toddler and pets

[cheesespread]

my DS is 19 months,we have 2 cats and a dog

our pets are very soft natured,my DS has started pulling the pets tails and so far he hasnt been scratched,when he does it i take him away from the cat get down on his level tell him no ! you dont do that you ll hurt the cat or dog etc

is there anything else i can do? its only a matter of time before one of them scratches him

It's ok if he gets scratched, but your sweet pets may never do it (ours didn't). It sounds like you are doing the right thing; just keep being vigilant and very firm with him. He will learn quickly if you are determined.

when DD kept trying to shove her finger up the dogs noses, rather than taking her away from the dogs, we would say no and show her how to stroke the dog instead and say 'gentle', so its not so much she can't touch the dog, but she has to touch it in a certain way. At 20 months she is now much nicer to them all. The dogs squealed sometimes but never fought back, and I don't think its their job too either, we have a duty to protect both our pets and our children.

It's REALLY important that you make sure your pets have somewhere to go where the dc are never allowed to disturb them and that they have escape routes from whatever room they are in together. Apart from that just consistently telling them to be gentle.