DD and the Puppy

[superbabysmummy]

We have a fab 21 month old daughter, she's happy and confident, we also have a very lovely 11 week old pup. On the whole the are not bothered by each other however when we discipline the pup I.e ' 'don't chase the chickens pup' DD feels the need to join us but with physical violence! Obviously we don't let her but she tries to hit & kick her. Is this normal? How do I mange it and why would she do this? Is it a learnt behaviour? We are incredibly animal friendly and would never discipline anything with violence, ever.

I have in the last couple of weeks taken a back step from my FT job to be at home more, I am not entirely convinced that DD hasn't picked up some terrible habits from the childminders 5 year old... One of which is this. Please tell me it's not too late to put it right?

Currently puppy and DD are never left alone together. Was kind of hoping they would be friends!

Any advice warmly received.

I think you can definitely teach your daughter not to do hit/kick the puppy.

The physical violence may stem from the fact she can't copy what you and DH verbally tell the puppy?

As they're not left alone together it is something you can keep an eye on and prevent.

I'm sure people more knowledgable than me will be along to offer advice!

She's probably in that hitting phase and the puppy is a convenient outlet.

You are right to keep them apart, the puppy should never be put in a position where it has to react to the hitting. Can you get your DD involved inthe puppy's training? My DD has 'trained' he dogs from a younger age, although to be fair the dogs were adults and knew the commands so it was a bit easier. It's good for the puppy to see your DD as someone who rewards good behaviour.

As for the hitting it depends on your views of parenting. I would try three things in this order:
First explain that hitting hurts and she shouldn't do it.
If that doesn't work tell her that if she hits the puppy it gets taken away and she can't play with it anymore.
If that doesn't work, I reserve Time Out for hitting but it's not everyone's cup of tea!

Your toddler is going through a normal part of child development, it's not learnt behaviour but perfectly natural. Just as if she had a sibling you need to make it clear that hitting is unacceptable.