Toddler terrorising dog 😢

My toddler has started being really rough with our family dog and it’s making me so stressed! I’ve taught her gentle hands and shown how we stroke and pet him gently but recently she finds it funny to grab his ears, legs, tail etc and I’m really worried he’s going to snap at her… he’s never bitten or been aggressive before but he’s obviously not enjoying this unwanted attention… I told her off but she finds it funny, I move her away and she goes straight back and don’t know what to do other than keep them separate all the time which would be a literal nightmare… just asked my o/h to watch them while I make tea and next thing I hear him yelp and see her pulling on his ears… and my o/h is looking at his phone 😡😡 now we’re in a fight cause I feel like I can’t leave them for 2 minutes. I feel so upset and I don’t really know what to do 😭

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Does dog have a crate or a safe space that you could make for them. When my youngest started crawling we had a safety gate between living room and kitchen. We put a dog bed in the kitchen so he had a space to go to. I also never let my daughter near the dog bed, she's 5 now and know when he's in bed we leave him she can throw a treat to him but in there but no touching.

@Kerry He never took to crate training and if we separate him from us he gets upset, we’ve got a baby gate on the kitchen and tried putting him in the there but he just barks relentlessly… he’s used to always being with us 😕

Does your dog have a bed he can access if you don't have a crate? Will need some training (mainly toddler) 😂 but what worked for me was keeping consistent with the fact they absolutely cannot go in the dog bed or disturb dog whilst she's in her bed. It's taken quite a while and I nearly gave up but I think it's finally paying off..he now knows he cannot go in her bed or disturb her while having a nap now (obviously he still has the odd impulse) but it's a lot more manageable now. It's just my experience I'm deffo not a dog and toddler expert 🙃 decide on a plan and stick with it even if its super exhausting 😣 it'll pass x

Don’t expect a toddler to listen, create a safe space - get a play pen to put toddler in when you can’t watch her. If you can’t shut the dog away, shut the toddler away! Gives you a bit of breathing space then too.

We have the same. My LO loves petting our dog, just like she loves pulling his ears or tail. We just try to keep them apart as much as possible. The dog is not allowed in my LOs bed or to play with her toys, and LO is not allowed to play with his toys, nor be in his bed or food area.

Make the kitchen fun space put an item of your clothing in the bed, give dog treat dispenser or something as soon as dog goes in bed give treat they will soon learn its a good place to be. My dog bed next to fridge so we got a lick mat that sticks on the side next to bed some time put meat spread or cheese spread on there.