Help! I Am Having Issues with My 3 Year Old Daughter!

I just baby-sat a dog and this worked great with my super active, rough and tumbble 3 year old.....it may work well with your daughter combined with removing her when she's being a stinker.

I put a sheep skin on our couch and told my son that it was the dogs time out/rest zone. That when Spanky lays on his pelt, nobody can touch him. And when my son wated to get away from the dog, his playroom was his rest zone, where the dog couldn't go.

It worked well. I also told him that the dog was fragile like his baby brother....

I used to volunteer at a shelter and have heard a few tips that might help. I recently have had to do the below things to stop my 2 year old from picking up the cats. They have been around her entire life, but she recently realized that she's bigger and can carry them!
It took about two full days and sometimes I see her tempted to pick them up still, but she refrains...

Well, you dont want your dog to feel like he has to defend himself. So, I think maybe for a few days you'll have to "take a vacation from everything else" lol - and just focus on them two. Like, when she does stuff like that, dont even tell her what to do, dont give her a warning. When she acts looney around him, go straight to her and remove her from the situation. While you carry her away or remove her from the situation, calmly say "No pulling the dog." or whatever she is doing.
She will probably go a bit loonier in protest... but after a while, it wont even be worth it to her to attempt to harass the dog because she wont be able to get away with it even once - whereas just saying something usually lets them finish the behavior at least once.

Then, maybe consider giving her the sole responsibility of feeding the dog to her. So the dog does see that she is ABOVE him and while she feeds and waters the dog, you can sweetly talk about how the dog is like our new baby. How the dog depends and trusts us to care for him and love him and make him feel safe. He loves to be talked to sweetly and touched gently and he sure does love her to feed him.

Im sure you've tried these things, but I think immediately removing her from the situation without a direction to do so for a few days might do the trick.
I know my four year neice is a bit rambunctious and she will block out her moms voice just long enough for her to hurry up and finish the behavior before she darts away... still having done it, yknow?

Best of luck!! Eventually the novelty of the dog will wear off, but I hope you can start their relationship off to a good start so the dog doesnt "learn" how he treats and interacts with her to be needed in a defensive way.

Hi D.
Have you tried telling your little one that the dog has feelings to, and explaining to her that when she pulls on the dogs tail its like pulling on her hair, it hurts. Tell her that if she can't play nice, then she can't play at all, show her how to pet the puppy nice, gently with love..and show her physically how the puppy wants to be touched by petting her like on the arm or head. Now remember there is some discipline involved to make this work..Now if she doesn't be nice with the puppy, remove the puppy from her access, and explain to her that the only way she gets the puppy is by being nice.

I have had most types of animals with my children all their lives, and yes we've definately had this conversation. Just a little note: My girls are 19, 16, & 14, and I have a 16 day old grandson...and I have 7 dogs, 2 cats..yes my house is nuts..so I wish you much luck. Let me know

I would say to not keep her from the dog. Both need to learn to live with each other. She is old enough to be instructed on the proper way to handle the dog. Sit with her on the floor, show her the proper way to handle the pet. Explain to her that certain things can hurt the dog, and hurt his feelings. If she gets rough, stop her, and redirect her in the right way. If she contenues to be rough, remove her from the dog, not the dog from her. Then once removed, explain what she did, and why it is wrong. Once she has calmed down, she can go back to the dog. Repeat this several times, once is not enough. Sooner or later, she will begin to understand the proper way to act with the dog. Or any animal for that matter. Good luck.