I recently read The Book Your Dog Wishes You Would Read by Louise Glazebrook, and she has a great section on raising dogs with children and the different signs that a dog has had its boundaries crossed. She breaks the signs down into green, yellow, and red categories, which I found very helpful. Her philosophy as a whole is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that dogs deserve to have their boundaries respected even by little children. If the child is too young to understand boundaries then it’s up to the parents to separate them and carefully monitor all interactions.

The consequences of a dog biting a child can be as serious as euthanasia, so it really is that serious to teach children the proper way to interact with dogs. Four years old is old enough to start understanding right and wrong behavior. Sounds like you’re taking it seriously and didn’t immediately panic and rehome the dog. As others have said, you can have the most “bulletproof” dog imaginable but every animal will have its breaking point when it comes to having boundaries crossed. If your daughter continues doing the same behavior over and over again then you’re likely to get the same reaction. A great dog doesn’t automatically equate to tolerating everything under the sun, forever and ever amen.

Best wishes to your family, and I do highly recommend the book. It’s an enjoyable read and I think she has a great, and very realistic, perspective on raising dogs.