I just wanted to see how hard the push back would be! 
I could see holding something in one hand and shooting with the other hand. It would have to be done safely and you wouldnāt be shooting at the thing in your hand.
Stuffed animal could be on the ground. How many of us shoot at targets on the ground like a small animal? Iām sure the hunters do, but itās been a long time for me.
The other take away here for the kids is this. Our kids (especially young kids) are going to naturally grab onto their parents in a time of crisis. My kids are teenagers, but I frequently told my kids if thereās a bad guy, they need to get behind me putting me between them and the threat. But I told them to not latch onto me as that will hinder my ability to defend them or even draw my firearm.
My son and I had a real life check of what he would do. We were walking and a dog snarled and barked like he wanted to eat us. (Thankfully, said dog was on a chain and couldnāt get to us.) My son did exactly what I had told him to do. He put me between him and the dog. He yelled my name, but didnāt grab me. My hand went to my gun, but I never drew it.
The other issue that is a rabbit trail to this is the use of space. I told my kids you donāt have to be right on top of me to use me as a shield. As long as Iām between you and the bad guy, give me enough room to move at least. If bullets are flying, just run away and Iāll find you later.
These kids were both little in these scenarios. Parents going full beast mode is the only option here. Iām not even sure if I would shoot in this scenario as @Todd30 so eloquently articulated the reasons. A good blade may have had an application in the raccoon video and been a better option that a firearm. Slamming that coon agains the porch post might have been a good idea to. No criticism to these parents. They did the right thing and saved the day!
Oh, thatās easy. Just use 12ga slugs. Nary a problem.
Did you ever have to shoot olā Blue?
Not sure which Olā Blue you referring to. 
Arenāt you supposed to keep the animal for animal control to verify whether or not the animal was rabid? I would have knocked it out on the porch post or a tuba fore and put it in a box until AC got there.
A man shows up at a hunterās place and says he wants to go bear hunting. The hunter says OK and grabs his big coon hound, olā Blue. They spend the day running down a large bear and get it treed. Then the hunter takes out a shotgun and hands it to the man, saying āDonāt do anything with this unless I tell you to. Iām going to climb up the tree and force the bear up to thin branches until it falls out of the tree. When that happens, olā Blue will pounce on him and rip his junk off, pacifying the bear.ā
A few minutes later, the hunter slips, and as heās falling to the ground, he screams āSHOOT OLā BLUE! SHOOT OLā BLUE!ā
LOL, thanks for the laugh. 