Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We got our daughter she is 3.5 a puppy the other day and I just sat here and watched her pick it up by its neck and carry it around like that, then she sits down and starts flinging it back and forth by its leg! What can I do? I am afraid she is going to kill the poor thing. She does not do this to the older animals in the home even though she "spanks" them when they don't leave her alone. I don't want my daughter growing up thinking its ok to abuse animals.
Sweet Mother McCree, you have to TEACH children how to handle and treat animals. She has probably never had anything except stuffed toys to deal with and she is treating the puppy like it was a stuffed toy, because SHE DOESN'T KNOW ANY BETTER. You have to spend lots of time with her and teach her how to treat living things so that she will understand that a live puppy is NOT A STUFFED ANIMAL and has to be treated a different way.
I see most here are incompetent. I do not LET her abuse the puppy I warn her and then I punish her/take the dog away from her. If all you "people" do is belittle someone who asks for an opinion and maybe a reason the child is doing something then you all suck as parents.Thanks for nothing.
We got our daughter she is 3.5 a puppy the other day and I just sat here and watched her pick it up by its neck and carry it around like that, then she sits down and starts flinging it back and forth by its leg! What can I do? I am afraid she is going to kill the poor thing. She does not do this to the older animals in the home even though she "spanks" them when they don't leave her alone. I don't want my daughter growing up thinking its ok to abuse animals.
TELL HER to not hurt the puppy!!! Ask her if she'd like to be picked up like that or flung around like that.
This is a HUGE red flag. Why? Because she should be developing empathy by now. For unknown reasons, my older daughter did not develop empathy (apparently, it's a developmental milestone). I knew she didn't play well with others, tended to be selfish and could be mean but I didn't realize that it was a, serious, problem until it was too late to correct.
START NOW doing things with your daughter because they are kind things to do. Teach her to be kind to animals and consider how they feel. Honestly, I would not hesitate to spank a child who is hurting an animal (I wish had spanked my dd now but I jumped on the bandwagon). It is NEVER ok to hurt an animal or another person. She needs to know that.
Not everything warrants therapy. People who do not know how to handle their problems need to find it elsewhere. I don't care if it is by just reading books. But people who have no problem solving skills should look at ways to learn how to solve and deal with problems. I simply stated my opinion based on the OP where the statement was something along she sat there and watched the daughter. No parent should sit and watch their child do such an act. I think we missed the main point that she was asking what she should do, and that was my opinion. I am going to stop beating the dead horse now and move on.
We got our daughter she is 3.5 a puppy the other day and I just sat here and watched her pick it up by its neck and carry it around like that, then she sits down and starts flinging it back and forth by its leg! What can I do? I am afraid she is going to kill the poor thing. She does not do this to the older animals in the home even though she "spanks" them when they don't leave her alone. I don't want my daughter growing up thinking its ok to abuse animals.
This could just be a case of a child being too young to be around vulnerable animals. Though at this age you should have already begun to introduce the concept of empathy and care for living things smaller than herself, have you?
You have a responsibility to the animal to protect it from your child, no matter how much she might beg to play with it, until you are really sure she understands how we treat pets. She must not be allowed to ever treat your puppy the way she has been treating it again!
If this tendency towards torturing and mistreating smaller animals were to continue and not improve by the age of 5 you would most certainly want to seek some advice from a child psychologist.
Children who have been taught better, but who stil engage in this kind of behavior are showing sociopathic tendencies. It is actually a huge red flag. Most serial killers started out as children doing the same thing.
Okay, so in case this really is a serious thread, here's my 2 cents...
If you insist on keeping the puppy, don't let her near it until she's older and until she understands how to treat animals with kindness and respect. Supervise all interaction between her and the other dogs, and if she attempts to hurt or antagonize them in any way, send her to her room for "time out". If she doesn't respond to that, try taking some of her favorite things and privileges away, like favorite toys or trips to get ice cream, etc...show her that actions she has been warned against will have undesirable consequences. If she approaches the dogs nicely and pets them in a loving way, show her that makes you happy and reward her with something fun. It might also help to start teaching her more about animals in general...rent some videos, get some books, etc...
This is not just about protecting the dogs, it's about her own safety as well...a dog can be mellow, gentle and sweet as can be, but repeated abuse and taunting can make a dog snap and no one wants to see a child get hurt or a dog get put down because of something like this...I don't believe that the kid needs counseling at this point, she just needs stricter parental guidance.
Apparently people don't like the fact that some of us don't think therapy is needed every time a child turns around. There is nothing wrong with the child. She simply needs to be taught how to treat animals. I'm sure she'll grow up to be a great person. Just keep her away from therapy. That really messes people up, especially children.
Therapy is necessary for children who need therapy. This child, IMO, needs to be taught that a puppy is not a toy. Ergo, no therapy needed, for the child or the family. If, after teaching, child still throws puppy around and laughs while doing it, then therapy. Not before.
Therapy, when it is needed, is helpful and necessary for many children to deal with serious mental health issues.
I am not against therapy when it is warranted, that would be a bit counterproductive.
I see most here are incompetent. I do not LET her abuse the puppy I warn her and then I punish her/take the dog away from her. If all you "people" do is belittle someone who asks for an opinion and maybe a reason the child is doing something then you all suck as parents.Thanks for nothing.
There is no need for the hostility. In your original post you never said that you have warned her or have punished her or even taken the puppy away when she mistreats it. You said that you sat there and watched her mistreat the puppy, which is what most of the posters were reacting to.
Small children do need to be taught how to handle and play with living things, especially living things smaller than themselves. Your DD's time with the new puppy should be well monitored and you or another older person need to sit there and help her pet and love the puppy nicely.
She should also be monitored with the older dogs as well, or the older dogs need to be monitored around her. If they are in your DD's space and are starting to crowd her and you see your DD is becoming frustrated with them, then it's time to remove the dogs from her space before she starts to spank them. If your DD is in the dogs' space and she becomes frustrated with them then remove your DD from their space.
It is never a good idea to leave a small child alone or unsupervised with any animal, especially dogs. I do not care how sweet, kind, gentle, or well trained and mannered a dog is, a dog is still a dog and they will react vicisously if they feel they are being harmed or are in danger. There have been to many cases of children being attacked by the family dog and I would venture to say that the majority of those attacks could have been prevented if there had been adult supervision.
Dang, you people would really get upset if you saw my 2 year old grand daughter goes after her dads full grown Greyhound...
But the Greyhound loves it....
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
