My 15 mo son has recently started hitting the dog and us. How do we handle that so that he understands its bad

Question

we want to make sure he understands what he is in trouble for and the best way to handle this at this age.

Answer 1

I would make sure that you son understands that it hurts people (and pets) when 'we' hit them. Dont put to much blame on him. Keep in mind he has probably seen it somewhere. I am not blaming you but probably at a friends, the park, or anywhere in public.

Putting emphasis on the fact that it hurts both physically and it hurts our hearts will let him know that his actions effect others. After you explain that to him see if a 1-2 minute cool off or time out will help. Then make sure after the time out is over he knows why he was in it. If he cant comprehend the punishment with the crime than the punishment is not effective.

He is old enough to understand the term 'hurts' and that hitting is not okay. Good Luck with it. Keep in mind the earlier you nip this habit the better age 2 and 3 will be.

Answer 2

i would just take his hand and tap it then tell him no hitting thats what i do

Answer 3

grab his hand and tell him NO.  he will eventually learn, but the dog situation can be more dangerous.  understand that if the dog bites, it is reacting instinctively.

Answer 4

find out why he hits and stop it

Answer 5

my son also hits and scratches. We tell him all of the time Gentle (we take his hand and have his hand glide over our faces, he likes to go the eyes and noses); we go over and over gentle sometimes he listens and sometimes he throws a tantrum (screams, hollers and throws things) just keep on him.

And about your dog, once your son starts to hit start saying gentle while are sitting there while they're interacting. If he just doesn't listen remove your puppy into another room or get a baby gate and give the dog some reassurance and some love your dog needs a place to get a way so dog doesn't react negativity towards your child.

Answer 6

I hold onto the hand of my 13 month old and smack his fingers. I mostly hit my own hand so it makes a big sound and a little smack to him and I say NO as scary as I can. Then I sit him on his bum away from what ever he's been hitting and ignore him until he stops crying. Once he's stopped I pick him up, hug him and tell him "hitting is bad, you be nice".

He's almost all over it, it lasted 2 weeks.

Answer 7

Put him in the corner and give him time outs. Go down to his eye level, make him look at you and in a serious and stern voice tell him no, and that is being a bad boy, and do not reward him for bad behavior with a cookie later on. Be tough, stand your ground, and make sure in no uncertain terms that bad behavior will be punished and you are not going to tolerate it.

Answer 8

he isn't hitting to hurt he's hitting because he can't express what he's feeling. start  verbalizing how he feels so he knows the words for them if hes acting angry ask him if he's mad. see if you can figure out what he's upset about and address it directly. he's at the age where he feels but doesn't understand it hitting is how he communicates.

Answer 9

You tell him THAT's NOT NICE.  u give doogie boo-boo. My grandson was doing that to my daughter's cats.   He cried and felt bad. It worked. ;-)

Answer 10

You want to make sure that you are correcting the behavior every time he does it. When he hits, get down on his level so you are looking into his eyes and tell him "We do not hit, hitting hurts." Make sure you use a strong, authoritative voice(do not yell) You want to use the same basic phrase every time, keep it short and sweet. As you are saying these words, make sure your facial expression show that you are upset. Young children pick up changes in our facial expression and tone better than the actual words. If you can, you may even try slightly exaggerating how "angry" you are(facial wise).

After you tell him hitting hurts be sure to show him the proper way to interact with the dog and yourself. Take his hands in yours and have him pet the dog or stroke your face(you want to keep a hold of the hand b/c he may decided to hit you, and you want to keep some control).

When you are petting the dog or stroking your face tell him in a calm tone "gentle touches". Make sure that you reward this behavior with a large smile, maybe a gentle touch of your own on his face. Again, if you are able exaggerate your facial expression, and keep the tone of voice sweet and gentle. "Puppy likes when you give gentle touches.", "Puppy loves you", etc and the same with you, "You're so nice to mommy/daddy.", "You're so gentle with mommy/daddy", etc.

If he continues to hit after you go through those step, then you can tell him to "walk away". Again make sure you tell him "no hitting...", but then put him down or turn him away from you and tell him to walk away. Specifically you can tell him "Mommy/Daddy does not like that, you need to walk away." He won't understand the words, but it will get him used to the words, b/c you can continue to use this method as he gets older, and it is always easier to begin young. He probably will not walk away, so you need to. You need him to associate hitting with everything fun coming to a stop. He hits you and that will cause you to walk away from him. You do not need to leave the room or go far, it is basically ignoring him for about a minute, so he gets the point.

After about a minute go back and try again, walk away again if he hits you. he will eventually link the two actions together.

Answer 11

here is what i do when i'm babysitting and the kid is hitting me, i hold onto his hand firmly not hurting just don't let his hands move. if he figits then pick him up and hold him tightly and don't let him move. does not hurt and it works

Answer 12

I have an almost 16 month old, and we have 2 dachshunds.  My son loves to grab our male dogs ears.  What we do it gently pull his hand off and have him pet the puppy.  We tell him that he's hurting "obi" and we need to be nice.  If he doesn't stop and the dog yipes, he goes into time out.  we sit him in his crib.