Well, I voted yes because I have slapped my dog's bottom before. Different for every dog though... By 'slap' I don't mean hitting your dog upside the head or face. Mine get it on the flank. As an example my old bulldog - no verbal commands got her attention when she was focused on an animal. So I'd go "Hey!" and pop her butt, she'd turn around like, "Oh, you're talking to me?" - and I don't even mean hitting hard. A slap. I play rougher than that with them.
And of course there are soft dogs (like my old GSD) who would shrink from a verbal correction like you were beating her. All I ever had to do with her is say "Ahh!" and she would immediately behave.. Then there are the hard dogs, like my old bulldog.. When she was zoned in the only thing that made her behave was ME, not a collar. I could hang her from a prong collar and she would have still gone for the other animal. But she wanted to please so much that me slapping her hiney and saying "Hey!" would snap her out of it. If I put my hands on her, stroking her even, she'd pay attention.
Now... hitting your dog out of anger, for tearing something up, etc. I do not agree with... Nor using real force (like I said, hitting myself with the force I'd slapped my dogs wouldn't even leave a red mark) for any reason, I don't think so. Like when I went to a friend's house and their rottie was completely ignoring them to jump all over me, she grabbed her by the collar, leaned over her and stating slapping her face over and over. The dog was cringing, it's eyes shut, and nose wrinkled. The woman was lucky it was such a sweet dog. And guess what? The dog went right back to jumping on me..
And closed hands? No way.
The only time I've hit a dog with any force was to make her back off another dog. I was alone when a two bitches got into it, had just broken the bulldog off of her and had the bulldog restrained, the other dog (shepherd) came at her (ignoring me telling her to back off) and when she got close enough I hit her upside the head and told her to "GO!" and she did. I picked the lesser of two evils then I would think. I did what I felt I had to and I felt bad even then because the shepherd gave me such a confused look.
I guess I shouldn't have even voted, because I don't even do it as a correction, I do it to get their attention. When my dogs are CORRECTED, it's with a collar pop if verbal doesn't get them.. And anything trivial is corrected with an "Acht!".
I seem to remember other discussions like this.. Has it been posted before?