Is spraying a dog with a water bottle animal cruelty?

[RainbowFanGirl]

Well, I just got my puppy a literally a day ago. He gets along fine with my other dog fine so far, but my cat? He won't leave my cat alone. He's tenacious, and he doesn't listen to me when I try to get him off the cat. He bites and humps the cat, and when I yell or stand in front of him, he doesn't listen. I filled a spray bottle with a bit of water and sprayed him with it lightly and it worked.

My mom says I'm abusing my dog and is threatening to take him back. I feel really bad about it. Is spraying him with a mist of water really animal abuse? I really want to keep my puppy and I didn't even have him for long! He's such a sweet dog, he just needs disciplined to respect my other pet's boundaries.

Yes, it is.

No, it isn't.

Updates

+1 y

If you think it is, give me another way to displine him then just whining about how it's wrong and insulting me. I want to train my puppy the right way. You would displine a child, right? How should I displine my puppy?

[lumos]

Spraying your puppy with water won't do any good, that's not a method dogs use to discipline each other so it won't understand or be able to relate anything to it. It's not exactly abuse but you are annoying it for no reason. Or, at least that's what the dog will think.
The key part here is physical contact. You shouldn't hurt it, but you should lightly grab it and say "no" in a low voice. That would be the equivalent of growling and flashing your teeth in the dog world. Repeat as many times as you have to until your pup gets it. The reason your dog doesn't listen to you right now is because it doesn't understand the meaning of your words or your body language. Getting your dog to stop doing shit is just like training it to do tricks. You've got to do it over and over again, consistently each time, until it gets you. Only use the word "no". Don't try to explain shit to it or say entire sentences, it needs short commands that are easy to understand and quick to learn. And like I said, do this over and over again, every single goddamn time you catch your dog annoying your cat, until it stops. Training a pup isn't easy and it takes a lot of time and effort. If you do it half-heartedly it will never stop. And the longer it goes without you correcting its behavior consistently and regularly, the more disobedient it'll become.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Good point. Thanks for the tips I will definitely try them.

[lumos]

And eye contact. Make sure it looks into your eyes when you're giving commands. If it looks down or away after a short while you're grabbing it, it means that it has submitted itself to you and that you're the dominant one. An even bigger sign of submittance is your puppy lying down. Learning dog body language is essential when it comes to training.

[lumos]

after a short moment*

[RainbowFanGirl]

I will thanks

[JessikaSky]

No way, I disciplined our cat with water squirts, nothing else works no amount of yelling, clapping, stamping feet or anything will stop him he always keeps doing it or turns around, runs away for a little, gets an evil look on his face and goes back to continue what he was doing lol

[JessikaSky]

My cat I should say, he's mine but lives at my mums with me for now 😜

[RainbowFanGirl]

Same here. It doesn't work. :P

[JessikaSky]

He literally gets this evil look and if he could talk I bet he'd be saying "you can't tell me what to do" lol he's so naughty, he's all black and one of my friends said she experienced the same behavior with her black cat, I wonder if it's a black cat thing? lol

[RainbowFanGirl]

Hahaha

[falafelany1]

If your mom doesn't like that, fill an empty coffee can with nails, bolts, nuts, and screws. When he is misbehaving, shake it loudly and he should be startled into stopping and say "NO". Don't do it if it isn't necessary because you want it to come as a shock to him.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Alright thank you.

[falafelany1]

Wow thank you :)

[RainbowFanGirl]

👍 No prob

[Suhmer]

It's called conditioning. You don't have to do it forever. Only until he associates the bad behaviour with being sprayed. (It's a minor nuisance to them, it doesn't cause pain just a bit of shock). Please refer to your mum the act of conditioning animals please :)

[RainbowFanGirl]

I will thank you. :( I just don't know how else to condition my puppy.

[Red_Arrow]

Well, spray a little water on your arm and see if it burns or causes it to itch, or if your arm falls off. If none of that happens, then I guess it is not cruel. Ask your mother what she would consider a proper way to discipline your dog. If need be tell her that you explained it all to your dog but the dog pretended not to understand. An animal teaches its young what not to do by swatting pretty harshly. Spraying with water is almost a treat.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Thank you. My cat sometimes swats at him. I dunno what else to do.

[Red_Arrow]

Again, ask your mother how to accomplish the needed discipline. It should be enlightening.

[RainbowFanGirl]

I will thanks again.

[AleDeEurope]

It's just water -_-

[RainbowFanGirl]

I know. That's what I tried to tell my mom. :( She thinks I'm abusing him. I would never lay a hand on my animals.

[AleDeEurope]

So when it rains mother nature is committing animal cruelty? hahaha your mom is overreacting.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Lol that's hilarious

[Omar5881]

No dogs hate it

[Krillanr]

Ever heard of water boarding, you are shackled in and there's a constant drop of water hitting you in the face, it's no threat to you, but people have broken down and required therapy afterwards.

Obviously a spray bottle is different, but don't automatically treat torment at face value.

[AleDeEurope]

@Krillanr but you can't compare waterboarding to spraying water, it's not even close. The amount of water you grt thrown on you during water boarding is way more.

[Krillanr]

Not really what I was illuminating with my point, it's not "What is the action?", it is "What is the actions effect?".

[AleDeEurope]

Thanks for the MHO

[RainbowFanGirl]

No problem. 👍

[ThePragmaticRomantic]

Personally I advocate correcting a dog the way another dog would. If he won't listen to you, you nudge him and repeat, if that doesn't get a response or he ever reacts agresivly, you turn him upside down and hold him there for a moment till he is calm.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Thanks I'll try that.

[Possible_Mate]

it fine, you could also grab him by the scruff of the neck, his mouth, wrap his cheek over his teeth, and or pin him to the ground to show him that YOU are the alpha and his behavior is not tolerated. none of this will harm him, and they are all natural techniques a mother dog would do to discipline her young. also feed and do stuff for the cat first, before him so he understands she is superior to him as well.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Don't worry, I feed him first. I'm a little scared to touch him though to displine him.

[Possible_Mate]

Well if you don't touch him to discipline him he won't learn. If you do the thing I mentioned above he will understand. That's how his mom would do it. You don't have to be rough or hard just a light grab will be enough for him to understand that you are in charge. Which is key to training a dog. If he thinks that he's in command you will have a lot of trouble trying to get him to listen and behave. And it's when a dog isn't disciplined is when they think it's ok to lash out

[RainbowFanGirl]

I will try it out, thanks

[Possible_Mate]

no prob, i've been working at a dog kennel for a couple of years, and have had to deal with rowdy dogs.

[TripleAce]

You got a puppy 😯 lucky you!

Yes the spray a dog with water is not good... you want to teach the puppy how to behave properly... you domt him to grow up to have a bad connotation with spraying water

he might associate spraying water with some he's doing wrong

When he gets older its totally ok... but maybe not during his learning phase

[TripleAce]

Show us a picture of what he looks like 😃

[RainbowFanGirl]

I posted a question with him in it. :)

[Anonymous]

Nah water's fine, though most dogs respond better to positive reinforcement so make sure to give him treats when he does go away from the cat. Also have a cat-tree or something elevated in your living area so your cat has somewhere the dog can't reach him.

[RainbowFanGirl]

I do. I give him little pieces of chicken when he listens to me.

[SensualScribe]

No, not at all. You are lucky that it worked for you, though. We tried to train my dog that way and she just wants to play with the stream of water. She will try to jump and bite at it.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Haha, I would go insane if my dog did that.

[animeFreak]

People spray children with water bottles and it's not yet considered abuse, and your worried it's animal abuse? It doesn't hurt the dog in any way. People spray each other with water all the time, its no different for the dog.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Thank you. It's not even pressurized water either, all it is is a slight mist. I tried pushing him away from the cat, he goes right back over to him. I tried yelling at him, blocking him from the cat, and he plain ignores me. I don't know what else to do without hurting him. My cat is getting old and I don't want my puppy bothering him.

[animeFreak]

Best way to get the dog to stop is using dog language. Be the alpha and claim the cat. Its not as weird as it sounds. Just watch the dog whisper. Worked for me. Puppy no longer tries to bite my kitten.

[RainbowFanGirl]

I look at him and block my cat away from him. It works for a while, but when I leave he goes back and tries to jump my cat. It's frustrating.

[MysteriousFlower]

I love how much dog listens to me and he's too scared to have 'a relationship' with other animals. I would of been concerned that could of irritated his skin. It starts with training. Get a dog training book and it will tell you the tips and tricks. Maybe play with the dog and cat to show them equal effection and when disclipling have a firm tone. If the dog isn't desex he will naturally be aggressive but it may be just wanting attention.

[abzence]

Just look how cruel this baby is spraying water!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rp4VeufbOI

[abzence]

Just like this videos illustrates, most dogs find water do be interesting and funny. The first times you spray a puppy with water you may perhaps scare it because it has never experienced it before. But once it understands that the water is not dangerous it will probably start acting like the dogs in this video thinking you are playing games with it and therefore will probably not be a good way to discipline a dog in the long run.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Thank you. He doesn't like it and backs up a little when I spray the water. When he does leave the cat alone, I give him little pieces of chicken and pet him.

[JustinCaseUDontKnow]

Here is little hint on how to help solve this with him
Take a newspaper and hold it front of him and smack your hand with the
newspaper , don't smack him and simply tell him no stop it call him by name

[RainbowFanGirl]

We never hit our animals, but we may try that with him.

[JustinCaseUDontKnow]

Yes, you can spray or hit me WOLF WOLF HOWL HOWL HAHAHAA

[Johnyk]

There are too much and "too horrible to watch" animal cruelties which no one even cares about (which I don't want to remind you again). If necessary, tell your mom about those and ask her if she took any step to prevent them.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Thanks

[GirlsLie]

That's not bad, I do that with all of my pets. After a few sprays you don't even have to actually spray it anymore, mine stop what they're doing if they even see me pick the bottle up lol

[RainbowFanGirl]

Yeah I just spray him once.

[linds34]

No it definitely isn't. Show your mom some information on animal training.

[RainbowFanGirl]

I tried to. I hope she doesn't take him back. I'm crying. :(

[linds34]

Aw, good luck!

[Krillanr]

I wouldn't spray critters personally, it's foreign to them.

When I had a cat, I made it a point to learn how cats interact with each other, how their language worked.

It worked well.

I would recommend watching Caesar Milan's show the Dog Whisperer, I used some of his tricks on my friends dogs to get them to cooperate. With great success to.

[BellePepper]

I spray my cats with water when they're naughty and they're still fine. They're definitely still spoiled and loved.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Haha I guess it's ok then.

[CHARismatic110]

No. You didn't beat him. Dogs need to be trained. They need to learn what no means. I think the spray bottle thing is smart. You're not drowning him.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Thanks. :)

[R3d_Anonymous]

I don't think it is. It's just slightly spraying water...

[RainbowFanGirl]

I know. :( I don't want to hurt the guy.

[Avenuewriter]

Is the bottle filled with acid? No? Then it's not abuse, you're just trying to correct some undesirable behavior.

Your mom may need a few squirts from that bottle herself from the sound of it.

[fauchelevent]

As long as it doesn't hurt or distress the dog, then it's okay. It's better than yelling or hitting him anyway.

[BelleGirl21]

No it's a great way to train puppies (and kids to lol). Obviously don't over do it or be mean about it.

[jakeofalltrades]

it is just water it isn't hurting it, but if you give it time your cat will tech him

[RainbowFanGirl]

My cat is too nice sometimes and let's him do it. Sometimes he hisses and doesn't hit him.