I have an almost 8 year old dog and a 2 year old son, so lots of opportunities for interactions that are teaching moments. Please just keep in mind that I know my dog very well and we have a lot of trust and handling experience together, I know her limits and her body language and I know when to pull back from a situation. She is very tolerant which allows me to get short videos to help with education, but this isn't something I would want just anyone to do (I'm specifically allowing situations that I wouldn't normally so that I can show her body language, and even when I am allowing this it's only for a brief period of time).
This is a great video to show a commonly missed sign of anxiety: tongue flicks and/or lip licking. This is one of the really subtle signs that can go unnoticed quite frequently, which is why I think a video is most helpful in understanding this one! My dog flicks her tongue many times in this video to communicate to me that she is uncomfortable, and you'll notice she looks at me multiple times while doing so because she is used to me picking up on this immediately to intervene. Sometimes she likes to have my son near her of course, but sometimes she's done and wants her space and this is a common sign that a dog isn't comfortable with a situation. He isn't being particularly obnoxious, of course something like sitting on her or pulling on her ears/tail would be obviously inappropriate but even this isn't acceptable for her needs at the moment. She also pulls her ears back a bit and turns her head a few times to avoid my son as he moves, but she doesn't remove herself until the end of the video when I tell her to go lay down (I've removed the original audio in order to do a quick voice-over).
Although some dogs will immediately remove themselves from a situation that makes them uncomfortable many will not (often when involving children), and it's up to us as the handler to be paying attention so that we can read their body language and step in.
