Dog and toddler

[Dcp]

Hi
my almost 2 year old keeps chasing my dog around/tries to annoy her and when i say no leave her alone repeatedly he finds it funny and tries harder. He really doesn’t listen to “no”. Any advice? My dog really doesn’t like it and it scares and upsets her but she is patient with him. Obviously would never leave them alone etc but would just like to know if anyone has any tips of being able to get him to stop bothering her so much?

You need to get a LOT tougher with consequences for your DD.

Stop making it a game and get stern.

Then naughty step/time out/time in her room.

Poor dog sounds like he is ready to snap and if he does he could really hurt her.

Can you protect the dog with toddler gates or something to keep her away from him and give him some peace? You really need to sort this out urgently.

Sorry mixed up DS for DD.

You need to stop your child, and make aure your dog has a safe space away from the child that he can't be reached, either upstairs or behind a stair gate in the kitchen etc.

You can't just say no, you reallyneedtoget tougher with consequences for your child, so if they aren't listening they need to go upstairs to their room or cot, move them away from the dog!

Agree with above. Gates or a crate so dog can get away from DC. A very firm NO and physically move/redirect DC away or time out.

Have you got a crate that your dog could escape to when she wants some peace? If my grandchildren get a bit too much with my dog I tell them to stop because she doesn’t like it and is getting upset. Then I let her go into her cage-shes’s very patient with them but I can almost see the look of relief on her face!
I just hope by removing the dog the children realise she’s not a toy and if they get too much the dog disappears.

ok perhaps I am being a bit too soft then, I really feel guilty when I tell him off and did think perhaps I should send him to his bed when he doesn’t listen but then thought that might be cruel

Get a stair gate for certain rooms so you can block your toddler from getting to the dog.
Please don't do the naughty step - horrid outdated advice and your child is only 2. They haven't developed impulse control yet.
I also find the more I tell my little one no, the more he wants to do it. Just give the dog somewhere safe to go and distract your toddler with a different game - can you two play chase together instead?

my son has a play area in our house and so she did actually have a safe space in the living room when she got fed up but he now knows how to get out of his play area so I have to shut her out the living room completely now

Don't feel guilty you are helping DC learn and protecting your poor dog. If dog snaps and bites DC you'd feel a lot worse

What would you do if he kept trying to stick his hand in a fire or in something sharp?
Just do that

He just really finds it fun chasing her because she obviously runs away and it’s a chasing game for him and once he’s set on chasing her it’s hard to distract him, if I call him over the dog usually comes to me too!!

Take the dog (and child) for a nice walk where they both have attention and exercise. Then back home separate them using a stair gate or closed door.

This is how children get bitten by dogs.

You have to seperate them. You're in charge, don't set the dog up to fail. Crate train the dog, baby gate the house. And make it crystal clear to your toddler, that chasing, teasing, any kind of messing with the dog isn't happening, in the same way as you keep DC away from an open fire, the top of the stairs, roads and open water.

Have a look at the thread on here about a child that was bitten by the spaniel
This will be you if you don't get your child under control.

Poor dog will get the blame and either be rehomed or pts.

I agree you need to be very firm with the toddler. I have stairgates at the top and bottom of stairs, on her bedroom, on the front room and a gate and divider across the kitchen/hallway. DD cuddles one of ours too firmly and I remind her and encourage her to be gentle. If she dared chase any of them I would come down on her like a tonne of bricks. Absolute no.

Separate them. 2 is too young for the “naughty step” IMO - you need a logical and immediate consequence for that age, e.g. chasing the dog means the dog is taken away (put in another room).

Will you feel more guilty when you're in a&e be use your dog got fed up of waiting for you to stop him terrorising her and bites his face or hand?

You'll need to see that scar for the rest of your life.

Grow up and start parenting your child so your dog doesn't become another statistic

Shush

thanks for the helpful advice, I will get proper baby gate now that he can get out of his play area side of the house.

You need a safe space for the dog, not accessible to the child and the child never goes in there eg lies in the bed for fun.

What sort of dog? I've got a grumpy old terrier and he loves the kids but when he needs his space he takes himself off and would be extremely pissed off if interrupted.

@Dcp did I hit a nerve?

I wouldn’t say so…relax 😂

I have a miniature poodle

I've been through this with my toddler too OP. He was desperate to play with our (eternally patient) cockapoo but just got it wrong to begin with. We were very clear and very firm with him and would take him out of the situation. We would say, "you have to be kind to her because she is kind to you". We then taught him to throw a ball for her so they could "play" together and it's much better now. We also didn't allow him to approach her when she was on her bed which made sure she had a safe space.

Just make clear that being chased is not a game for the dog and distract your toddler with something else.

You need to treat your child chasing your dog like you would if they were about to run in to a road.

You would stop them, quickly and with finality!

When they stop chasing, you model how to be gentle and calm with the dog.

And give the dog a safe space.

As pp said, telling off your child is absolutely better than them potentially being injured.

You also don't want to be in that position with your dog if they ever did react badly.