My OH beat my dog...once. He needed to punch me in the face with full strength to get my hands from his throat.
He had a go at my children... once. The locks were changed a day later and divorce proceeding started.
You know what you need to do. Be strong.

Now, generally I dont take my dogs out with the OH and his dog, I take them alone and thats the way I prefer it. His dog is very badly trained, runs amok etc and after all the time and money I spend training mine, I dont like the effect it has on my lot who then want to join in the antics.

Anyway, today we decided to take the 2 pointers out for a training session, do a bit of dummy work and then a bit of hunting on gamey ground. The OH wasnt happy with this as he said his dog would simply run off hunting on her own and not concentrate.

I set Flynn up for a long blind retrieve which he struggled with so I set him up closer and he then did it no probs. OH decided to set his dog up for a long blind without showing her the direction she should go in so she ran off the wrong way. After some cursing, stupid dog remarks and a tip from me, he did exactly the same again and so Millie went the wrong way again. (Bear in mind Flynn is at this level of training, Millie has only just started with my OH as her teacher )

It was at this point he flipped his lid and proceeded to punch and kick her whilst holding her by the scruff of her neck. Normally I silently curse inside but this beating today was totally uncalled for and too violent as he was the one in the wrong, not the dog. After I made him let her go, she obviously ran off whilst he fetched the dummy himself. He tried to recall her but she wouldnt come within 10ft of him which only made him angrier and he started to follow her trying to catch her, all the time shouting at her and waving this plastic flexible stick he's now started to carry Millie is totally scared of the stick. I asked him if he hits her with it and he said no. I have my own suspicions about that.

After I diplomatically tried to explain that his dog will never do as he wants if he beats her, I then suggested he try a simple seen retrieve which is more suited to Millie's level. Bingo! She had no problems with that task. The blind retrieve was obviously beyond her capabilities and her beating all came down to the fact her owner couldnt recognise this and hasnt a clue how to train or understand a dog, despite having had many in the past.

After a few retrieves Millie lost interest a bit and just started to hunt after fetching the dummy (Millie struggles to find anything interesting except hunting since she has been allowed to free hunt for all 3 years of her life) His reaction? "Look, I told you she'd just start hunting". My reply was "well stop talking to me, get that damn whistle in your mouth and do something about it, dont let her get away with whatever she wants to do!!!!!!"

His approach to it is that her free hunting is too far advanced and nothing can be done. I said something can be done but it would take alot of hard work. His simple reply was that he cant be bothered. So his dog will continue to get dealt a raw deal because he cant be bothered to put right a problem he created with his total lack of discipline and direction. It makes my blood boil and it's another reason I dont walk the dogs with him, it creates too many arguments.

I left him frantically blowing the recall whistle whilst his dog threw him the V's, ignored the whistle and carried on doing exactly what she liked Flynn hadnt put a foot wrong during the whole session (except for chasing a rabbit) so he at least walked away without a harsh word in his ear and happy he'd got to do something he loves.

My OH then wonders why his dog p**ses off and never even glances at him and mine stay with me, eager to chase a ball I might produce out of my pocket or pushing their noses into my hand for a fuss as they trot past I, my dear, dont need to carry a flexible stick to get my dogs to listen!

Firstly, I want to point out that I didnt post the thread to get sympathy, or to show off how good my dog is or to have it confirmed to me I should leave him. I posted the thread because the whole thing was on my mind. Furthermore, I knew this thread, and me, wouldnt get a favourable response but i'm used to that. I've been on Dogsey long enough to know how people will respond to certain things.

Secondly, I do not live with my OH so my details on here are irrelevant. I have to admit, I wasnt expecting somebody to suggest my details should be used to report my OH though. I take sole responsibility for my dogs, the OH has nothing to do with them. Like I said in my original post, we take our dogs out seperately and since I dont live with him neither, I dont know how he treats her on a day to day basis. I have seen things I dont agree with in the past but not to the extent I saw yesterday, which is why I posted.

Thirdly, I did not leave him completely whistling for his dog. We had taken the 2 pointers out only, I went back to the car to collect my collies and then they all went out. By this time he'd calmed down and was letting his dog do what she wanted again. The rest of the walk was spent with me trying to convince him that if he altered his attitude, his dog wouldnt be such a problem. I've talked to him about this till i'm blue in the face and we've had many disagreements about it but it falls on deaf ears.

Believe it or not, he is a very mild mannered person who fails to see problems as problems, thats why his dog runs amok in the first place but when he does lose his temper, he goes completely overboard, but this happens on very rare occassions. I'm not concerned for my safety at all though. In his defence, he does suffer with severe depression and it's something i've had to deal with, and that includes several attempts at suicide. I dont want to bring his/our personal problems into it but Wilbar brought up mental health.

Mine and his approach to dog ownership is completely different and try as I might, I cant convince him that his approach isnt responsible and clearly doesnt work. He's older than me, has had many more dogs than me so whether he thinks i've got no grounds to preach, I dont know.

[/I])so why agree to take your dog out with him or to have anything to do with him? After the episode where he hit Millie how could you continue with your training walk as though nothing had happened?