Why are small dogs allowed to run amok?

[Grab]

I see both large and small asshat dogs equally working at a vet office. For every little dog that tries to snap at me, there's a larger one who tries to snap at me AND drags me down the hall.

[DenoLo]

I very very rarely come across off-leash dogs of any size. As far as reactivity goes- I find there can be a double standard. Big dogs that are straining and barking at the end of the leash are "excited" and just want to play. Little dogs that do the same behavior "think they are big" or have "napolean complex".

I'm not sure what the need is to generalize and pinpoint bad behavior, whether it's towards small dogs or retrievers or pits. There are bad owners, and badly managed dogs.

[RBark]

While reading this thread my GF was baby talking Kobe, he jumped up, knocked her down on the couch, and jumped right on her, sat on her tummy.

Hm. I think someone is telling me something. It's 3 hours past bedtime, however, so I shall sleep on it!

[seashells]

It can be age too. Tyrion is currently a little terror around other dogs because he's not properly socialized yet. I'm doing my best, and feel incredibly embarrassed when he starts barking his head off at other dogs on walks, because I do want him to be a calm and pleasant little dog!

The catch-22 is, you can't socialize a leash-reactive puppy without letting him at least see other dogs, but you can't make a polite dog out of a leash-reactive dog without some exhibits of poor behavior at first. :/

[~Tucker&Me~]

Originally Posted by seashells

The catch-22 is, you can't socialize a leash-reactive puppy without letting him at least see other dogs, but you can't make a polite dog out of a leash-reactive dog without some exhibits of poor behavior at first. :/

I'm not sure if this is what you mean by that statement, but generally if the dog is reacting you are past the point of learning and need to backtrack. Once he is barking his head off he is way over thresh-hold, so it's your job to keep him under thresh-hold and keep him close enough that he is aware there is another dog but far enough away that he isn't yet reacting and is still fairly comfortable. Of course accidents happen but generally having the dog react is exactly what you want to avoid most when training a dog like this.

Again, not saying that you are purposely getting him to react to 'train' him, but if anyone was lurking and thought that was what you meant I just wanted to clear it up.

[CharlieDog]

Originally Posted by seashells

It can be age too. Tyrion is currently a little terror around other dogs because he's not properly socialized yet. I'm doing my best, and feel incredibly embarrassed when he starts barking his head off at other dogs on walks, because I do want him to be a calm and pleasant little dog!

The catch-22 is, you can't socialize a leash-reactive puppy without letting him at least see other dogs, but you can't make a polite dog out of a leash-reactive dog without some exhibits of poor behavior at first. :/

I'm sorry, but I totally laughed.

[Dizzy]

Last night a daschund puppy screamed and snapped at Fred. The owners reaction was "oh he doesn't know his own strength, his paws are so big". Ie, Fred did it. He's tinkerbell, he wouldn't hurt a fly ...

It was YOUR dog Mrs, Freddie pie was no where near! It did annoy me that he was blamed because he's a big puppy.... Her dog got picked up and cuddled. I guess that's a lot of why small dogs can end up snappy.

[seashells]

Originally Posted by ~Tucker&Me~

I'm not sure if this is what you mean by that statement, but generally if the dog is reacting you are past the point of learning and need to backtrack. Once he is barking his head off he is way over thresh-hold, so it's your job to keep him under thresh-hold and keep him close enough that he is aware there is another dog but far enough away that he isn't yet reacting and is still fairly comfortable. Of course accidents happen but generally having the dog react is exactly what you want to avoid most when training a dog like this.

Again, not saying that you are purposely getting him to react to 'train' him, but if anyone was lurking and thought that was what you meant I just wanted to clear it up.

Ahh no that's definitely not what I meant. Thanks for pointing that out, I can see how it could be misread that way. Yeah we're currently at the "stay at a far distance" stage with strange dogs because he's still so reactive, but sometimes one surprises us around the corner or something and he's set off before I have a chance to react. :/ He's always on-leash when we're out, and kept close, and when an incident like that does happen, I turn around and leave instead of just letting him go nuts at the dog, but I still get embarrassed and just hope the owner understands that I have a new puppy, and am still working on training him.

Originally Posted by CharlieDog

I'm sorry, but I totally laughed.

He was well-named.

[Renee750il]

Originally Posted by Dizzy

Last night a daschund puppy screamed and snapped at Fred. The owners reaction was "oh he doesn't know his own strength, his paws are so big". Ie, Fred did it. He's tinkerbell, he wouldn't hurt a fly ...

It was YOUR dog Mrs, Freddie pie was no where near! It did annoy me that he was blamed because he's a big puppy.... Her dog got picked up and cuddled. I guess that's a lot of why small dogs can end up snappy.

Kharma ran into something like that when she was 3 months old and we were at Lowes. She was sitting quietly by my feet when a Chihuahua a woman was carrying saw her and went ballistic.

The woman complained loudly about my three month old puppy, who was sitting quietly by my feet, on her leash, leaning against my leg just looking at her and her dog and DEMANDED that I have to remove my vicious dog from the store. Several other customers got angry with her and told her off, lol. She left.

Kharma is still more than welcome in Lowes

And then there was the weight pull event. We used to do them in the warehouse at the local Tractor Supply. We were done and several of the participants (and their dogs) were walking through the store, some even shopping. A woman with a little longhaired white dog in the cart started complaining to the manager about "all those bad dogs" in the store, how they shouldn't be out in public, blahblahblah, "they're dangerous, someone's going to get bitten . . ."

Well, she was right. Someone did get bitten.

HER DOG jumped up in the cart and bit one of the weight pull judges on the arm as she walked past them in the main aisle. Yes, it broke the skin and was a nasty bite, not just a little puncture.

She didn't even apologize. She didn't even acknowledge it!

[Doberluv]

Originally Posted by Renee750il

Kharma ran into something like that when she was 3 months old and we were at Lowes. She was sitting quietly by my feet when a Chihuahua a woman was carrying saw her and went ballistic.

The woman complained loudly about my three month old puppy, who was sitting quietly by my feet, on her leash, leaning against my leg just looking at her and her dog and DEMANDED that I have to remove my vicious dog from the store. Several other customers got angry with her and told her off, lol. She left.

Kharma is still more than welcome in Lowes

And then there was the weight pull event. We used to do them in the warehouse at the local Tractor Supply. We were done and several of the participants (and their dogs) were walking through the store, some even shopping. A woman with a little longhaired white dog in the cart started complaining to the manager about "all those bad dogs" in the store, how they shouldn't be out in public, blahblahblah, "they're dangerous, someone's going to get bitten . . ."

Well, she was right. Someone did get bitten.

HER DOG jumped up in the cart and bit one of the weight pull judges on the arm as she walked past them in the main aisle. Yes, it broke the skin and was a nasty bite, not just a little puncture.

She didn't even apologize. She didn't even acknowledge it!

That's incredible!!! What a bunch of morons. People like that should be put out on a desert somewhere without a horse!