Almost 6 yo encouraging dog's rough play

[desertpenguin]

We have a blue heeler mix that is less than a year old. My ds1 is going to be 6 yo in November. The blue heeler is obviously still very much a puppy and very playful, but doesn't yet know boundaries. Ds1 encourages the dog to bite him while he's playing with the dog and it's very frustrating because I don't want the dog to associate biting with playing at all. Ds1 encourages and encourages (even going so far as actually shoving his hands in the dog's mouth) and then eventually the dog gets rougher than ds1 wants, or ds1 wants to stop, and then ds1 starts wailing and saying he hates the dog and wants to get rid of him. Ds1 has actually had his forearms completely covered in bruises and it scares me that someone will call DHS on us. I have tried everything I could think of to get ds1 to stop this but he just does it again. I don't know what else to do other than to get rid of the dog, but I really don't want to. I love him and I feel safer with him around, since my dh works nights and is gone so much on the days he works. Ds1 loves the dog too and I know he will be really heartbroken if we get rid of the dog, and it will come up every time he's tired and will start another fit of tears. Please help me!

[sweetkid]

I'd sign yourselves up for a dog obedience course,take ds along. Also 6 is not too young to know that a dog that is biting can and will be put to sleep if it bites a stranger or another child and that he is training the dog to bite.If this continues you would be doing the dog a great disservice if you kept it.My 4 year old understands very well how to treat our family dogs and has very real consequences if she mistreats them,She is separated from the dogs if she gets too wild,which hardly ever happens,not the other way around.

the dog listener is a great book for helping a dog understand its place in the family and very easy to implement with the "help" of a 6 year old.

[Super~Single~Mama]

When ds encourages biting, separate them and don't let them play together. If that alone isn't working, add another layer - like no playing with the dog and no tv (or another fave activity) for a certain amount of time. Also explain the very real consequences of teaching the dog to bite.