Sick of ‘little dog’ owners.

The dog drew blood? Go to the police, it should be put down.

I don't have a dog at the moment and don't know if I will ever have another. I used to find the constant vigilance of walking my placid old lady and being alert to inconsiderate dog owners and their poorly behaved animals pretty much ruined most walks. Small dogs do seem to be the worst behaved.

They also seem to get really irritated by seeing a small woman with a 50kg dog...😂

I hate the big dogs off lead bounding over to pester my dachshunds who are on the lead. The owner will say they're only want to play. NO FUVK OFF with your out of control dog.

Thank you, I nearly started a similar thread after my walk yesterday! Since lockdown I have found so many awful dog owners of little dogs. This was not as much of a problem pre lock down but since I can't go on a walk without some little rat having a go. And it's the owners, they're useless, or oblivious! I always try and pick a path to walk away and avoid them but so often they just stand in the cross roads staring at their little rat like thing sniffy blocking me from getting away from them! Every walk I have to deal with one!!

More annoying are the little dog owners who immediately scoop them up as soon as they see another dog.

I have a friendly spaniel who is fairly well behaved so usually either looks at me to see if it's OK to approach, or comes back if I call him.

But the owners hold them aloft and stare daggers at me as if I've got a tiger on a leash.

'He's very anxious'

YES BECAUSE YOU KEEP PICKING HIM UP!

And breathe.

I quite like seeing the people who are clearly embarrassed to be walking a rat sized dog.

Usually burly men who can't make eye contact.

Unlike the OP I have a reactive big dog (greyhound), I would agree with them that it's mostly but not always small dogs which cause us issues by being allowed to run up to us. All my girl wants is to be able to have a little walk and sniff about along with my other girl before going back to lie on her sofa. We have spent hours and hours over the last 2 years working on her tolerance with other dogs but we wouldn't have had to if people kept their dogs on leads or just away from my dog. I don't have the luxury of just being able to pick up a 27 kg dog as you do. I have to keep her on the ground and try to put myself between her and any friendly or aggressive dog which approaches. Luckily for me she is reactive and fearful rather than aggressive and just tries to hide behind me.

I agree with you that pets are excellent companions and brighten owners lives. But people should keep their dogs away from other dogs whether they are friendly or not and they should be on leads if they do not have excellent recall and most dogs do not have excellent recall

I’m a little dog owner and he is a nightmare !! I don’t let him off the lead and keep him well away from all dogs ! He snarles and goes mental but I think it’s an instant fear then he calms down but I’m not willing to upset other dogs whilst he calms down we had him at 18 months old and I don’t think he was socialised ! He 10 now people should be responsible when they have a dog x

I’ve got two small dogs. One has become reactive as a result of trauma and is never off lead if there’s another dog anywhere near her. The other is young, playful and gentle so he’s off lead unless we’re close to another on lead dog, if they’re off lead, so is he. He doesn’t jump up because he has no interest in humans but he loves other dogs.

Twice this week I’ve gone to an undercover area outside a cafe (country park, no dogs in cafe) to order from the hatch. First time 2 owners, 3 dogs who went mad at my German Shepherd. He did not react at all. Good job too because he would get the blame. The other dog owners did nothing to address their dogs behaviour. It was aggressive but I understand it’s fear based. Something the owner needs to sort out for their dog’s sake if nothing else. I know it was fear based because they ignored an off lead chihuahua who is a very good little dog and quiet.
Happened again with a border collie. Quite possibly under exercised and understimulated so highly strung.
If I allowed my dog to behave like that I’m sure I’d be reported due to his breed. He’s not perfect, training is on-going and I’m paying for additional training too. I also pick up his massive poos, put his lead on when other dogs are on lead and also around children so as not to worry them. None of this is overly difficult.

There are good owners & bad owners obviously. But the difference is that owners of small dogs don’t always put the same effort into training because they are easy to physically restrain. For example owners of big dogs tend to put a lot of effort into getting the dog to walk nicely on a lead, whereas toy sized dogs aren’t going to drag you anywhere if they do pull.

And owners of big dogs don’t respect that small dogs can be intimidated by dogs so much larger than them and will then react out of fear.

100% OP
I have a retriever. Thick as pig mince. He has been attacked before and just stands there crying with another dog attached to his face. Awful.

I am always looking 90 miles ahead and will turn completely off course if I can to avoid them. I'm at the point I can't be arsed with it and will end up being really rude to someone very soon.

I kind of agree with the OP although not her way of expressing it . As the now owner of two small dogs , frenchies , for the first time ever I am amazed at the aggression shown by other small dogs trying to get at them particularly dachshunds who seem really snappy , snarly and straining on their leads to reach us . My own two are really non aggressive love everyone types . Having only owned bullmastiffs before this is new to me seeing small dog behaviour . Maybe Bm's just give off a different energy being such goofballs.

You’re actually so entitled that you think you have the right to tell people what to do with their day and their thoughts

yes there is a lot wrong with the world and one of the things that is wrong with the world is that too many people own dogs and haven’t trained them.

training classes should be compulsory before dog licences are issued and harsh fines for those who allow their dogs to touch other people or dogs

that would make the world a nicer place and if people need that affection that comes from dog ownership they won’t have a problem with it

Mine is a bossy little git. If I stop to talk to someone, he yaps at me to hurry up. It’s something I haven’t been able to train out of him.

In his defence, I don’t think he’d been walked by his previous owners (he’s missing a leg, so it appears they thought he wasn’t capable), and walks are his favourite thing now.

Your post proves exactly what the op is saying. Train your small reactive and until it is trained keep it on a short lead. You and your dogs happiness shouldn't impact others.

Oh that’s interesting. I’m a small dog owner. Where I live I had to change where I walk mine because everywhere we went I was the ONLY person who had their dog on a (non-retractable, for the record) lead, and we kept getting large dogs off lead running up to my dog aggressively. I had to keep picking my dog up because he was terrified, and then I would get scratches down my legs and back from the unleashed big dogs jumping on me to try and get to my dog. ‘Oh they’re just wanting to say hello,’ the owners would all say.

So yes, you’re being unreasonable for saying it’s the fault of little dogs when actually it’s the fault of twatty owners of dogs of any size who have no consideration for others.

What a ridiculous post - “big dog owners” vs “small dog owners” rubbish.

There are bad dog owners and good dog owners.

I’ve had big dogs and small dogs run up to my small dog and intimidate her - mostly they are wanting to play but she gets easily scared and would cower and back away unless they approach gently. She is more scared of the big dogs. I don’t start stupid threads though saying how sick I am of the owners or categorise “big dog owners” as “useless pieces of crap” - how rude.

How about confronting them on your dog walks when it happens rather than starting nasty ranting threads like this?

Keep them on a lead?

Surely you'd just kick the tiny dog away or pick it up?

I have two tiny dogs, they weigh less than 7kg between them. They were rescued from a horrible puppy farm last year and both needed surgery, other treatment and some training before being rehomed with us. They are still finding their way in the world and do get a bit happy with other dogs, but we are continuing with the training. One has had to have all his teeth out so can’t bite anyone. I’m sure we would be judged by the anti dog brigade if you saw us out. I’m saddened by this.

I have a tiny dog and always keep her on her lead outside because big dogs can get aggressive. Especially those off the lead! Large dogs also pull at their leads and bark or run up to me when I'm pushing my baby in her pram. I scream and the owners just laugh and say their giant dog is just playing. Keep your dogs on a lead so they won't be chased. I think owners should be fined for letting their dogs off a lead (unless it's a large field).

Are you sure… mine are lovely 😉