My son is 5 and I've only just started to relax a bit when it comes to him being around the dogs. He is VERY sensible when it comes to dogs, we have 10 of our own and he goes to dog shows most weekends - he is more dog savvy than many adult dog owners I know
but even then I am very careful around the circumstances where he may be with a dog and not under complete supervision. As it is he has 'claimed' one of my dogs, he adores her and has been learning how to train her. My old dog who I lost last year was not very tollerant of children and would have snapped if he was pushed but my son knew from as soon as he started toddling around that 'you do not grab at big Jack', being respectful to my dogs is as important a llife esson to my son as not running into the road and not touching the fire.Until recently he was never left alone with any dog for a second, if I went to the loo he came with or the dogs were put in another room, a crate or outside (I have to admitt that I have on occasion left him asleep in the front room and taken a dog to the loo with me
), now I will leave him unsupervised with a dog, but it would be a dog that I know very well and know how far it can be pushed, he will always be in hearing and I will always know what is going on. He also is pretty good at reading a dogs body language, can tell when the dog is getting uncomfortable and he knows to back off when that happens. By unsupervised I mean that he will be in the front room and I will be in the kitchen or he will be in the garden at the same time as the dogs when I am in the kitchen with the door open.
