Last night he came out of his room because he had an accident in his diaper and wanted it changed. We were watching an episode of Chicago Pd and he immediately tackled our dog after the diaper was changed. The scene that was playing when he came out was a police officer side tackling a perp. He doesn't have the comprehension level yet to know what's a story on TV and what you can do in real life
My toddler is hitting and answering back at the minute. I think it’s a normal part of development as he learns to channel his frustration. But I give him a choice and he knows if he hits he will go on the naughty step for 2 min x
Our son is doing the same. We take away the things he likes the most (park, bike, dinosaurs... etc) when he's pushing the dog or hitting. We also reevaluated what he's been watching lately. It's honestly things you don't think about that can influence behaviour (ie Shrek). We figured out that it's been a combination of pokemon, jurassic world (his two current faves) and "mommy, daddy tv time" (when he's supposed to be in bed)