playful nipping

Since Scotty is a cockapoo, it's less likely that it's a herding instinct and more likely that he just hasn't learned that he's not supposed to do that. Most likely, he thinks that he's playing with them. There are two things that you can try: (1) When he does it, have your 8-year-old (or her friends) let out a high pitched yelp and immediately stand still with her arms crossed and ignore him. When he tries to get her attention, have her turn her back to him. When he settles down have her say "good boy, Scotty" and pet him and then have them go back to playing. Make sure that she includes him in the good play. And encourages him. Repeat as needed. (2) Monitor their play. When he nips, say no and put him in time out. After a few minutes, let him out of timeout. With both cases, Scotty should get the idea that I shouldn't nip because in both cases, (1) the playing stops and (2) your attention goes away. In the first one, the high pitched yelp is like his littermates - and your daughter's reaction is very much like when he was a puppy and got too rough.

The breed of your dog may have a lot to do with this behavior. If he is a herding breed, then this behavior is natural for him. He sees a group of children running all around the yard and his herding instincts kick in. Those children need to be grouped together, not running amok in the yard! Nipping at heels is how many herding breeds do their job.

If this is the case, and you have a herding breed, then this behavior is not something you can train out of him. It's who he is. You will need to manage the situation by not letting the dog be with the kids when they're running around.

If the kids are doing other things in the yard, like swinging on the swing set or tossing a ball around, then that's fine, the dog can be out. But if they start running around and the nipping behavior starts, then the dog should be brought inside. Hope this helps. Good luck!

maybe let him know it's not ok. Stop the kids and tell him NO in a firm voice. Then throw a toy to occupy his mouth

Our puppy is the same age and he does it to our two year old son when he is running. I think it is their way of playing. He doesnt nip its more of a play bite, but if he get to agressive we send him to his kennel and it seems to be working. He has not chased our son around for awhile!

This could also be he wants to be dominate over the kids, they may need to stop and say no to him and get the upper hand on your dog. He could be trying to be above them in the family line, you know the pecking order, they may need to put him in his place, not roughly but verbly.

he may not be playing, he probably does not want the kids to step on him...