Hi there,
Freya is lucky you are her papa. Teaching a pup discipline is about consistency, but it is not about foul punishment.
Your cousin is wrong.
From a
PetMD article (emphasis added), "
Do not punish your new puppy or engage in extreme punishments like
rubbing the nose of the puppy into his mess or spanking the puppy. These kinds of punishments are simply acts of cruelty; they are not the right way to raise a puppy. Your new puppy will grow up fearing and mistrusting you."
If your cousin has an open mind, please share the article with him/her.
Another article on
HealthyPets is even more detailed. In the opening, a Dr. Becker writes, "A significant percentage of dogs wind up in animal shelters due to housetraining problems, and about a quarter of behavior-related visits to veterinarians also involve housetraining issues." Further down, in "Housetraining ground rule No. 4," author writes, "Don't punish your dog for mistakes. No shouting, absolutely no physical contact and never rub your dog's nose in his mess. For many people, this can be the most difficult rule to follow, but I can't stress enough how important it is."
Hope these article help.
Keep up the good instincts. --KatysMom