growling at kids!?!

[bassackwardsinMI]

Buddy, the worlds nicest dog... or at least I thought so... this is what happened... how do I deal???
This morning a lady dropped off her two sons for me to babysit before school, as her daycare lady is out of town. I will be filling in before and after school today, friday, mon, and tues... this concerns me! When the boys were dropped off, I was taking buddy out the side door and they rang the front bell. I think they took him by surprise as they came around the corner. He dropped his tail and growled at them... his hackles were not raised, his teeth were not bared, it was more of an I'm scared type than gonna eat you thing... but fear will cause them to attack too, right? I IMMEDIATELY dropped down to hold him and told him it was alright, but his reaction caught me off guard and I am sure he sensed my discomfort.
A note about the boys: they are, I am sorry to say, ROTTEN kids, LOL.. mine are not perfect, but I have watched them before, and without going in to it, let's just leave it at they are ROTTEN. I only really agree to do it because I feel bad for the mom that they are soooooo bad!! I have met her and seen enough to know that in this case, it is NOT her fault. I always thought that the only way kids could be so bad was if the parents let them, but NO- some kids are just evil, LOL!!
Anyway, I was worried from the beginning that they would be mean to buddy or something, and planned to be right there to supervise any interaction between them. HOWEVER... I NEVER expected buddy to react like that! getting back to the scenario...
I put him out on his cable to go potty and all while I got the boys in and settled. Then I went out to get buddy, and when we got into the same room where the boys were, he acted afraid, the way he does (the wimp) around our cat: eyes on me, wagging, but between the legs tail... I called him to me, and held him, and had each boy come to him alone and offer a hand for their scent. this did nothing for his peace of mind. I could see him balk, even wince, when they would pet him, and did all I could to keep them away. By this time I too was a nervous wreck- it never occurred to me that he would not be okay with everybody in the world- he has always warmed to all people large and small, and an attack or bite has never been on my mind, but suddenly I worry about it! We have 3 small boys and he is GREAT with them...
Help please!!!

[sjberes]

I'm afraid this won't be much help, but you said the kids were rotton. A dog can sense that, they are pretty good judges of character.

I myself won't put up with a rotten kid and I understand your reasons, but maybe, if they won't behave, don't sit for them.

Otherwise, I guess, keep Buddy as far away as possible.

[bassackwardsinMI]

yeah, I know about the judge of character thing, LOL, and I wonder if that's all it is... when they got back after school things went a little smoother. He is still quite slow to warm up to them, but I had each give him a treat, and of course that helped... I can almost see him thinking "well, they're evil, but they have food... hmmmmm... I am torn...."
but he is no longer shirking OR acting aggressively, so that is a good thing... And no, I don't put up with much either-my kids think I am uber-evil-momster... but whaddya do?

[Bassetpup]

Have those kids every been with Buddy before?

[bassackwardsinMI]

No, they haven't ( a little late on the reply, sorry, it's baseball season for my two oldest boys... my life is consumed...) so I KNOW they didn't do anything to him, if for no other reason than they never had a chance. Fortunately, after a few days, he warmed up to them, and they were so taken by him I knew they would'nt hurt him. There was still MEGA-supervision, but thankfully it's done (was only temporary) and everybody ended up fine... I think I just got a little panicky maybe? It was the first time I ever had to think of that part of the responsibility... I sort of was in my little utopia world, where he would love everyone, and everyone would love him. Why wouldn't they, anyway? He ISSSS the perfect hound!! Do you think I have a little case of "mommy bias" going on? NoOooooooo, not me!