We've increasingly been taking Daisy (5 months) to the beach for some off lead walks. Today she was chased and bitten (no skin breaks) by small dogs til she was squealing and running away. Both separate encounters she tried to do the submissive roll on back thing and the little dog just kept going. It was awful to hear and both times the owner of the other dog had to pick them up to stop the "attack". These 2 incidents were about 30 mins apart and she clearly hasn't learnt to avoid the little dogs! Is this just a dog learning thing? Other than keeping a wide berth of potential problem dogs is there anything else we should do with her training? She met about 20 other dogs with no issue (including a lovely retired guide dog, and a 1 year old Great Dane). The noise of her squealing was really scary! If there's anything we can do to avoid that again I'd love to know
I have been lucky in that mine have stayed on their paws when meeting nasty small dogs and have learned to give them a wide berth. At 5 months Daisy is probably just small enough for you to pick her up out of harms way until she learns to avoid them. .
She's 16 kg. Just got too big for me to pick up - but I'm recovering from shoulder surgery. Husband bolted down beach to save her the second time because the small dog chased her while still biting I thought he might get bitten!
Unfortunately meeting nasty dogs is something that happens to us all at different times and it is very upsetting. The nasty dogs we've met have all been small dogs and I don't know whether it's poor socialisation or lack of training or a combination of the two but many of the owners seem to think its ok for their dog to attack mine, and seem to think picking the dog up is the solution to the problem . If the dogs are regulars where you walk you may need to find out where they live and make a complaint to the Dog Warden if it happens again
Luckily I don't meet many nasty dogs but it does tend to be the little ones that are the worse. Dexter has had a couple of them just run up to him and grab him by the throat, very rude and not nice at all.
As the owner of a small dog ( as well as a very large one ) I could scream and fly to their defence , but I wont because I tend to agree that often, the small ones are far more feisty than bigger dogs . I did read once that dogs don't have a clue how big they are so its no use saying that its a defence mechanism . My own small dog is a rescue who came with baggage and did tend to run up to any other dog with " attitude " , I saw this as unacceptable, no matter what she had previously gone through , and thankfully , shove a tennis ball in her mouth dismisses the problem, instantly Sadly , many owners of small dogs seem to find it amusing that their little terrorist has framed up to a larger dog , I don't I blame the owners , every time .
omg small dogs are the worse, a jack russell tried biting tillys legs aggressively and i was shouting at the owner as he just didnt seem to care!
I do think there is something in this, for sure. Although, I also wonder if the small ones get (inadvertently) pushed around a bit too so go on the defensive as they get older. Charlie is pretty unhappy at 'feisty' little dogs, and it matters not a jot that he is many times their size, although he knows some nice ones too - one of his best friends is a White Highland, and he recently met a Jack Russell puppy (called Jack ) that he is totally in love with, and a little black Scottie (I think it's a Scottie anyway) who is his new BFF.
I so agree Kate, and there lies the problem, whether the dog is big or small. Juno and I have spent many hours of happy walks with a range of smaller dogs with out any problems between the dogs, regardless of size so I guess for me it's not about the dog, it's about the owner
I also believe that some owners are guilty of typecasting their own dogs , so JRT ( and other small dog ) owners think that because its a terrier, its bound to be a snappy little so and so , thereby giving it permission to behave in this manner . Just as so often, owners of overweight Labradors will smile and say " I know he/she is fat, but that's Labs for you "
I know an owner who likes to tell me 'Oh you've got a lab, they're easy to train, mines a terrier and you can't train them'. Makes me so mad, it may be easier training a lab (don't know as Dexter is my first dog) but it's still an awful lot of hard work, consistency and dedication. I do meet many lovely little ones that are great and friendly. Another lady just picks hers up as soon as she sees another dog, which is sad as it's never allowed to interact or say hello, ever. Not that they have to all the time but how will it ever learn to interact if it's never allowed around other dogs?
