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[quote=Anonymous]OP here.  Thanks for all of the comments -- this has been an interesting and useful read for me.

We took DS to the doctor today, and she showed no concern regarding the situation at all -- in fact, she barely even looked at his head and said it looked like barely a nip.  This relieved me a little (and the fact that this morning I look at his head and felt he just had two tiny scratches).  It convinced me that I was right in feeling that it was not a super serious situation that requires rehoming.

I do want to thank all the PPs who noted that we need to be more careful and allow our DS to do less to our dog.  I think perhaps I made it sound worse than it really is -- in reality, we always stop our son if he gets too excited and moves from petting to trying to hit the dog.  When he has hit the dog with a toy, we take the toy away immediately and tell him no.  If the dog appears irritated, we always put him outside (where he likes to be, so it's not a punishment for the dog).

Our toddler wants to play with the dog, and he wants the dog to chase him.  We weren't exactly encouraging him to chase the dog with a push toy, but DH and DS were riding together on one, and the dog got in front of them.  Since DS wants to play with our dog and our dog doesn't play much (seriously, won't put a ball in his mouth), DH thought it might be fun to follow him with the push toy.  I personally would not have done this, and I agree that it was a mistake.  Unfortunately, DH and I have disagreed on things regarding the dog in the past.  Honestly, DH does not much like our dog, although he would never intentionally hurt him or let him get hurt.  But I do think that DH's inexperience with dogs leads him to sometimes do things that I consider questionable (like the push toy).  Hopefully this has been a reminder to him.  I know that it will result in a fight if I try to note that it was somehow his fault as much as the dog's.

Anyway, I am not trying to excuse my own part in this.  When he has done things I don't approve of with the dog, I have treated him like I do when he does these things to other kids -- I try to gently discourage him but recognize that he's too young to fully understand.  Yes, he knows he shouldn't poke the dog's eye and that he'll get yelled at if he tries to, but he's a toddler, and he sometimes wants to test the limits.  I think what I need to do is just recognize that the dog isn't another toddler and it's more serious if he gets angry because DS does something inappropriate.

I can see how others think that we are being cruel to the dog, but I think you are misreading the true situation (hard to explain in a forum vs. being there).  Our dog is a loved part of our family, and his favorite thing to do is to be a part of what we are doing.  As a result, we've considered it to be something he wants when we are all around, playing together.  Yes, DS does get a little rough sometimes, but we stop him when he does.  I may have made a mistake in thinking the hugging wasn't a big deal.  It's not aggressive hugging and is when DS is right next to the dog in a sitting position, like he would hug a friend.  I don't want to discourage DS from being affectionate because he really means this as a sign of love for the dog, nothing abusive.  But I will work with him on understanding that dogs don't like to be hugged.

Thanks so everyone![/quote]

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