In the first instance you are correct, in the second instance the problem was food (popcorn-my son had it and the dog wanted it). We didn't handle that issue appropriately either. As I said, I confess to being dog ignorant and I won't inflict myself on another poor puppy.
My point was that it's the owners responsibility to control the dog within it's environment. Whether it is children, or various members of the press and public that the dog is being exposed to, the owner must assume that not all people approaching will be dog savvy people and act accordingly.
yep, food aggression can be a problem with some dogs. Easiest way to deal with it is to crate the dog while kids are eating, and teach kids not to tease dogs with food in their hands!
My sis inherited my mom’s tea-cup poodle, when my mom died. Benjamin weighs all of about 7 pounds, but is very much a “food-guarder”. Benjamin gets fed in his little crate, and no-one opens the crate when Benjamin is eating, or else they will be wearing band-aids!
No matter what the size, dogs need to be trained, and children should be constantly supervised when interacting with dogs. One never knows when a child will do something stupid, like stick a pencil in a dog’s ear, and get seriously bitten.
It isn’t that children are bad, or that dogs are bad. It is just that the natural curiosity of children, and the instinctual nature of dogs are not always a good combination, until both are very well trained!