Yeah, I did say that but it doesn’t refer to what you think it might. 🙂 Size doesn’t matter in the world of dogs. Big or little. Yet I wonder why do little dogs in particular have to be so freaking aggressive if size doesn’t matter? Is there truth to the ‘small dog syndrome?” Can dogs have a Napoleon complex? Or do we uprights “make” them aggressive by constantly picking them up and letting them get the upper hand because “they’re so little and cute?” We wouldn’t allow that kind of aggression from a big dog so why do these little guys seem to get away with it?
No disrespect toward little guys, but what IS it about those aggressive, noisy little ‘purse dogs’ you see? As I’ve said before, my ‘hood is very pet friendly. Almost any time of the day you will encounter someone with a stroller or a small kid walking along with their dog in tow on the way to the cultural square to enjoy lunch, coffee, dinner or a shopping excursion. It’s just how we roll. And it’s one of the nicer aspects of living in this old, well-established neighborhood. And every day on our walks we see a number of dogs and several of them and their owners have become friends of ours. On this morning’s walk, we encountered a couple of little dogs that we often encounter that were even more hostile than usual–barking, snarling and lunging toward us, so much so it was fairly alarming. Sam isn’t some hulking big Standard Poodle by any means (he’s actually a bit on the smaller size) and he’s certainly not intimidating. At his size though, he could easily snap those 10-15 pounders like twigs. But instead he’s balanced and calm around all the dogs he encounters which is probably why dogs (and people) like him. Good dog, Sam!
At this morning’s encounter he just stood there, tail not aggressively positioned, eyes and ears soft and looking pretty bewildered like, “gee, what did I do to deserve this?” I too was flummoxed. It’s not like we bum-rushed these cantankerous little dogs, or acted hostile in any way. So if size doesn’t matter, why do little dogs go all ‘up-in-your-grill’ belligerent…every. single. time. we. come. across. these two? Can anybody shed some light on that? I know some of you have small dogs, fill me in because I’m curious so I know how to handle the situation the next time we encounter those little demon dogs. Then again, I don’t know…maybe if I were only 8 inches high in a world of giants, I’d have an attitude too. <3
[Photo source public domain]
P. S. To my small dog owning friends and readers, this post in no way should be taken as a criticism of their pups. It’s merely an observation on a few pooches I have personal experience with in the neighborhood. Ok, those and that nasty little Min-Pin around the corner who terrorizes EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY. No one likes him! I personally know some of your small dogs and they seemed delightfully sweet. ❤️
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Great post! What would Cesar say? Probably lack of leadership and zero training. People often allow their small dogs to behave badly because the dogs can’t do much harm. And they think it’s funny when little dogs bark like mad. When really those little dogs are probably terrified and just trying to take charge of the situation. Eventually a pattern develops: scary thing approaches, they go ballistic, everyone laughs, scary thing goes away, they triumph. So they do it all over again for the next scary thing. That’s my guess but I have only a small amount of experience with dog aggression … 50 lbs of bitchy boxer to be exact! 🙂
I’m sure little dogs are terrified of all the big things around them. I know I would be! It does seem like there’s a cycle going on-you hit the nail on the head. 🐾