I really hope someone can give me some advice on this one, because I am at a loss! To give a bit of background, I recently moved in with my brother and his girlfriend, who have a dog and a cat. Add our dog to the mix, and we have a houseful! Before we moved here, my 2-year-old twins mostly ignored our dog. Since we moved here, though, the kids have become obsessed with the animals, and are constantly trying to touch/chase/kick(lightly)the dogs and cat. They're not malicious - they just don't understand how to treat the animals. We have been trying to teach them, but it's not sinking in. We've gotten to the point where we have a rule that they're not allowed to touch the animals at all, but they're still ddoing it. Does anyone have an idea that might help? I've tried giving them time outs when they do it, I've praised them when they're acting appropriately, and I've tried ignoring and redirecting, but nothing seems to be working. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

You could try putting the kids in another room anytime they are too rough with the animals, and tell them they can't be around the animals unless they can be gentle. Tell them they are welcome to come back out when they are ready to be nice to the animals, but if they continue the same behaviour, just keep putting them back into the other room. At the age of 2 being separated from the "fun and action" (i.e. being away from other people) has the most impact, I find.