[MindieRose]

Cleo is my 3 year old maltipoo. She is my protector and my little partner. Well the other day my 14 month old skin baby was pulling Lilly's hair. Lilly is just 7 months old and is always stealing the baby's toys, so apparently the baby wanted to play. My kids have all grown up with dogs, and I teach them to respect them, but obviously sometimes something as simple as a little hair tug can happen. So the baby was trying to get her toy back, and pulled Lilly's hair. Lilly yiped, she is the biggest baby ever, she screams when I brush her, very dramatic. Anyway, Cleo thought the baby was in danger and went after Lilly. She didn't hurt her at all, but she held her down with her front legs and growled and acted like she was biting her, even though she wasnt. I didn't scold her, because I know she was just looking out for the baby, and I know how dramatic Lilly is. Well since then, Cleo hasnt really allowed Lilly near the kids. If Lilly tries to play at all with the baby (they are almost like siblings, lol) like she loves to do, Cleo goes after her and won't let her near her.
We were dealing with this awhile back, not the same thing, but whenever I would scold one of the dogs for being naughty, she would jump in and growl at them and corner them like she was telling them off too. I ended up really making sure she realized that I was the pack leader and not her. Now though, I have mixed feelings. I appreciate her "protecting" the baby, and I don't want her to think that it's not ok to keep the kids safe, but Lilly didn't, and wasnt going to, hurt the baby, but how do you explain that to a dog?