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[quote=Anonymous]My dog has two very distinct sets of behavior.  He isn't aggressive with anyone, but he is very cautious and gentle around children.  If they approach him he sits down, whereas if an adult approaches him he'll run up, and rub against their legs and try and get them to pet him.  If an adult pats their legs, he'll put his paws up so that he can get his ears scratched, but no matter how much a child encourages him he won't put his paws on them.  He'll also try and herd kids away from traffic, something he doesn't do with adults.  It's like he sees them as needing his protection.

When my oldest kid was about 6 - 11 he was annoyed.  He wanted his dog to jump on him and rush to the door to greet him.  His best friend hit puberty about a year earlier than he did, and there was a pretty sudden change in the dog from treating him like a kid to treating him like an adult.  My son was jealous that the dog treated the friend one way and hm another.  Then when he hit puberty he suddenly became an adult.

Given that, I totally believe that a dog can sense puberty.  If you watch dogs at the park, they treat puppies under about 9 months entirely differently than they treat dogs who have hit their own puberty.  With the former they are often very passive, and then when the puppies get to a certain developmental point they will suddenly start asserting more boundaries.  So, I guess they treat human children the same.

Having said that, I would involve a trainer with any dog that's snapping at a child.  That is behavior that can quickly escalate out of control.[/quote]

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