Hellobee Boards Topic: How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?

Hellobee Boards Topic: How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 04 May 2026 03:06:09 +0000 Greentea on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1993526 Sun, 21 Dec 2014 13:19:45 +0000 Greentea 1993526@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It has actually been no problem for us. When she was a baby I used a dog gate and then when she became a toddler I always told her constantly about gentle touches. I try to encourage dh not to yell at the dog which he has a tendency to do. It is working- gentle voices and touches toward dog. I also got dog a decked out pet crate and encourage "gentle touches" through the crate /even at the crate like the dog is a baby kitten or something. The crate helps to keep some personal space for the dog as well. 808love on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1993446 Sun, 21 Dec 2014 11:14:48 +0000 808love 1993446@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I've been dealing with this for the past 3 months and it was driving me crazy. My first instinct was to protect my daughter from irritating the dog. After an intense afternoon of timeouts and reasoning, LO finally stopped vigorously loving our newly adopted medium large dog and used gentle hands. What happened surprised me though. The dog became a little rougher to the point that she cried. I think out dog was trying to alpha dog her because she was being so gentle. After that I let her go back to handling our dog as she normally did, without so many corrections and all was well balanced again. It is almost like they were establishing a pecking order. We kept telling our daughter You are the owner. So she commanded a sense of leadership with the dog. She is obviously not afraid at all. She had the opportunity to play with a friend's new dog yesterday and I had to begin correcting her all over again. She was way too jumpy and rough with the new dog. Tanjowen on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992587 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 22:26:31 +0000 Tanjowen 1992587@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We are working hard on this in our house! We have a big Lab my son is obsessed with, and thankfully the lab's best line of defense is licking my kid in the face :happy: . we just make sure to give our pets a safe space to retreat if they've had enough. Rockies11 on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992533 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 20:53:48 +0000 Rockies11 1992533@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I just did the "this is how we pet the dog" and "gentle, gentle" thing with her, and then supervised closely.. They worked it out, and started to get along well at about 14 months. When it first started, I didn't think they would ever be in a good place! Mae on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992505 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 20:22:50 +0000 Mae 1992505@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @LovelyPlum: Yea it's not that I worry in a general sense. Stew has never growled or seemed upset about Fia. I just worry that if she pinched him or was too rough with him and hurt him (since he is pretty old :( ) it might startle him and he might snap at her anonysquire on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992502 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 20:15:41 +0000 anonysquire 1992502@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We just always remind her. It's more like grab her hand while she is petting and repeat soft, soft, soft. LovelyPlum on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992243 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:46:40 +0000 LovelyPlum 1992243@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @NorCalWayfarer: @Mae: @nana87: so. much. licking. G thinks it's hysterical. LovelyPlum on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992236 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:45:37 +0000 LovelyPlum 1992236@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Mmmm...yeah, when you figure it out, let me know, please. Currently we're in a OMG THE DOG HAS FOOD AND ITS FUN AND I CAN PICK IT UP AND EAT IT phase. The pup is pretty good about it, but she has low-growled at G a few times. We watch them, but honestly, I'm not terribly worried. All of the growls were more "back off, sistah" and soon followed by carwash-like kisses to the face. They're pretty much obsessed with each other. Bubbles on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992164 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:11:57 +0000 Bubbles 1992164@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have a cat who LO is obsessed with, but he keeps WELL away from LO. I've had more trouble getting him to be gentle with me - he's naturally inclined to be pretty rough and was always batting at my face, pulling my hair, pinching me etc. What I've always done is just told him not to be rough but to be gentle, and then taken his hand and shown him gentle touching. I've been doing this since about 7 or 8 months - and only about a week ago did the penny finally drop (he turns one tomorrow). He now definitely knows what gentle means and how you are supposed to touch people/animals. This doesn't mean that he always listens or remembers, but it's a big step for us! I think the physically demonstrating the 'correct' thing to do was a big help for him, as well as massive praise any time he did a gentle touch - even if it was by accident. loveisstrange on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992158 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:06:57 +0000 loveisstrange 1992158@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have 2 cats and my parents have 2 dogs. We just really did a lot of the guided petting, telling her about gentle pets, making sure to tell her that being rough hurt the animals. She's honestly really good about it now that she's older. I honestly think they just kind of don't get it when they're little. Takes time. nana87 on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992154 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:03:21 +0000 nana87 1992154@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @NorCalWayfarer: Oh the mouth licking! I joked for awhile that my job was like a middle school dance chaperone, spending all my time keeping lo and one of our dogs from making out Now that lo is crawling the dogs are freaked out by her all over again... Mae on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992074 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 14:33:01 +0000 Mae 1992074@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @NorCalWayfarer: lol yes. From the start we have actually encouraged the dog near the baby because we didn't want the dog to be jealous of her and wanted him to be used to her/like her. But as soon as she became really aware of the dog at about 3mo and fell in love with him at about 4 mo? Oh man. She puts her hands out and the dog licks them and she giggles and giggles and i try to pull them apart but they both love the whole hand licking thing so much lol. NorCalWayfarer on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992069 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 14:31:02 +0000 NorCalWayfarer 1992069@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Oh man, our 5 month old is starting to annoy our dog. At least he isn't mobile yet so he isn't chasing after her. Just trying to grab her fur/ears. Oh and he LOVES to open his mouth so she can lick the inside of his mouth. Yep, it's disgusting. I try not to yell at the dog because I want her to like the baby, but they both love it :-/ blackbird on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992068 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 14:30:10 +0000 blackbird 1992068@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Mae: Unfortunately, my one cat is a dumbass and is not :) I think he likes the attention but then realizes quickly that she's still pretty rough with him. My MIL's dog, however, is really good with E and her rougher antics. She's *obsessed* with animal ears. And the more i pull her hands away, the more she wants them. Mamasig on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992062 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 14:27:44 +0000 Mamasig 1992062@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Maybe time? Honestly, we kept our older son and the dogs separate most of the time because of the dog hair. Now at 2, he pets them and is gentle. But the dogs avoid him! Mae on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992059 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 14:26:52 +0000 Mae 1992059@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @blackbird: lol oops. luckily cats are faster than babies. Both of our cats are pretty scared of fia. Cali forgot to be scared of her one time last week and she got accidentally whacked in the head with a toy she was swinging around, don't think she'll forget to stay out of the swing zone again :) LuLu Mom on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992050 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 14:25:03 +0000 LuLu Mom 1992050@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It's a constant battle even at 2 years old. We are always saying "gentle to Finley" or "be nice to Finley" when she gets a little too wound up. Our dog is very good with her we are lucky, most dogs I think would nip/bite at her. My daughter was putting her hand in our dog's mouth last night, and I'm like "child get your hand out of the dog's mouth, she will bite you!" And she just laughed.... blackbird on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992043 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 14:22:46 +0000 blackbird 1992043@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Still a work in progress over here ;) Except now she's like I CAN GRAB THE CAT'S TAIL FUN. :meh: Mae on "How did you teach your kid to be gentle with your pets?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-teach-your-kid-to-be-gentle-with-your-pets#post-1992036 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 14:17:38 +0000 Mae 1992036@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have a dog, two cats, and a 7 month old. And the baby looooooooves the animals. The cats aren't so much of an issue because they steer clear of the baby, but our dog does not. He's a really sweet dog, but he's still a dog (and also 10 years old, so I worry that he may have aches and pains a younger dog would not). LO really wants to pet him all the time, and we help her by trying to keep her hands away from his face, tell her gentle, and intervene whenever she pulls his hair (which is basically every time she pets him because she is in a grasping phase). Obviously I always supervise them, but I'm just not sure if there is anything I can be doing now to try to teach her how to be gentle with the dog and stop grabbing his hair all the time :)