Does anyone else get lots of negative attention from small dogs? Almost every walk we go on we get a small dog shouting at Lola! She is a very submissive dog and I find smaller breeds take advantage of this. On Sunday we did our 'muddy' walk through the wooded area near us and as my partner was talking another dog owners ear off, I was helping my eldest get down from a tree that he had climbed a little too far up. Then I heard the yap yap yap of a dog not far away and then saw Lola on her back showing her belly... then it bit her twice on the face! I had to shout at the other dog to get it away and Lola shot to the back of my legs and walked almost attached to me. The owner of said yapper chased it around and then got it on the lead and then laughed to the man my partner was talking to how she thinks she is a 'tough dog'. I approached and told her " you may think it is funny when your dog bites another bit I don't". Yapper was still trying to get at Lola who nearly fell over her own feet trying to get away. The woman's response "oh shut the beep up". Such an intelligent reply. I'm ashamed to say I lost my temper and have her a real telling off and told her she needs to teach her dog some manners. Apparently she wanted to teach me some manners.... Lola is very well socialised and was playing kiss chase with a saint Bernard less than 5 minutes before but she was attacked as a pup by a group of dogs and she submits very quickly. Is it just me? Because I'm so tired of it!
That's no good! Poor Lola, getting bitten!!! Hope she is ok... Must say that Obi has never been harassed by little dogs and he loves them. But in general and regardless of size it's very common to have a problem with ill mannered off lead dogs... We have had our share for sure (they just haven't been little).
Yep, it's always the little ones, Buster was attacked last year by a small one, and he has also had a few go behind him to try to bit his legs. It annoys the hell out of me. Buster loves everyone and everything he still wants to see all dogs but once he gets a bit closer a realises they are small he comes back. I am not a fan of them.
I can sympathise with you. Our boy is also calm and well-behaved. He's cool when he meets my friend's large (but polite) Norwegian Elk Hound. But when he meets the neighbour's small, yappy, jumpy, excited, straining at the leash, fluff ball, then he just wants to hide behind me. I respect you for speaking out towards the other owner. Some people struggle to take constructive criticism, but maybe, just maybe, you managed to sow a small seed of thought in to their brain.
Sorry this happened - definitely not the best way to end an otherwise nice outing. I've had really little dogs and I've had really big dogs. The truth is, no matter how well socialised and trained, little dogs will ALWAYS think they are big dogs. And in many cases, people don't bother to socialise OR train little dogs because they can just pick them up if they are being out of control. Or laugh it off because "isn't he cute!". It does the little guys no favours - here they are, thinking they are real dogs (and they are) yet they are treated as toys. Or worse, as accessories. So next time you come across a grumpy little cuss like you did on your walk, maybe you can sympathise - with the dog...not his human! Having said all that, would it be possible to get Lola in some situations with more positive small dog play mates? There is a different play style between two large dogs playing together vs. a large and small dog playing together. My dog Brogan grew up with my devil toy poodle Tavish and while Tavish was NOT all that nice to Brogan, he nevertheless taught Brogan to respect tiny dogs. This proved incredibly useful his whole life - he was always super gentle and respectful to where we had zero problems with small dogs throughout his life. Brogan was also absolutely convinced that he was a 6 lb. toy breed and not a Rottweiler, but that's another story. I dog sit often for my friend's chihuahua, Fine, who is wonderfully socialised and trained (and an all-round delight temperament-wise) but she will still put a smack down on a big bouncy puppy if he is being too big and bouncy. Once the pup has been properly schooled, she'll then play with him like a crazy dog and they both have a whale of a time.
What a rotten shame and I sympathise with you losing your rag - I've been very close to it myself but managed so far not to as the main problem we have with small dogs are those that belong to a neighbour They rush at Molly yapping and snarling and her immediate reaction is to fall onto her back and expose her belly in submission. These dogs haven't actually bitten her and I don't think they will because she is so submissive but I hate her having to do this to keep the peace.
A difficult situation. I feel sorry for smaller dogs in the main that are nervous and bark at my labs. I tend to avoid them on walks, or clip mine on a lead. It may be that as a small dog they have experienced the rough and tumble from a large puppy, such as an exuberant young labrador, which has made them fearful of larger dogs.
The attitude of the owner makes a huge difference to how I feel. Almost all the dogs I meet are lovely but we did pass a chihuahua the other day (both it and Molly off lead ) and it snapped at her -fortunately missed. Molly ran away from it, the owner put it on lead and apologised profusely -so obviously I couldn't be cross!
Ripple loves little dogs, when we went on a pack walk he and a Jack Russell became inseparable . However not all little dogs return his affection, but I guess it's just that way with all dogs; and of course it very much depends on the behaviour of the owner.
We have had a few good experiences with smaller dogs, my step add has a Jack Russell, although he is a little randy, they get in brilliant. My mother in law who has a patterdale and they end up covered in slobber cause they are forever kissing each other ha. @Emily_BabbelHund you've hit the nail on the head there. Before my mum and stepdad split they had 2 jack Russell males and they never got on with dogs outside of the ones they knew (Lola and my brothers 4 dogs) because my mum treated them like babies! Picking them up as soon as she saw another dog avoiding particular walks. She never really trained them properly either and they ended up needed to be split because they had a really bad fight and one of the dogs nearly lost an eye. Now one lives with my step add and the other lives with my brother. It just frustrates me so much because if was the other way around, Lola would be seen as ferocious because she is so big! I've spent many many hours socialising and training Lola but they can brush off bad behaviour because she was 'little and cute' I told my mum it was her fault when her dogs fought. She left both intact and never trained them properly. They were father and son so once Russ (the son) was old enough he wanted to be the dominant one and Jack (the dad) suffered because of it I had been telling her as soon as they decided to keep Russ from the litter that both needed to be 'done' and to attend training school. I was ignored and told once they had started to squabble it was 'too late to get them done'
As a lover of Little and Large , and an owner of both , I do sympathise . Little dogs can have attitude far above their stations , but then, so can big dogs ! I do agree that often , toy breeds like my own, as seen as precious by their owners and not allowed to socialise, therefore often becoming nervous and yappy around others . I`ve also noticed that there are far more small dogs kept on leads than large dogs , and we all know that when on lead , a dog will be far more defensive and reactive .
How awful, I hope you are all OK. It does tend to be little dogs that have lots of attitude but thankfully Hattie isn't bothered by them even though she has had her fare share attach themselves to her face but she just waits until they let go. Charlie isn't bothered by little dogs and hardly notices them as they walk by but occasionally if he sees one when he's off lead he will have a little game of chase. It's bigger or the same size dogs that he does sometimes worry about. No dog no matter what it's size should bite another dog and the owner should take it seriously and apologise. xx
Last year, my DH returned from a walk to say that a small dog had attached itself to Sky's neck. All Sky was doing was walking off lead beside DH. She, like `Hattie, waited until it let go. She always avoids other dogs on walks and has never done anything to aggravate another dog - she prefers to keep out of their way. When I asked what the owner did, my DH said nothing. I wasn't best pleased and fortunately Sky was ok. I would have been mortified if I was the owner of that dog.
Thankfully she wasn't hurt, just scared. Don't get me wrong. Lola is no angel and we've had times where she has ignored my calls and annoyed an older dog or a dog on lead and she has had a telling off. My first reaction is to apologise (more than once) and make sure the other dog is ok, sometimes have a quick natter with the owner. I think her reaction annoyed me more than anything! I think of Lola as a child and sometimes she gets a little over excited but never would she bite like that.
I think most people do it's just sometimes we are all at the mercy of idiots and their poorly socialised dogs . I'm glad she's ok and I hope you are too
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, it's awful when the owners lack any sense of remorse Just know that not all little dogs are like this. My little Odie who is a 6 pound Pomeranian is very respectful to all dogs. At day care he plays with all types of dogs and his three buddies from there are a massive pitbull, bull mastiff and a Rottweiler. It all comes down to the owners and if they treat their dog like they will break. Example, I bring Odie in to the dog store and he will walk in on his leash. I get comments often 'oh how nice you actually let him walk around and not carry him around like a stuffed animal'
Odie is wonderful and I know loads of little dogs like him who love to live a dogs life. I'd love a little dog at some point.
I can relate to this ! Nelly likes to scamper around , all 4 kilos of her , whilst others her size are carried , they have legs so let them use the blinkin things ! x
My 70 kg gentle Newfie always ended up with little dogs jumping at his chest and trying to swing at his throat...totally unprovoked...he just ignored them and plodded on his way...they got plonked aside in his wake...it was quite comical and always happened......little dogs around here anyhow do like to take a "pop" at big dogs. Hope Lola is ok
