Even a tiny dog needs discipline

[Miakoda]

Even a tiny dog needs discipline
Imagine you have a close encounter with a dog.

Read more: Even a tiny dog needs discipline | SoundLife - The News Tribune


Imagine you have a close encounter with a dog.

It glares at you and growls. Despite the owner’s attempts at restraining the dog, it lunges, barking and snapping. Before you are able to get out of reach, it bites you, hard.

What is your frame of mind at this point? Anger? Fear?

Now, imagine the dog is a 4-pound Chihuahua.

Why is it that the above behavior coming from a tiny dog isn’t taken seriously? We laugh at how cute the dog is, what an attitude she has, and we try to make friends by venturing out a hand to pet the tiny ball of fury.

We know better than to hang around a large dog displaying this behavior. We expect the owner of the larger dog to address the problem, use the proper training equipment or keep the dog away from people. But the tiny-dog owner holds the dog against her chest, adjusts her pink tutu and continues on, unfazed.

Aside from the obvious — a bite from a larger dog might send you to the hospital, whereas a bite from a tiny dog might propel you to the medicine cabinet for a Band-Aid — there are reasons to take the behavior of the tiny dog just as seriously as one would of a larger dog.

When a dog of any size displays this kind of behavior, she is communicating. Most often, this is fearful behavior. Dogs growl, stare down and even lunge and snap at things — or people — that make them uncomfortable. Leash corrections, punishing the dog or clutching her close do nothing to address the reason for the behavior.

Rather than addressing the reaction, it’s best to treat the cause of the outburst. If the dog learns to trust people and enjoy the company of strangers, then the fearful behavior goes away.

Addressing this goes way beyond how the dog behaves around other people; it’s a quality-of-life issue. It’s obvious that the fearful dog doesn’t enjoy the same quality of life that the confident, relaxed dog does. Friendly dogs get to accompany their owners to more places, enjoy more activities and benefit from the enrichment those new places and experiences provide.

The fearful dog often gets left at home, which is usually the only place she is relaxed and comfortable.

This is another reason why early and continuous people socialization is so important when dogs are just young puppies, of any size.


Read more: Even a tiny dog needs discipline | SoundLife - The News Tribune

[rozberry]

Miakoda - thank you for taking the time to surface an issue that too many dog owners prefer to avoid.

Being a "small dog" owner, I am painfully aware how difficult it is to allow very small dogs to be "dogs".

The thought of putting down your 1# Yorkie puppy to play with the 130# Rottweiler is intimidating - but the real truth is that both the puppy and the owner will be the better for it.

It is too easy to ignore the fact that a dog is a dog, regardless of its size. As parents, we know that we must let our human children grow up - they drive that point home in no uncertain terms - but how do I stop myself from refusing to let my small babbies stand on their own four lets?

It is very difficult. I have had the opportunity to begin taking my 11 year old Affenpinscher to work where there are 5 other dogs
Rodeo - a 2 year old Black Lab, male
Sage - a 2 year old Weimaraner, female
Yumie - a 4 year old Austrailian Shephard mix, female
Titan - a 1 year old Mastiff / Great Dane mix, male
Haley - a 6 month old Boston Terrier, female

I have (and am) working hard on not interfering - my biggest convern is that my socially inept Affen will require an education in "pack etiquette" that she will not take well and a dog fight will ensue generating stress for the other dog owners.

So far only the Lab has been motivated to "inform her" to behave and it went reasonably well. With 5 weeks under our belt at 2 days each week, I am already seeing positive changes in her "doggyness"

Wish me luck, and I encourage other owners of small breeds who are not lucky enough to have larger dogs in their households to be more open and seek venues where their charges can be what they are - dogs.

I know in my heart that they are indeed the better for it, but it is still difficult.

[Renee750il]

Once, ONCE, I have seen an owner get the sh1t they royally deserved for allowing their toy breed dog to be an asshole. Once.

And that was only because Kharma was an insufferably adorable 3 month old puppy sitting there quietly watching while the Chi was raving and foaming at the mouth from the safety of the owner's arms.

*Little did everyone know, my angelic little baby was most likely wondering if it would taste good* But at least the Chi's owner got told she needed to get her dog under control by several people, including a couple of the Lowe's staff

People aren't doing their dogs any service by letting them be rotten little bags of neurosis.

[Doberluv]

It's such a shame how people so often isolate their little dogs from the outside world when they're puppies. They think they're protecting them or something. But they don't get enough experiences with new people, dogs and things and are forever afraid and uncomfortable. That's why they act fierce. It's not that they're mean spirited or dominant. They're afraid and that's how fear is expressed...get the other guy before he gets you.
They're small and quite naturally already a little skittish because of their size. That common saying that small dogs don't know they're small is not always the case at all. My little Chihuahuas know they're small and so big, tall people and big dogs are a little intimidating to begin with, so they need lots of socialization when they're puppies.

When we're on a walk, my girl Chi will often bark at a strangers but it's a "hi, hi, hi!" kind of bark. When we get up close, she's all wags and wiggles and when the person bends down to pat her, she usually licks their hand a lot and kind of puts her feet up, like please pick me up. LOL. Jose` is friendly and sweet too, just not quite as out going as Chuli.

Some people look like they're unsure at first because I guess they have a reputation for snapping. I don't think it's ever occurred to my two, to be snappy. They're simply not afraid of anyone at all and very friendly and good natured. They enjoy meeting new people big time. If given a choice, Chulita will prefer to sit on a visitor's lap before mine. She thinks it's a party when people come over. I've never once seen either of them growl or snark at anyone. (to big, boistrous dogs sometimes, yes, like "get away.")

So, yes, making sure little dogs are secure and happy in the presence of all kinds of people is just as important as with big dogs, simply because they're happier, more confident and more pleasant to be around. I wish more people treated their little dogs like dogs and not porcelin dolls.....up to a point. They DO need some extra protection in many ways, but not in every way.

[Maxy24]

I do think it's a shame what people have let happen to small breeds' reputations, especially Chihuahuas, by not socializing them. Already we've had many people say about Tucker after we say he's a Chi mix "oh, he's too nice to be a Chihuahua" (when we are talking with adults or people with big dogs). On the other hand I went to the bus stop last week with him and stood at a distance from where the kids got off so I could give treats as they walked past. One family did walk by close and a kid asked to pet, I had to say no and explained he's scared of kids right now, the father said "of course he is, all small dogs are scared". It's gonna be really hard with him though, around kids. I'm seriously thinking he would bite if some kid forced herself on him. Obviously it's our job to prevent that, but I'd really like it to improve so that when we have family over he feels safe and the kids are safe. Plus I want him to be a confident social dog, I never expected a puppy to have such a strong fear, I've only ever met jolly pups. So I can see where people can have trouble with their dogs being scared, not that it means they should allow the dog to behave aggressively, it's there job to either help fix the problem through socialization and training, or prevent the trigger situations.

[Doberluv]

Maxi, Do you know any little kids that are very well behaved and are old enough to follow directions? What I did with my Chi's when they were fairly young, was had little kids sit down, either in the grass in the yard or on the floor in the house and just let the dogs come to them if they wanted to, which they did because the kids had some treats. The kids were nice and quiet, gentle and unobtrusive toward the Chi's and they'd climb up into their laps. And so their experiences were good. Of course, they weren't very shy temperamentally...Jose`, a tiny bit. They didn't mind patting. My Chi's weren't really socialized to kids very early though. There weren't any kids around when I first got them. It was later, like when they were a couple years old. These two must have really remarkable temperaments because in spite of little early socialization to kids, they're quite comfortable around them now. Jose` was probably younger than Chuli when he got some exposure to my neighbor kids.

I hope your little one can over come some of that shyness through lots of positive experiences.