

I thought it was bad to get Shelties shaved? I know for Collies it is, it totally ruins their coat and it grows back abnormaly.

[tatsxxx11]

It is not our forgiveness you should be asking, but Hallie's I look at that sweet face and start to cry. You obviously let your emotions over take what you know to be true...that there is no reason to physically assault an animal; EVER. What hurts me most is reading that you called her stupid It makes me think that what she did was something minor that annoyed you, not an act of aggressiveness. But the fact that you came here to discuss what you did, takes courage and makes me think that you know what you did was very wrong, that you are seeking our help and you want to try and correct that wrong. You must be feeling sick inside and I feel badly for you I know I would be. Dogs have an incomprehensible capacity to forgive us humans. My advice to you would be to ask her forgiveness. Speak to her lovingly and pet her gently. Take her for a walk, sit next to her quietly, look into her eyes and tell her you love her. Most of all, promise her you will never, ever do that again; and mean it. If you feel yourself getting upset, walk away and return when you are calmer. I have no doubt that with time she will forgive you. If you believe she has behavioral issues that need to be addressed, seek out those sources that can help you correct those behaviors in an appropriate way, such as obedience training. But never, ever, forget that this is a living, sentient being that has feelings; deep, deep feelings. They look to us for love and support and companionship and understanding. Your Hallie is a beautiful girl and you are blessed and privileged to have her in your life. I hope she and you will heal and that you can begin anew with a commitment to be her most devoted, loyal and loving best friend. Our canine companions deserve nothing less. My heart aches for you because I know how badly you must be feeling.

[wolfsoul]

I'm sure she'll forgive you with time. The guilt will be bad enough that you won't make this mistake again. Sometimes it's hard when you get mad. The next time you get mad, just hit a pillow and release some of that anger. If she does something wrong, give her a time out, but don't ever get physical. I know that I can get mad at Timber sometimes, because she can be a hassle, but I try to focus my anger on something else.

We all make mistakes. This isn't something you thought about; you reacted in anger with action before you had time to think it through and regretted it immediatly after. Take Hallie for a walk and let her know that she is a good girl and that you are still a good parent that was just having a bad day, and that you didn't mean any abuse.

PS When you shave her, make sure to leave her undercoat. It looks like you shaved too much off of her. Her undercoat keeps the heat out and protects her from heat stroke. If you take it off, she'll get too hot.

............I'd hate to accuse an innocent person of mischief, but I don't understand why someone would want any consoling on such a matter on a site where you are inevitably bound to get a negative reaction...the last question just sounded odd to me..................

[KYS]

None of us our perfect, and we all make mistakes.
Hopefully we learn from our mistakes and never
do it again.


You are still a child, but as an adult
I slapped my 12-14 week old Sheba on
the face after she got excited and nipped my (chest)
It hurt like heck, and I instantly (not thinking slapped her)
I did not realize what I did. I remember looking at her sweet face
as she winced. I felt so bad and guilty I never
ever slapped her again. (She never nipped me again either.)

Petlover, Hallie will learn to trust you and also will forgive you,
but it is important that you remember never take
out your frustrations out on her or any animal again.

[Samantha Puppy]

wolfsoul, I'm with you... I was thinking the same thing about that last question and some other ones posed earlier as well...

Take this feeling of guilt and never forget it. This will keep you from ever doing that again. Also remember that animals really don't know any better and smacking them won't help a thing - it'll just make them fearful of you, and then you won't have a good relationship with them. Think of the wince that Hallie does now. Resolve never to make her do that again. When you get frustrated, take your anger out on something else - a pillow, a punching bag, a wall - anything but your pet. If you can't take your anger out on something else, remove yourself from the situation. Take a walk, leave the room, call a friend on the phone, just remove yourself from the situation.

And never, ever do it again. Ever.

[tatsxxx11]

And petlover, please don't leave Pet Talk. You were right in coming here. As I said before, it took courage to come here and admit something you probably knew would raise the ire of lots of people. But you came here for help and advice. As has been said, your own feelings of saddness, guilt and deep regret are punnishement enough. I dare say there isn't a one of us who hasn't been overtaken by our anger at some time in our lives, in some way we regret. I know you love your doggies. I'm sure by tomorrow all will be forgiven.

[Amber]

Im with Wolfsoul too, We all make mistakes. Im sure you didnt mean it but didnt think through it enough. Next time just take a deep breath.

[Aspen and Misty]

When Nova does something bad and she knows she did something bad, you take one step towards her and her eyes close and she ducks a little.


Watching that makes me wonder what her past was like I'm sure she wasn't abused cause I can do almost anything to her and she don't care, but I do, however, beleave that hitting was a punishment to her. Now, all I do is correct her and use postive renforcemnt and WOW it works wonders!


Now with Breeze, she's a little slow but she is just 5 months when she does something bad, if you don't give her a punishment, she doesn't think it was bad, I can say no and clap my hands as much as I want and she will wag her tail and ask me to play so, what I do, is say "Breeze No" and grab her coller (gently!) and lead her outside, because being alone is the WORST possible punishment you could EVER do to her. It's like a time-out. I works great for us. 5 mins later, I let her back in and she is good.


These methods have worked for us.

Ash