Dante bit the obedience teacher! :(

Well, I should start at the beginning. In week two of obedience class, she was using Dante as an example, and I don't know what exactly she did to him, looked to me like she was just rubbing under his belly, holding him across the chest, down the legs, etc.... But he started yelping like he was being hurt really badly and carrying on, so she exclaimed how I needed to get him use to other people touching him all over, he was just shy she said.

Well, I kinda doubted that, as he goes everywhere with me, and little kids (we all know how kids just run up and start petting without asking!!!) pet him and adults play with him, etc... So, I didn't think anything of it.

Well, today was week 4 of obedience class. We're working on the come command using the long line. Dante has a bad habit of running right past me on the come. (For the most part he's pretty good) Well, she's holding him at one end of the arena and will let him go when I say come. After the third time, I take him back to her, head down to my end, and Dante becomes entangled in his long line. She starts messing with him, trying to get the long line from out between his legs. He's yelping, she's pulling, I'm like "My god! How entangled can he be!" When she grabs Dante by the head and says "NO" Looks at me, and says He just bit me!

Alright, I'm freaking like "What?!!! He bit you?!@!" He's never bit ANYTHING unless he was playing. So then she says, "Well, it's not his fault, I was invading his space, but you need to nip this in the bud quick so that he doesn't turn aggressive." I still feeling horrible ask "Did he break skin?" She replied no, but that he grabbed her with his canines.

So, that was a great end to my class. So, I get home, see that I have neighbors who are outside, I make them guinea pigs, they rub him all over, I reinact the long line deed, no growls, no nips, no bites.

I'm stressing. I have 3 more weeks with this teacher. I think Dante just doesn't like her from whatever she did in week 2. But, I know she's going to look on Dante as a 'dangerous dog'!! I could just cry!!

I think you should follow your heart and if it says not to go to that class anymore then don't. Only you know what's going on and have the best insight into if it's the best thing for Dante.

I had an experience like that with an obedience teacher. She disliked German Shepherds in particular and Purdue specifically. We finished the class but I wouldn't let her come near him or handle him in any way.

You've heard me say that dogs don't bite without a reason. She may or may not have done it on purpose, but it certainly sounds like she's done something to abuse Dante's trust of her. As a trainer, she should have known to stop when he was yelping. That was a protest and a warning. I've got the same question you had, how tangled could he possibly have been?

I agree with you both. I think I will finish out the obedience class, but not allow her to handle Dante for examples, and if it involves two people, I'll have Chris (my hubby) restrain him for those exercises. I'm just upset in the fact that I want to get his CGC, and other awards, and I do alot of other business with that arena, that I don't need 'rumors' spreading on him being dangerous. I was thinking about it over and over in my head on the way home, trying to recall exactly what she was doing. And, she was rather rough when trying to untangle him, but I don't know.

I mean, if he nipped her, he was warning her for something, but I don't think he 'bit' her because he didn't break skin. I don't know. It was also really embarrasing as there were 8 other dog/people couples in there and they all looked at me like I was a monster.

Just keep working with him. By the time you're ready for his CGC anyone who hears any "rumors" will just think the trainer was doing something wrong.

Dante's probably not the first dog who's bitten her, and undoubtedly won't be the last unless she learns to pay attention when she's being warned.

I agree with Renee and Saje things just sound fishy about that trainer.....

If it were me, I'd never let her near my dog again. It's not a waste of money if you don't finish the class. This nut case might ruin your dog. She did something fishy to him, I bet. Does she do stuff to other dogs? Poor Dante. If he's use to all kinds of people, I doubt very much that he objected that much to her just "touching" him. I doubt very much that he would cry if it didn't hurt and then scolding him when he was all tangled and possibly nervous already? She ought to be reported to someone. I can't believe the people out there who call themselves trainers and lovers of dogs. Sick! I hope you can find a nice person to help you train your dog.

i wouldn't go back..if anybody hurt vic or mary i would have a coranary. The whole point is to have a positive experience for both your dog and you! i would ask for my money back and get out fast..what is wrong with those people..first the deoderant thing and now this! grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Sounds like I missed a story somewheres...

I don't have anything new or enlightening to add to the topic; just adding my nod to the notion that the teacher needs to learn to pay attention to signals. I bet Dante felt that he was being trapped or harrassed with the lead, especially with how long it took to untangle from his legs, and her grabbing him by the head probably signaled "it's attacking me!".

Plain old incompetent trainer, or maybe she is a rookie? But, still, her earlier training before she started training properly should definetly have taught her that when a dog starts yelping you stop whatever it is your doing. She was asking for a bite (if you can call something that doens't break skin a bite, I would call it good bite inhibition!) I would definetly not class such an act as aggression, from his perspective she was probably extremely threatening. Also, if dogs get tangled a certain way, where the lead is pulling and pinching in all the wrong ways, it can be very painful for them and they would act defensively.

Does she have a boss? I would report her right away. She obviously has no clue how to handle a dog.

I'd be out of that door before you could say obedience!! I wouldn't go back either! If she'd of hurt Gus I think I would have trouble restraining myself!!
I would demand a refund and not go back!

Problem about not going back, is that's the same location I take agility (not the same teacher) and I know all the teacher's are good friends, and I LOVE the agility classes. The instructors are top notch. I am more than likely going to finish up Obedience 101 there (only 3 more weeks!), and take more advanced obedience from some place else. It is a shame, though. Not to mention I'll probably feel sheepish going to next week's class.

That does make it a bit awkward! Poor Dante though, getting a bad rep when it's not his fault at all!!

did you actually see Dante bite her? He may not have even bitten the instructor at all.

Yeah it's what I was wondering too...

First of all, she knows SHE did something wrong because she said it wasn't his fault. That means the fault lies in her hands. I can't believe a dog trainer wouldn't notice pre-bite signs. When I worked at the vet clinic I could always tell that a dog was about to bite - their body posture changes, they become tense, the look in their eyes etc. She would have noticed something. My guess is that for whatever the reason she doesn't like your dog and refused to stop despite his warning signs so she could "create" a reason to not like him. What is this nonsense like "you better nip this in the bud before he becomes aggressive" stuff when she said herself that it was not his fault and that she was invading his space. And the nip it in the bud part...what trainer says that without giving ideas or how to info to the student...she's the teacher!!!! I would continue to stay positive and not doubt or distrust your pooch just yet. Continue to train in agility and keep him as socialized as possible. Trust your gut on this one...intuition is there for a reason.

From everything I have ever read about Dante (which is a lot since we share so many forums!) he sounds like a sweet, intelliegent love. She must have seriously offened him to put him in a position where he felt the need to bite, most likely due to pain. I hope that everything goes smoothly for you at the last few classes and that Dante's past performances in agility and class will outweigh any "rumors" that may start.

He IS very affectionate, so confusing for me. And I looked at her hand afterwards, and saw nothing, not even pinch marks or redness. I didn't hear any growling other than his yelps, and didn't see any snapping of him at all other than him watching her, but I wasn't right next to him, so didn't see.