When puppies are young, they need human contact. Touching their ears, feet, tails, etc, are part of getting them used to human contact. It helps them to learn to be okay with it. They need to experience the touching so that they get used to it and are okay with being handled. But touching and pulling are not the same thing. Its like teaching them that its okay to be treated in this way, and its not.
No one should allow their kids to pull on any part of an animal. They need to be taught how to treat them. If the child is pulling on an animal, hitting or kicking, or doing anything that is out of line, he/she needs to be corrected. Its not fair to the animal to have to sit there and take it. Thats not what i call being a "good dog", but more of a dog thats been programmed for abuse so he learns to tolerate it. An undisciplined child is a recipe for disaster.

Dusty, I agree 100% that children need to be taught how to handle an animal, and that pushing, pulling, tugging, hitting, and kicking are not to be tolerated and will be punished. I do not think however that the child should be bitten. Or the child's friend who is spending the night and hasn't been taught better, whose parent will push for the dog to be put down. Or the boy at the festival who hit my dog. Or the resident in the facility where I work, thereby costing me my job and possibly my dog's life.

Bulldogs are great with kids because they are docile and gentle and affectionate. Wheaten terriers also seem to have a natural affinity for kids and they have such a good nature. I wouldn't necessarily pair up a small dog with kids because kids tend to be a little rough with them. A wheaten is around 30-40 lbs and is non-shedding. Old English Sheepdogs are good with kids although they do tend to herd the little ones, which I guess could be a good thing if you're a parent!

There are many breeds of dogs that are suitable as companions in a home with children. I am more concerned about the ages of the children belonging to the OP and the parents having the time and energy to properly train and care for a puppy. This is why I reccommended a 2 two year old dog that was already house broken and good with children.I do rescue and too many pups are either stuck in crates for too many hours or are banned to a pen in the back yard because they were too much work or chewed furniture, shoes or kids' toys. Eventually the poor pup ends up at animal control or if it is lucky the Humane society or a breed rescue. It just makes more sense to me to adopt an adult dog that is already trained and used to children than to possibly traumatize or neglect a puppy.

Apparently I should be turned in for animal abuse, cause I pull on my dogs ear, legs, and tails...


i do also .... not HARD mind you but i do it to bomb proof them and make sure they stay bomb proofed. plus i love scouts tail so i usually grab it as she walks by and give it a "shake".


for whomever said a child shouldn't be bit by a dog for doing any of the above i disagree a little bit. one of the ways my son learned a valuable lesson was because he was bitten in the face by one of our dogs. he was three at the time and thought that sitting on our older arthritic dog and pretending he was a horse was a great idea. didn't matter to him that i repeatedly told him to stop, and that the dog growling was not his way of saying he liked what my son was doing. so my son continued on and got bit right in the cheek. stosh didn't break the skin on my son but my son never did anything like that again to the dog, or any dog for that matter.

i don't condone all situations in which a dog bites a child, however there are times when it is certainly deserved.

So what does the OP plan to do with the dog she/he already has? They sounded like they were just gonna toss it out to get something "better" whats wrong with the dog you have? It towers over the children, whats wrong with that? If you are ready to give up on it like that because of its size I would say no dog is good for your home with your children,the next one may be too small and the next too long and the next too hyper and so on.

I agree with Drogheda. Lots of dogs are suitable for children as long as parents/owners are committed to training the dog and the children. If owners can't devote their time training the dog and their children, then no dog will ever be suitable. It's not fair for the dog to end up being at shelter when it bites back because the children decided to stomp on it's paw. No matter how good you've trained a dog, when it reaches that boiling point, it will defend itself.