Is this cruelty to animals?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Ok, here’s the story.

We got a new dog a while back. The thing was beaten by its prior owner and ran away. Due to the lack of care that the prior owner had the dog was never trained to behave in any way.
He is 2 years old.

He eats everthing. He breaks into everything edible and eats it. It finds a way.

We’ve tried many ways over the past few months to train him, but not many things worked.

So I come home today to find my mom taking EXTREMELY hot sauce (It was a novelty item someplace, titled “Hottest F*CKING HOT SAUCE!”. I couldn’t stand to have a drop of the stuff, I tried.) and putting it on the dog’s tounge after he broke into the place where the food is stored (for the second time of the day).
She believed it would help train him.

I took the hot sauce, not sure if I should put it back. I knew it felt like torture when I had a tiny little drop, I can’t imagine what the dog feels.

Any ideas? Should I put it back? Will that actually help the dog?

2

Yes, it is cruel to punish a dog in this manner.

Most likely, he doesn’t associate his crime with the punishment, and thinks your mother is just being mean for no reason. Dogs have extremely short memories for cause and effect. Unless you punish * immediately * when catching him doing something wrong, the dog does not associate his behavior with the punishment. Even a delay of a minute before punishment can cause a dog to be extremely confused. Hot sauce will not help in any way, unless it is placed on an object that you don’t want him to chew, but even then, I’d suggest something like “Chew Stop” because hot sauce is painful and lasting. Dogs do not understand long punishments.

I suggest that you get a crate for the dog. When you’re not at home to watch him, leave him in the crate. When you are home, monitor his behavior carefully. Correct with a sharp “NO!” when you see him doing something wrong.

You may want to put a bell on him. When my dog was a pup, I put a bell on her collar. I could keep track of her movements, and if I heard the bell stop jingling, I knew she was up to no good.

If he has stolen something to chew on, take it away, and give him one of his own toys. When he starts to chew on that, praise him. This way, he will learn what is his.

Put the food where the dog cannot get to it, or buy a container that he cannot break into. Perhaps he was starved by his previous owner, and doesn’t yet trust that food will always be available to him.

An abused dog is going to need extra love and patience. He really wants to be a “good dog,” but doesn’t yet understand what you want. He will need lavish praise when he does something right, and gentle correction when he does something wrong. When you catch him being a “bad dog,” distract him, rather than just punish. As an abused dog, correction will frighten him, so it should always be tempered with praise. You can either give him a command that he knows, such as “sit” and then praise him when he does it, or take him to another room and play with him.

3

It’s bad training, that’s for damn sure. Putting something unpleasant in your dog’s mouth is just going to train the dog to believe that you give it unpleasant things. This will make it wary of you and untrusting. Not things you want in a pet.

I suggest you hire a professional trainer who can help you understand what makes a dog’s little brain tick so you can understand how to make it do and not do what you want.

4

Another vote for it is cruelty - the dog doesn’t associate the hot sauce with his behavior, he probably doesn’t know why your mom is causing him pain.

The most important thing I have learned with dogs it to be a better housekeeper - as in putting my stuff away where the dog can’t get to it. That means putting clothes and shoes away, no food left on the counter, anything that could possibly be eaten by my dog is not left out for him to get.

I am also a firm believer in crate training for any age dog.

5

I second the vote for getting some help from a professional trainer, one who works with dogs on a positive-reinforcement basis. (As opposed to the “jerk the chain” school of training; the last thing this dog needs is more punishment.)

Crate training is good, but not for EVERY dog; my mom’s dog, who has serious anxiety problems, did so badly with it that we gave up. (No, we didn’t just start leaving him in it for eight hours a day. He had trouble with thirty seconds, let alone longer stretches of time.) His place to feel secure when he needs to, like during a storm, is next to one of his favorite people. But it’s definitely worth trying. Your dog may respond a whole lot better.

I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call the hot sauce thing abuse, but it’s certainly mean.

6

Thanks, all. I explained this to my parents and I think your ideas will work. They appeared to understand when I explained your points to them. They won’t use any more hot sauce.
Thank you.

7

That is not only cruel and would not be effective training/behavior modification, it’s just wrong!

Inflicting pain of any kind on another living being is just wrong!

Good job taking it away clayton_e… kudos to you!

I better shut up now.

8

Your mother isn’t being intentionally cruel, if that’s of any consequence; she’s just being a bit ignorant about dog behavior and training. She is making the connection that eating forbidden food=bad=make it unpleasant for the dog, but her timing and method is off. As others have said, all the dog would learn from her approach is to fear her and anything she may offer to feed him,

What would work better, but still have the same flavor (so to speak), is to spray any easily found/accessible food bags/containers with Bitter Apple (available at pet stores). It’s commonly used to discourage chewing, but eating what he shouldn’t be eating probably falls in that category, too. Additionally, this nasty tasting stuff is designed for just this training purpose and won’t cause any ill effects on your dog. The hot sauce, on the other hand, may result in considerably more mess.

9

::sneaks up behind cadolphin and lights her socks on fire::

Oh, and put me in the “maybe not quite cruel, but certainly not effective dog training” camp.

10

My aunt used to do that with her dog. Other than that, they’re good with her, but I think it’s so cruel.