2 year old female grawls at my daughter

Question
I purchased a 2 year old female ori pei. She seems to be a little shy. My 3-1/2 year old daughter wants to play with her, and it appears if my daughter is bouncing around and goes up to the ori pei Quickly she will grawl at her. She has never bitten her... but i dont want her too. Also, My daughter was running to one chair and back to me and the dog  was sitting by my feet. When my daughter would get to me she started reaching out and grabbed for her clothes, she didnt have an upset look on her face, but was she trying to play or nipping to hurt? how can you tell and what can i do to solve these problems.... She is new to us and we really cant take her back where we got her from that is 2,000 miles away.

Answer
Any reputable breeder would take a dog back that you could no longer care for, so I suspect that you either adopted this dog from a rescue, or the breeder is one who engages in the breeding of so called "designer dogs" just for a profit and will not accept the dog back if it turns out that you can't keep it.  Few rescues or breeders would place a Shar Pei mix in a home with a three year old unless it was temperament tested with kids first, so I can only assume that was not done either.  Maybe she was a "breeder" that the owner was giving up.  If so, she may not ever have been socialized all that well with children.  In any case, growling is your dog's way of saying that she is frightened or defensive, and you should not attempt to silence her - if she cannot warn your daughter, the only thing she has left in her arsenal is to bite her, and you don't want that.  The way that you keep your daughter safe is to keep your dog safe, so you should carefully supervise any of their interactions, up to and including not letting your daughter "bounce" up to her, or reach for her suddenly.  Tall order for a toddler, I know.  But, if you can't do that, find a home for the dog before she has a bite history and not after, when it will be almost impossible to re-home her.  Next time, research your breeds a bit more carefully, and get a child safe dog from a reputable breeder or shelter.  Most SPCA's nowadays have behavior programs that help assure that the dog you adopt will be good with kids your daughter's age.  If you are intent on keeping the dog, enroll (yesterday!!!) in a good positive reinforcement type manners class.  Truthfully, the Shar Pei is NOT a breed I generally recommend for small children, as many of them have a real no nonsense attitude and will put children or strangers in their place.  You cannot, in advance, know whether an "ori pei" (hybrid) will turn out like the Put half or the Shar Pei half.  At age 2, you have a dog just reaching social maturity (which is when they decide who will be top in the pack), a child who cannot assert herself over the dog (not that I think young children should be disciplining dogs - I don't), and a dog that may lean toward the Pei rather than the Pug.  This is your decision, but I cannot see you being successful unless you learn a whole lot quickly about training and behavior modification, as well as management of the dog - to keep everyone, including the dog, safe.  If you want to keep her, take this seriously and get to class.  If necessary, hire a behaviorist to come to your home and assist you.