Biting on exam table

Question
i have been showing Papillons now for a few years. I have a 10 month old pap puppy that i bred and raised. i've been bring him to dog training since he's been 10 weeks. now, when i bring him to the usual dog school i go to he is fine. but when i bring him to another training place he is a different dog (i know he's comfortable at the other place) he's fine until i set him on the table....when the teacher looks at him, it's a showdown. first he stares at them, and then when they come down to touch he's face, he growls and tries to show his teeth. usually when this happens i grab him by the back of the neck or the hairs on the side of his neck and tell him to knock it off. it doesnt work and i've avoided squirting him with lemon juice thinking that he'd associate that with the table. im probably wrong. but im just curious, what would you do to stop it?

Answer
I've only had one dog (a bitch) who started growling at judges, and I retired her from showing as it appeared to be escalating; that line of dogs had weird temperaments and I stopped breeding them.

Years ago a friend of mine had a WONDERFUL (very dominant) Shetland Sheepdog who had many, many big wins to his credit. One day she was in the Group with him, under a female judge who was very tall and broad (but not fat), with a deep voice and direct, piercing eyes. My friend said she felt her dog growl at the judge, and afterwards called me over to her house to correct the dog (who did know me). I did everything to that dog I could to get him to react to me... leaning over him, staring him in the face up close and personal... and when he did growl at me, I quickly alpha-rolled him and gave him "what-for", and held him down until he submitted to me. He was fine after that with judges.

As a side note, a couple years after that we all traveled down to Iowa for shows and stayed at my aunt and uncle's. When my rather jolly uncle came home from work, he grabbed me up in a bear hug, and that sheltie surprised us all when he ran over and told my uncle to turn me loose or ELSE<G> Apparently, I had become a member of his pack, and he was ready to defend me<G>  

Your dog is in his horrible adolescent period (which can be much worse with dominant dogs), and he is probably trying to assert himself with those he does not know. Start practicing "Nothing in Life is Free" with him; everyone in the family must do this.   http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm   It also wouldn't hurt to get him into a few obedience classes.

If he isn't being dominant and is being fearful, the following should be done in either case.

You need to take your dog everywhere and have everyone feed him and then pet him. Go to as many training clubs and fun matches as you can. At practice, have really SUPER special treats, and give some to the "judge" so that he/she can feed your dog, too.

I would hold off showing him until you get this under control.