Yes, I've punished my pets. For the most part, it's either a spank on the hind quarters or a tap on the nose. I wouldn't take a bat to a dog but you do need to discipline your dog. I've dealt with pets who've never had their bad habits corrected by their owners and they tend to have alpha mindsets. This lets the pet think it's okay for it to bark and bite anyone they want. There is a difference between punishing and beating an animal. If you are hitting your pet because you're in a bad mood or with an object, it's abuse. If you are stopping you pet from begging by tapping their nose or spank a dog for growling, then it is corrective punishment. As long as it's not excessive, then it is fine. If you are lucky to have a pet that doesn't need the physical punishment to correct it, that's great but some pets are simply stubborn. Ideally, a good pet won't need correcting constantly once trained. I know with my dogs, that there is a period of a couple months while training for a habit or trying to get rid of a habit where I needed to spank them to make them stop. After that, they usually don't need corrected once it's a habit. But a guy friend of mine has never had to physically punish his dogs because they see him as alpha, the command in his tone is enough to get them to behave. Even my dogs, at their most hyper, would listen to him when he visits.
