Thanks, that does help. Bijou is very responsive and becoming responsible in the house, and definitely defers to me and my husband as alpha figures. However, the young kids do not have the same authority and I've tried to teach them to "be big!" when Bijou wants to lay claim to their food, or jumps on them, etc. One of my boys in particlar cuddles up into a tiny ball when Bijou gets playful, and I've tried to show he must be tall and strong because in this case (with our dog) he DOES get to be the boss! It's difficult but not impossible, and I'm going to employ your suggestions toute suite.

As an aside, I like the NILIF method and use it for all my interactions with Bijou. "Leave it" is understandably a hugely important command and we are still working on that on!

Thanks so much for your insight.