Our dog nipped someone...

[busylizzybee]

Hi all- I need some advice from doggy experts..
Our usually lovely, well mannered, friendly dog had an incident last week and it's really bothering me. We were visiting our old neighborhood that we moved away from a few months ago. We were talking to some former neighbors who were all surrounding our dog ( he's a 2yr old shep. cross). I know it was probably stressful for him to be surrounded like that but he knew most of the people. He was on a leash sitting at my feet. An old neighbor came up to him and quickly went to kiss him on the head. She was wearing mirrored sunglasses. He snarled an nipped her on the cheek- didn't even scratch her, but just kind of applied pressure. Now, I don't agree with this person's actions- I think even if you know the dog you should approach slower and greet it in a more respectful manner and she hadn't seen him in months. She's a dog person- I guess she just wasn't thinking. I think the dog may have seen his own eyes reflected in the glasses and got confused. Is this likely- or am I just making excuses? I feel awful, but she was understanding about it.
Besides barking at the door when a stranger approaches, this is the only 'aggressive' behavior he's ever exhibited. What do you think?

[lilyka]

She put her face a few inches from a dogs teeth....if your dog wanted to hurt make no mistake about it he would have. I wouldn't worry but I would keep people from crowding your dog like that. I would have been scared in his shoes.

[angie7]

I think your dog reacted like any normal dog would. I don't think it had anything to do with seeing his reflection but more of a she approached too fast kinda thing and was threatning by just walking up and going so close to his face without him sniffing her or even seeing her for that matter. Who approaches a dog like that anyways?? I would have been so upset with her over that. She's lucky that is all he did, I think the fact that he didn't bite harder, shows that you have a very good dog there. I wouldn't worry about it as far as him being aggressive. He reacted like any dog would.

[busylizzybee]

Thanks for your responses- I was worried I was trying to justify his behaviour but I'll be sure not to let a similar situation happen again- I would also feel threatened in that situation.

[graceomalley]

Your dog isn't to blame in that situation . Since the lady is a dog person I think she'll be understanding.