..well, not all the time, but he gets excited around her and starts pursuing her and licking at her arms and face. She is not much taller than him, and he's developed a strong prey drive around squirrels/birds and I sort of worry that he might be thinking 'prey'? 
It doesn't help when she gets nervous and squeals 'stop, MOUSE, STOP' in an injured tone (she's just 5), backing off at the same time. He gets even more excited (obviously). I do tell her to turn her back (he still jumps up), I tell her to say 'sit' in a calm voice - which helps when she is able to do it, but thats not often.
He does do it to me too sometimes, but for me its just a PITA and dealable with - for dd2, its scary and stressful.
He's 8-9 months old, lab x (staffy/lurcher/beagle??). I never leave them unsupervised. I tell him to sit, or 'down'. I've started getting dd2 to do bits of training with him - which is working well, but not made a difference so far. I get her to give him his treats/food sometimes.
Anything else I can/should do?
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The doghouse
What does this mean/how do I deal with it? 8 month old pup licking at dd2 all the time..
Elibean · 27/12/2011 13:27
Thank you. Will give it a try, but may need a plan b - last time dd had treats in her pocket for Mouse, he ended up leaping at her to try and get them. He is an utter pig for treats (rescue pup, and lab x=canine dustbin).
Yep your DD reaction is very common so plan B.
Rereading your first post I do not think he is seeing her as prey as dogs don't usually lick prey.
They lick if they are stressed and also as a calming signal to others. eg my lab will lick my rescue collie for hours if I let him - he realises that it calms the collie down.
So it may be if your DC is running around like little ones do and being cheery in her higher pitched voice that your dog is misunderstanding and trying to calm her down. Or it could just be that he likes to lick her!
I think it is more of training your dd than the dog however Mouse needs to recognise that this is not the way to behave. So if he is licking her I would gently remove Mouse away. No comments, no reprimand - just a consequence to his actions. I would also encourage DD to work at the sit or even down, would be better as then he is further away from her.
That is actually hugely helpful - thanks so much! Just knowing what is going on in Mouse's head (makes sense he is trying to calm dd/himself, as she gets nervous around him still...she used to be terrified of dogs, is so much better but even so is by far the least confident in the family).
You have calmed me down too 
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