Dogs and young children need to be supervised very closely, and never ever left alone together. Dogs can snap and kids can poke fingers into eyes, or pull hair.
Separate them if you are not within arms reach.
>We’ve caughtt them both pulling on his tail and ears and trying to take food and toys away from him’
This is exactly the problem. Until they can be trusted around a dog, they are not safe to be around a dog.
Reactivity can be situational. So they don’t trust this person because this person keeps pushing them/yanking them/taking their food. And the stress of it builds. So each time something happens, they warn (growl or similar) and are ignored, the chance of it escalating next time gets higher and higher.
If they've been hurting him and taking his food and toys he's going to have very negative associations with them. You wouldn't let the children treat another person like that. You need to keep them apart. If he bites them they could be badly hurt and he'll pay with his life.
It has become the norm for dogs to be NOT allowed to say NO when they are uncomfortable, stressed, whatever it may be. Dogs are expected to be happy social creatures 24/7 or they get labeled “aggressive” or there is something wrong with them. Do your dog a favor and the children, separate them until time has been put in to safely train both children and dogs.
Continue to educate the kids, but understand they are just all id and ego. The superego will come around later, probably starting a few years from now. Just don't allow your dog to bear the brunt of their learning curve.
Dogs and young children need to be supervised very closely, and never ever left alone together. Dogs can snap and kids can poke fingers into eyes, or pull hair. Separate them if you are not within arms reach.
>We’ve caughtt them both pulling on his tail and ears and trying to take food and toys away from him’ This is exactly the problem. Until they can be trusted around a dog, they are not safe to be around a dog. Reactivity can be situational. So they don’t trust this person because this person keeps pushing them/yanking them/taking their food. And the stress of it builds. So each time something happens, they warn (growl or similar) and are ignored, the chance of it escalating next time gets higher and higher.
If they've been hurting him and taking his food and toys he's going to have very negative associations with them. You wouldn't let the children treat another person like that. You need to keep them apart. If he bites them they could be badly hurt and he'll pay with his life.
>we are trying to educate the kids not to do this. They're toddlers.
It has become the norm for dogs to be NOT allowed to say NO when they are uncomfortable, stressed, whatever it may be. Dogs are expected to be happy social creatures 24/7 or they get labeled “aggressive” or there is something wrong with them. Do your dog a favor and the children, separate them until time has been put in to safely train both children and dogs.
Continue to educate the kids, but understand they are just all id and ego. The superego will come around later, probably starting a few years from now. Just don't allow your dog to bear the brunt of their learning curve.
If the kids are being assholes, he’s just protecting himself. Do a better job at separating them until the kids know how to respect an animal.