Sooo... I have a lab/mal mix, he is 2 years old. He looks like his labrador mama, but has the stanima and intensity of his malinois father. We are usually alone for most of the time, other than passing by people and dogs on walks. When he was smaller he was awful, pulling on the leash, throwing me on the ground, jumping etc... Now he has gotten better on walks, he doesn't pull, he passes by other dogs with no fuss. Every time we get visits, he still gets abnormally excited and barks and jumps like a lunatic, fetches a shoe or two, but then calms down.
But today we had a visit from a large group of people and... CHILDREN!! I thought my dog lost his mind! He was on a leash of course, but was pulling, jumping, squilling and barking like a mad man! I tied him around a fence pole and after a while a child screams 'the dog is loose!' The first thought I had was I am going to demand a refund on that leash, it was expensive and supposed to be excellent quality. Come to find out he bit the leash in half! Then he stole a little girl's stuffed toy, ran away with it, trashing it in the air and the girl started to cry. The embarassement I went through!!😅
I retrieved the toy and got the dog, everything was fine of course, but I would like some advice on how to control and calm a dog in this sorts of situations with kids? He would never bite or be agressive towards anybody, but he has a thing for kids, because they are fast moving. I am afraid to let him loose around children because he would probably chase them down, jump and make them fall. Or even how to have him on a leash and not react that much to children, that would also be a nicething to see.😃

Dog behaviour around children