No, I know what you mean by beaten dog. It's a metaphor, and I'm an English major. I can put two and two together. Mine was a metaphor as well, as I'm obviously not talking about a dog.
I'm basically talking about the same thing as Asaph.
Also, thank you to both you (Teran) and Heartz for basically pointing out why imposing physical harm to someone isn't always a bad thing (and yes, that is all that pushing her down a set of stairs would be, as I have pointed out that it is of a low risk for injury thanks to her age). Some people just need it to get their **** straight, and there's really no other practical solution than to give them a beating. Despite what you may have been led to believe, I'm not one to generally approve of violence, but I'm not going to be blind to its merits and just say there's always a better solution when there really aren't in some cases.
EDIT: Oh well, I'm done with this. I've basically said everything I can think of to say for the matter, and I'm still sticking by what I said. Try the other stuff people said first, but never leave violence out of the question, in case it is the only answer. Just my .02.