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individual personality will always matter more than breed.
you may want to try and adopt a mature dog that already
has a known temperament and history.
if you're only willing to consider a puppy, then learn a bit about
temperament testing and try to evaulate a whole litter.
for very small children, you don't want a dog so large that it could
accidentally hurt them. you also don't want a tiny dog that feels
threatened by every wild gesture. you want a dog that will
patiently put up with any/all accidental abuse a kid and his friends
may put it through; tail-pulling, horsie rides, fingers in the ear, etc
herding breeds are sometimes a bit too enthusiastic about their job;
nipping at the heels of a child to 'herd' them,
which might be scary to them and misinterpreted at aggression.
all this still leaves you with a wide variety of breed choices.
to respond to some BS in this thread, an American Staffordshire
Terrier (often called a 'pit bull') is actually a good choice
IF you get it from a responsible breeder, and not some ghetto
poseur trying to breed for all the worst characteristics.
they're a medium-sized dog with a high pain threshold.
if he's well bred, nothing the kids will do should bother him.
our current dog is a cross-breed rescue, and when we take him
to the vet to get his shots he's happily oblivious to the needles.
when we got him neutered, he didn't even notice.
when my cat scratches him in his face, he just grins.
my brothers 2 'pure' pitbulls are the same way.
I'll also second the Boxer recommendation.
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