Sadie bit a Mom at puppy class...long

[my baby Sadie]

Okay...Sadie does not liked to be picked up. We play a lot of "catch me if you can" with her. We have talked to our trainer and she thinks she has trust issues (she was taken from her mom at 5 1/2 weeks!)
We know this, our trainer knows this, the other family in our puppy class knows this! We are working with Sadie on trust and giving her love but giving her bounderies as well.
A couple of weeks ago we got a new lady and her dog in our puppy class. First of all her dog is 3 years old and to advanced for our class and all they do is distract the puppies! (sorry soapbox) Anyway, after hearing us discuss Sadie's issues with the trainer she decided to take it upon her self to help.
b/c it was just the 2 of us in class the dogs were off of their leashes. I was giving her dog treats and she was giving Sadie treats.
the problem came when she announced that she was making Sadie let her pet her before giving her the treat. In fact she was holding on to it and Sadie was having to pull it out of her hand. AFter a couple of times this mom announced that it is working and Sadie was doing much better about being touched by her witholding the treat. then it happend. While trying to pull the treat away from the lady Sadie bit her. Kinda hard. Now the lady was obviously upset and kept making comments. But i kinda didn't blame Sadie. Not that i ever want her to bit anybody but for a stranger her to force something by witholding the treat and making her fight for it she got what she deserved in my opinion. Of course i got Sadie, scolded her, put her back on her leash and would not let her back at the women. But i felt i punished my dog for this lady overstepping her boundaries.

Please let me know what you think. i don't want to be that mom that is so blinded by the little one that they can not see what a pest they are.

Was it my fault, should i have handled it differently?
How can i make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again?

btw, after 6 weeks she never had this problem with the other people in the class. they both love Sadie...

[Sunnie]

Of course no one wants thier baby to bite anyone, but that lady asked for it IMO

[sherrijmkassie]

If she wasnt the trainer and stuck her nose where it didnt belong then I cant blame you for being upset. I am sorry she got bit but maybe next time she will leave the training to the professionals. It is ashame you had to scold your puppy for the actions of someone else.

Good luck with training classes.

[Neveen]

I think she was asking for it, but no idea lol.

[stingrhea]

I agree, it was not Sadie's fault. the trainer should have told the woman to stop, it was not her place to be doing that in the first place!

[lilstar63100]

im a pet trainer at petsmart.. and every once in a while i get people in class who i think come in just to show off their dogs... not really there for the trainer. these people usually act like they know it all and try to tell the other people in class how to handle their dogs and what they should do. it drives me nuts!

did she bite the hand that was petting her or the hand that had the treat in it?
if she bit the hand that had the treat in it she was probably just rfustrated she couldnt get the treat so she was trying to see if she coould take the whole hand with it.... lol...

if i have a dog thats nervous, shy, or doesnt like people... I AM ALWAYS THE ONE TO WORK THEM. we do play pass the puppy in some of my classes as long as all of the dogs are friendly... but i wouldnt have another student attempt to work with a dog that i know isnt going to be comfortable with them.
and you know what... in the 4 years that i've been doing this i have never had a person get bit by a dog that wasnt theirs and i myself have never been bit more than just a warning bite or play bite.

some people need to just back off and leave it to the profesionals...

[Toppersmom]

Just try to withold a chocolate treat from me and see how fast you get bit!!!!

It is not fair to the pet to tease them with a treat and that's what it sounds like she was doing. I bet next time she wants to give someone else's dog a treat she will think twice about how quick to let go of the treat.

[francis53]

I agree with everyone else, she asked for it. Makes you wonder sometimes about people Good luck with Sadie
Martha

[my baby Sadie]

Thanks for the support! I just needed an outside opinion. Tomorrow is our last class and Sadie will graduate. Our trainer is great and helped us a ton with her.

LilStar, She actually bit the fingers that had the treat. i think she was just trying to get the treat out, kinda like her kong! the others that have been in our class are so good with Sadie that it never crossed my mind that someone would try to teach her a lesson.

[YorkieRose]

The woman is not a trainer and does not know the correct way to train...so I see it the same as if I decided to train a monkey..I have no idea what I am doing and if it bites me, then it is my fault. It would certainly do all I could in the future to prevent biting...people are sue happy.

I think it si okay to use food to train them not to bark or jump on people etc...but when it comes to touching, that is a very invasive and can be threathening to the dog and needs someone trained...

[USMCgirl05]

LOL I say GOOD FOR SADIE
Sounds like that lady needed to be bitten At least you weren't the one doing it haha!

[spoiledgirls]

Congratulations to Sadie for graduating! I think that the lady is not a professional so she shouldn't have tried to train Sadie with a TRAINER being there, and even if there wasn't, she still shouldn't have done that. Way to go Sadie for sticking up for yourself! LOL!

Proud mother of Sasha and Jasmine

[Mere_de_Jambo]

It sounds like Sadie did nothing outside of the logical. I don't understand why this lady(though I am sure meant well) wasn't working with her own dog. There was a very timid dog in Jambo's puppy class. She always cowered if someone came near her. Though she never showed aggression, I felt it was stressful on her so I just always ignored her. I figured if she wanted other people's attention she would let you know. I threw her a treat once but that's about it. Any time I meet dogs (shy or not) or children, I never want to push their boundaries. I figure if I was in their position, it has got to get annoying when people constantly want to pet you or pick you up.

[BellieBoo]

i had something similar happen with Belle... i was at a meetup with another small dog group i belong to, and even though i had already said several times that Belle is very territorial about her stroller (which is HER space) this person then proceded to place her doggie in Belle's stroller and Belle snapped at the dog, she didn't bite him, but she was pretty upset... the lady was like wow, she is so aggressive...i never thought she was, i just thought that she invaded her space, and that is why Belle reacted... i reprimanded her a little... but i felt badly about it...

sorry to hijack your thread!!!

[Bizzymammabee]

I would have bit her too. Don't think she had the right to do any of what she was doing. If she were qualified to be a trainer then that is what she would be doing. Don't feel bad. Obviously your baby hasn't bitten anyone else so she got what was coming to her.