Unfortunately , everybody is just too horrified by the doghitting story to answer the question you actually asked . Since you say you have already decided not to leave him , if rrelationships wasn ' t so offended by the violence and it was a different emotional issue on the part of your husband , then I think we would tell you to try to get him into therapyanger management classes . Communicate with him , and say you want to help him learn how to be less angry because it doesn ' t make you feel good and it doesn ' t make him feel good either and it is certainly harming your relationship . Tell him that you want to see him happy , not angry , and maybe you can work together towards making good mental habits that keep his mind healthy Oftentimes I think the anger is something deeper manifesting itself . It ' s a symptom of a deeper issueperhaps it sounds like he is insecure and concerned about how much of a man he is perceived to be . When the dog won ' t listen to him and he wants to be the dogs master , then that harms his selfimage of his manhood . So he feels insecure and that makes him angry and he feels the need to regain his masculinity by showing his strength through violence . He struggles to be the kind of man he wants to be , and that makes him angry , while he tries to become his second choice option kind of man . Maybe you can help him discover that he can learn many masculine qualities of the type of man he wants to be ! !!! Encourage him to be calm and patient , and maybe compliment him when he does these things . I love seeing you and Kvik learning together , etc . On the part of Kvik though . It might be better to find him a different home . There are plenty of dog breeds out there who would be more trainable for someone with your husbands patience . Good luck . Please keep us updated !