Quote Originally Posted by KSH
Tell her that you read somewhere that swatting a dog with a piece of paper, is 100 times better, because then the dog does not come to fear your hand, but the paper instead.
Ummm....Dogs don't necessarily discriminate between getting hit with a paper or a human hand. Dogs are fight/flight animals who view the would as safe or dangerous. If the human hits/hurts the dog in anyway, then the human will be viewed as an unsafe entity.

Dogs who are punished during potty training
1. Don't ask their humans to "go outside" - humans are unsafe
2. learn to urinate in the absence of their owner - because punishment doesn't teach a dog to potty outside.
3. When human comes home, dog "looks guilty" so human punishes...in fact dogs are not "guilty" (dogs aren't cognitively capabile of having morals - they simply do what works)....dogs have learned that urine + arrival of human = punishment/harsh tones. The dog will act submissively (a gesture that is meant to "reduce aggression") because the human unknowingly conditioned this response.

Potty training is accomplished through management and reinforcement - period. There is so much current literature on this topic that it is ridiculous in this day and age people are still punishing their dogs during potty training. The simple fact is that this lady is punishing her dog and the dog is still "going" inside the house - so what that should tell her is that her approach isn't working......

The most benevolent way to approach people like this is to ask "How is that working for you?" - because usually its not working so great....then you can tell them how you would approach this problem and give the reasoning behind your suggestions....

2 cents from a canine behaviorist-in-training