Fragility of small breeds?

I was wondering whether Italian Greyhounds are more fragile than other small dogs of similar sizes, like Papillions or pomeranians or toy poodles etc. I have had friends with IG and they all spent a long time talking about how breakable IG are yet my friends with poms don't ever mention it. I wondered whether it was because they were compared with Greyhounds or whether they were just really fragile. One of my friend's IG fell on a sofa and broke a leg, I was shocked that such a small fall could do such damage but the vet said it was the way he fell which was the real problem.
Anyone know the answer, thanks...

I dunno about IGs but paps are often called 'fragile' too online. Personally I've not had any size related issues and my dogs can be really rough to themselves. Even with my best prevention they think they can fly off of couches and walls. I think with most little breeds if you use common sense then it'll be okay.

Yeah... small breeds arent as fragile as they are made out to be.

But sometimes they can just fall wrong, one of our toy poodles fell off a low couch onto carpet and broke her leg... she now jumps on and off really high things, plays with agility equipment, etc and is always fine... freak things can happen.

I have never had fragility issues with my small dogs. I own two that can't jump onto things due to disabilities, but jump off furniture just fine.

I did watch a toy poodle PUPPY jump off a couch in front of me and break a leg sadly.

the other thing is i don't step on them. That is played up alot online. They learn to stay out of the way really fast, and I find the only dog I have bump into or step on is my larger dog.

I've seen poorly bred IGs (usually pet store specials) with toothpick legs that break easily. But with that, it could be poor nutrition as well. The well bred small dog isn't fragile, per se, but would me moreso that a larger dog with more substantial bones. Stepping on a 5 lb dog's foot might break it, where a 80 lb dog will just be upset that you did it. But that's shear size, not fragility based on breed.

I wouldn't dismiss or minimize fragility overall. With a trip or a fall, they can be injured. So care does have to be taken with their handling.

However, they are not incapable of any dog things. Racing, jumping, wrestling with each other, swimming, my crew does all of it. I've not had issues with them.

Yep same here. I rarely ever step on the small dogs because they learn to pay attention. My past bigger dogs though loved to be tripping you around underfoot.

I think the weird falls can happen to any size dog or person though. When I broke my collar bone I simply fell off a thing that was about 2 feet from the ground. I landed on someone else and broke a bone. The other person was fine... Sometimes freak injuries just happen.

Romeo is 5 pounds. but he is sturdy and that is why can do this..

YouTube - The chihuahua boomerang

lol its his favorite game.. it involves me throwing him...

I wouldnt call keely fragile.. lol.. no way in this world would I call her that..

I have stepped on keelys paw before.. nothing serious.> She didnt whine or anything. But she was trying to get out of the way when Ive done it but wasnt quick enough.. Ive triped over her.. but it was MY clumbsyness.. Had nothing to do with her.. Again, she was fine.

I used to trip over casey ALL the time (casey was a GSDxLab) she was Constantly getting run over by me cuase she was too darn stubborn to move.. If I didnt know anybetter id think she liked getting stepped on.

OMG fran keely likes being thrown around too ! I always thought it was some sort of weird fetish.. lol..

I play just as rough with keely as I did with casey.. i push her around and roll her over. The rougher I am themore she likes it.

He's a masochist! He loves it! lol That is funny, and purely proves how delicate these dogs are. I think he broke all 4 legs with that last toss ...

Omg Fran that's Beau's favorite game too. My dad will grab him and say "This is a bad dog, I'm going to throw it away!" And then tosses him backwards like that. Beau does this growly thing and runs back up to him to be thrown again.

I step on mine on occasion. I forget which one (I think it was Beau) that I accidentally spun around and punted across the room practically. He was fine. Summer is so concerned about everything that if she THINKS you're about to step on her she yelps. So I can't recall the last time I have because she always lets you know 'Hey I'm right here!'.

I mean I wouldn't go body slamming them but they can handle a lot more than I think most people give them credit for.

:rofl1:

Iam SO stealing that one.



Chili likes to be "beaten" and "kicked". These little guys are pretty tough imo.

Dekka loves her daily beatings. Though JRTs are usually exempt from the 'fragile' status, even though they are small.

I have a friend who is an iggy breeder. They are more fragile in some ways, but are awesome racing dogs, and have been known to beat up dogs much larger than themselves.