I recently shared some training tips with  Bupa Pet Insurance​. I mainly talked about the interaction between dogs and children.

Recent research indicates that while children will recognize an angry dog they have difficulties recognizing when a dog is scared.

Children are very likely to get bitten by their own family dog. However, if both dogs and children are taught to respect each other life becomes much easier.

That said, children and dogs have to be supervised actively at all times and children and dogs should never be left unsupervised.

You can find some training advice here Expert Advice

One of the main problem areas are sleeping spaces and around food. Like in most cases, prevention is much better than cure.

Children have to learn to leave a dog in his bed or crate alone and respect their personal space. We used to say let sleeping dogs lie and this is still true!

While it is helpful to teach the dog a solid leave it cue it is even more important, especially with puppies, to exchange. They need to learn that we are not just taking things away but in most cases they are getting something better. So if your puppy has taken off with a sock (as long as it is not an emergency) calmly get a treat and ask the dog to exchange for the treat you are offering. Try not to chase, this might just be the game the puppy had been waiting for.

It also pays to do the food bowl exercises a couple of times a week. While dogs deserve to eat in peace, they also need to be safe around the food bowl. Put half of the dry food in the food bowl and while the dog is eating, calmly add more food (dry food and a few treats). Very quickly the dog will learn that your hands coming to the food bowl bring more and better stuff. She will learn that hands are a good thing and not bad news. Your dog should start to look forward to hands and people coming near her when she is eating.

It is also beneficial to encourage positive interaction between children and dogs. A great way is to encourage trick training, fetch or hide and seek and discourage rough housing or chasing games.