My 10wk old maltipoo barks and bites us

Question
I have a 10wk old maltipoo. We have had her for 2wks. My kids were excited when we got her. Now they are afraid to get near her. I need help! I let my kids play with her in the livingroom the first week we got her. She would walk all around the house and play with the kids, then I noticed she started barking at them and trying to bite their feet. I started telling her NO! loudly and that would make her more angry and I was not able to pick her up. I was afraid she was going to bite me. I notice she would run really fast around the house and come back to bark, growl and try to bite me. I am not sure what to do. Did I make the mistake of letting her walk all around the house to play with the kids. Even when I put the kids in the playpen area to play with her she starts jumping on them trying to nip and bite them. My kids are not as happy as they were when we first got her. They have been wanting a dog for so long, and now I feel that they are alittle discourage about her. I have all the patience in the world to take care of her and teach her right. I just need to know what to do. Please help!

Answer
I have no idea where you obtained this puppy, but it's likely she came from a backyard breeder or a puppy mill (pet store.)  No ten week old puppy should be displaying these behaviors.  Clearly SHE IS TERRIFIED and your yelling "NO" at her did NOT help.  You cannot put a small breed, very young (neonate) puppy into the midst of children!! It's very possible this puppy was injured (due to a child's inappropriate handling, not the child's fault) and/or totally overwhelmed.  I have no idea how many "kids" you have or what their ages are.  But NO DOG is the plaything of children!! NOR should any dog be intended as such.

This puppy needs to be protected, first; second, it needs quiet, CALM, consistent and FAIR leadership from YOU.  If you want your children to have a play object, get them a stuffed animal.  This is a LIVING BEING who has enormous emotional, physical and psychological needs.  Keep her away from the children UNLESS YOU ARE PRESENT and SUPERVISING EVERY SECOND.  Do NOT allow them to pick her up; do NOT allow them to overwhelm her or treat her as an object; do NOT allow them to consider her a plaything.  Expose the puppy to the children under very controlled circumstances for VERY SHORT INTERVALS of no more than ten minutes at a time.  Teach your children to interact with this dog with affection and respect.  SOMETHING they did TO HER while you weren't watching has caused a serious problem.  YOUR JOB is to correct it.

Socialize her to the children slowly every day for very short intervals and OBSERVE THEM closely.  Their interaction should be CALM and affectionate and not involve screaming, running around, picking her up, pulling on her, etc.  This puppy was too young to be allowed away from her dam and littermates to begin with; she now finds herself in the middle of a NIGHTMARE.  If you feel you cannot control your children and care adequately for this very young dog, return her or locate a humane society in your area where she will be accepted immediately (because of her age) and adopted to a more appropriate home.  DO NOT take her to the municipal shelter.  This is a KILL environment.  If she is not adopted immediately and remains there for too long, she will be put to death, or worse: her experience there will render her totally unadoptable.  In future, DO NOT OBTAIN ANIMALS as playthings for your children.