How do I deal with this? Re. picking on animals

[NaomiLorelie]

We just got a dog about three months ago, and he is wonderful on almost all accounts. Except that he wants to play with the cats. He will chase them, search them out. He's not aggresive but they definately don't like it. My 5yo thinks this is hysterical. She eggs the dog on and shows him where the cats are even though we have spoken to her numerous times and are now taking a very hard line on it. This is not acceptable behavior in our household. But she won't stop. In fact while I was typing this she did it again.:

What really bothered me was this afternoon. I had just gotten home and gone upstairs to change. 5yo didn't realize I was upstairs. I heard her coming upstairs with the dog and she says "Come on, let's go find a cat." : Are you freaking kidding me? I was irate, not to mention a little creeped out. I spoke to her again, but it's not working. I have resorted to having her go to her room if she won't leave the cats alone because I don't feel it is right to quarantine the cats because she won't stop. I don't care for the room thing though.

Any creative ideas? Lately she's going through a phase where she will not listen and seems to enjoy "being bad." I try to be GD but strict. She needs firm boundaries. I have very few real rules actually. No jumping on the furniture (she won't stop), no messing with the animals, go upstairs and play in your room if you want to run and yell and the grownups need quiet time (this goes over like a lead baloon). There are a few others, those are the ones that she refuses to respect.

I do need to get her out to the parks more frequently. That's not an easy thing to do as my semester is wrapping up and I am so sleep deprived. I need advice badly.

[momof4peppers]

Check with your local ASPCA for advice. They may have some. Also consider (as if you have tons of time! signing your dd and dog up for some dog training/puppy kindergarten. Sometimes hearing how dogs and cats and kids should interact from a stranger imparts more weight than when mom says it, yk?

Good luck.

[mamallama]

That was my first thought--involve your dd in training your dog. This is a lot like other areas of discipline; describing what you don't want is likely to be ineffective. It's clear she wants to do something with the dog, so find something constructive for her to do. "Get your ball" is a good alternative to "where's the cat."

[thismomwrites]

I would work on her relationship with the cats. I would talk about the cats very affectionately, maybe tell some stories about how the cats were so curious about her when she (your DD) first arrived in your family as a baby. When you are away from home, wonder aloud what the cat is doing. Maybe before you leave home, you could check that the cat is comfortable and away from the dogs. Talk about how much Kitty loves sitting in the sun, sleeping with DD, has a funny way of meowing, whatever.

I would also give the task of feeding your cat to DD, and perhaps some other chores such as helping you brush the cat and scoop litter.

I like the suggestion above about other constructive games your DD could play with the dog. Throw the ball, work on some new tricks, etc.

Good luck!

[jillmamma]

Do you have a back yard for her to play in? Maybe she would enjoy getting a ball or chew toy with the dog and going outside to throw it to the dog and run around with the dog? DS likes to do that with our dog. Has she ever seen anyone else laugh when the dog was going after the cats? I could totally see my DH laughing at that:. (he hates cats)

Also, it sounds like you are getting pretty busy, with school and parenting 3 girls. I wonder if some of this isn't just attention seeking behavior. DS is almost 5 and does some of the same things if I get to "busy" doing other things. Maybe some quality one on one time with her each day would help. I have noticed that if I am trying to do a lot and he acts up, just sitting down for a few minutes to help build a train layout, read a book, do a puzzle, color, etc. with him does seem get him to calm down.

I hope you find a good solution!

[TheTruth]

Beat your mother****ing child.

[mtiger]

Actually, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Unless the cats are declawed, they're more than able to defend themselves against the dog. And the dog will learn to stop messing with the cats.