Kids and Puppies

[Qestia]

We just got a puppy Saturday. She is a mix, rescue dog, very small (5 lbs), 3 months old. We had a dog up until a year ago when ours died of age-related issues. So far so good, the puppy has a great personality and seems to be fitting into our family well. Our 5 yo is terrific with her. The problem is my DD, who is not quite 2. She keeps trying inappropriate things, like picking the puppy up, petting her eyes, etc. Naturally we will not be leaving DD unsupervised with the puppy at all, ever, until she learns how to treat the puppy gently. (And she is 90% nice to it, it's the other 10% that's the problem.) My question is for BTDT moms, how long can I expect it to take for DD to be trustworthy around the puppy? Or am I just going to be ever vigilant till they're both older? How much older?

[Alyantavid]

Vigilant until they're both older. Show her how to be nice to the puppy, because she may very well think that petting her eyes is being nice. I wouldn't leave a 3 month old puppy unattended ever anyways.

We have a 7 month old puppy and 4 and 8 year old boys. I always supervise the three of them, mostly because my puppy's still learning not to eat everything and they all tend to get wound up and wild when they play.

[Oubliette8]

Another vote for supervised, always until she is significantly older (think- school age) A dog that small can be easily injured on accident, and a puppy is still learning what is and is not acceptable behavior, which often means they are quite mouthy, particularly when teething when they chew on everything. Your daughter wont have the coordination or knowledge to safely handle the dog for even short periods of time for another few years. You might get more/better responses to this over in the pet forum.

[Heavenly]

This is why we didn't get a dog (our puppy is coming home in 4 weeks) until our youngest was past the toddler stage. I don't think toddlers and puppies are a good mix. That is a moot point now since you've already gotten the dog. IMO you cannot leave the child alone with a small dog until they are school-age, maybe 7 or 8 years old. I won't be leaving my almost 5 year old alone with our puppy. Yes, it's a hassle but its the price we have to pay for choosing to get a puppy.