I have to agree with Andrea on this one. Don't know too much about staffords, but I have had a black lab and a golden retriever (both excellent with children) and the mix(weimeraner/aussie sheppard) that we have now is awesome. I don't recommend jack russells, we had one of those and he was not a very friendly dog with the kids. Good with adults and other dogs, but not the kids. Good luck finding your puppy!

both my daughters totally obsessed with dogs!! my youngest who is 3 tends to want to play constantly but will back off when told what about terriers?

welsh terriers are lovely but don't come cheap and are hard to find then you have the added cost of grooming a super dog with kids is a german spitz but they are long haired but great with little uns photo of one in the pet encylopedia

__________________

I'd say wait until you're 3 year old is a bit older
then consider breeds
i'd recomment a bull terrier (i dont own one) but they're brill with kids because the kids can be rough with it and then it won't trun around and bite them.

__________________

some Terriers are lovely and yes as long as they are bought up with children from a young age , some breeders will say if they have been bought up in a home enviroment aroubd children and other animals so to some degree that is of help as they will be used to kids so your 2 will be nothing new to them . just do your research and dont rely just on other peoples say so as there home experiences of a dog ,and what suits your requirements would be different . You said sgort haired is this because of molting ? if this is an issue for you all dogs willl molt generally throughout the year with several main times where they shed a lot , the only breeds i know of that hardly molt at all are poodles and bichon ,s (sorry about the spelling ) but both types would need the services of a groomer regular to clip the coat . I,ll have a look in my breed book and see if there isnt something .

Staffordshire bulls are great with kids, they're not too big and they have short hair.

__________________
Anna xxxx

Labs and Retreivers make wonderful family pets, but so do a lot of other breeds.

One word of caution however, ALL dogs can bite if pulled around by children, so PLEASE never leave them unsupervised.

I am a strong believer in bringing up children with our canine friends, since they make wonderful companions. Problems will only usually occur when children are left unsupervised.

__________________

I know you said small dog but I have had both small and medium sized dogs and at the moment have a st bernard and he has been the best with my kids ( 4 & 2 ) the can jump all over him and he doesnt seem to care

have you looked at cavalier king charles spaniels ,the are billant with kids