Dd nipped by friends dog

[HereForTheFreeLunch]

Dd is 18, autistic, very friendly - no clue about anyone else's thoughts or feelings.
We have a friend whose dog stays with us sometimes.
Had dog today for a few hours, all was well.
When we went to give her back, dd hugged friend - full body hug.

The dog got agitated and barked at dd. Friend kept calling dd back to her saying dog should be used to her.
I intervened and took dd away but in the meantime she had got nipped. No blood or puncture.

Not quite sure how I should handle it. The dog is normally very calm, peaceful, spends time with us problem - but more with me and ds. Dd is around but not too interested.

Any tips of what to do for next time? I felt friend took it a little lightly (kept saying she never bites etc) so asking for advice.

Dog is cocker spaniel girl just over 2 years old.

Dog was defending its owner. They get confused. My ddog would do the same eventually. It had already barked its disapproval but this wasn’t heeded. Hope your daughter is ok. If no puncture wound it wasn’t savage. Just the only language dog has.

Different people have different standards when it comes to this kind of thing, some people are absolutely no teeth contact on people, others don’t mind mouthing.

if the dog wanted to do damage it easily could have. Not even leaving a mark indicates to me really good bite inhibition, and no desire to do any harm beyond giving a warning by the dog.

i think the owner handled this very badly. Dog missed owner, saw dd hugging owner and wanted to give a warning. The owner should have recognised the signs the dog was unhappy and also be more prepared to recognise the signs for next time

my options would be to not look after dog again, or if you do allow the dog priority at greeting their owner when they come back.

look up resource guarding, that’s what has happened here. Yes training is key, but where it involves your dd I would say prevention is better than cure, I wouldn’t involve your dd in training or managing this behaviour

Just wanted to second what has already been said. The dog was triggered by a very specific situation that was confusing and frustrating for her, and her owner didn't give her any help in dealing with it. And even in her agitated state, the dog controlled the contact she made with your dd to avoid any real harm or challenge.

Was DD distressed by what happened or not all that bothered?

You might decide that zero tolerance is the only way forward, so that you don't want to look after the dog again. But if you did want to look after her again, could dd be out of the room when owner comes back? And could owner be asked to think actively about how her reurn could be better managed?

Agree the dog clearly has good bite inhibition so this is a good point. The dog also barked first to warn so this is also a good thing. The bad bit is that the owner was crap at listening to her dog and reassuring it instead of making it more frightened/insecure/anxious.

Thanks for the answers.
I agree the dog gave plenty of warning. Growled first, then barked, went closer, finally nipped when all else didn't work.

She's a very sweet thing and generally really good natured. I am just worried she will see dd as a threat so want to mitigate from my side.

I do want to continue to see her (dog) as the kids do love her and she has a good time at ours too. Always happy, tail going at 100mph when she comes to see us.

I think I would just keep dog happy when at ours, dd loves feeding her treats so continue with that (within reason). And avoid having dd around when we are handing back.

Regarding any other training, it's really up to my friend and won't involve dd.

Also, I checked again this morning - there's absolutely no mark on dd.

The owner is at entirely at fault for ignoring their dogs' warning signs. As you rightly say, growling and barking is communication and when it's ignored, dogs feel like they have no choice but to escalate.

Nobody was hurt, no blood was drawn - I would just see it as a lesson to be learned and keep DD away from the dog at handover in future. Or, have the owner take the dog, put it in the car and then do goodbyes without the dog present.