Is child jealous of animals

[Donna657]

Ryan is my nephew. He is 5 3/4 yrs old. At this time he is being raised by my mom, his grandmother. From the beginning since he came to live with his grandmother a year ago, he has been mean to her 3 dogs. Because of this, these dogs will not have anything to do with him. Here is what has happened. Ryan now for 2 mos has been peeing on the floor in her bedroom and has been blaming just one of the dogs for doing it. I should of picked up on this long ago, but not having pets myself I did'nt know how much a dog pees. So for two mos I have been cleaning this up and tring to retrain the dog to go outside. Needless to say I found out who was doing the peeing. I asked Ryan why he was doing this. He would not answer me. He just now will admit it was him. I will tell you what his punishment has been. First I made him mop it up. Later that day we cleaned the room again. I gave him a bucket with cleaner in it and a pair of gloves and he had to clean the floor thoughly. Then I had him write I will not pee on the floor 50 times. Mind you I had him tell me after each task what it was he had done. I wanted him to know why he is being punished. He is doing all the tasks without any problems except every now and then he said he was tired. I then told him that this was how I felt everytime I had to clean up the pee.(up to 3 times a day for 2 mos). Question?? Why did he do this? Is the  punishment fair?

[LRM1021]

I agree with althepal39's comments. Children who urinate and/ or defecate in odd places are generally doing that as anger release. These children are very upset/ scared/ angry and are taking it out in that way. Animals can be the subject of child cruelty as well when children are extremely angry-- the animals are safe "targetts." This child needs psychological evaluation very promptly.

[althepal39]

Children being mean to animals and peeing on the floor like that can be the sign of major emotional problems.  Considering he is living with his grandmother - he obviously has been through some disruption in his normal life and is probably acting out the hurt that he feels of not being with his parents for whatever reason.  I would get him to a counselor immediately.  

[musicmama]

I think the punishment is fair, but there needs to be some positive nurturing moments as well.  He really needs to be rewarded for being honest.  Remember, he didn't have any consequences until he was honest.

He has a lot of adjustments to make.  Could he go to a therapist?  I can't say he is jealous of the dogs.  He is acting out, and they are a convenient excuse or an easy target.

Good luck and God bless