Yeah true if you only use contact, but if you reward the dog greatly when it got it right i think it wont hurt most dogs. Sure you don't slap a chihuahua or other smaller breeds as it might be hard to control the force. But im talking big beast over 30kg.. Just tap it "hard" enough that it get your attention, i don't believe in a long stick with a carrot. Then when it stop pull after the tap, reward and profit. I'm not using aggresive force, merely showing my dominating place in the pack. (dog whisperer anyone).


edit. I'm also of the understanding that badlybehaved kids needs a flat hand now and then. Not hard, just enough til they sit and look at you with their cute eyes. (haha yeah really). The world is going to carebear, in 5years we might get PETA and childabuse social networks on our necks if we say no to our kids/pets. The differense is there though. Kids understand verbal things, but they do seem to go more and more in the direction of puppy awareness.