Dogs and little boss type dogs

[Hawkins003]

a question to all dog owners, and non dog owners I'f you have knowledge about this.

why do some little dogs think they are boss dog, when trying to fight larger dogs?

Do the little ones somehow believe they have a winning chance?

The reason I ask, is I regularly see dog walkers and the number of times you see little ones wanting to fight bigger dogs, it's like omg, ???

From experience, (some) little dog owners let their dog get away with it because they think that because they are small, they are easily controlled and harmless.
It is not the dog's fault.. it is the owner.

i have a little dog, we adopted him at nearly a year old and he was a bit like it to begin with but weve worked on it with him and its rare he does it anymore. i wont lie and say hes not spoilt because he absolutely is but hes not allowed to get away with bad behaviour and hes NOT the boss here

Because they are spoiled and badly trained.

Yeah, I don't know why but it's always the tiny ones. There's some chippy little dogs on my road who are always barking their heads off at my medium sized dogs, who never bark or snarl back again and look totally confused as if to say, "what did we do?" I find it hilarious.

My smallish dog is a nervous rescue.

She barks at other dogs to try and show she's brave and not to be approached!

She also barks if she wants to play with another dog, if she's excited and to her anyone to throw their ball.

I think the weekly dog hating threads on MN has made me more aware of the behaviour of dogs when I am out now.
The other day, I walked past a small dog on a lead, who lunged at me and yapped and yapped. It being a small dog, I was fine. If it was a bigger dog, I would have been scared, and I am fine with dogs.

I've got a little dog, she's an absolute dickhead. She's been socialised since she was a puppy and is fine with dogs and cats that she's familiar with but when we meet new dogs, she's evil. She hates having her bum sniffed and will growl if another dog gets too close.
We try to mitigate it as much as we can and don't let her off the lead anywhere near other dogs but that doesn't stop other dog owners letting their dogs come over to us so it's a bit shit all round really!

Because people don’t take small dogs seriously which means that when a small dog displays fear signals, people don’t heed them and the little dog feels he has no option than up the ante…

Because some breeds of small dog are bred to be “gamey” and enjoy a scrap…

Lots of reasons.

Because a lot of owners of small dogs treat their dogs like toys or babies, not dogs.

I often wonder what size a dog needs to be before the owner thinks that an apology for their dog being a shite is necessary.

I can't imagine letting my medium/large dog bark at another dog aggressively without apologising.

I'm actually always apologising for my dog barking and pulling towards them in excitement! He's a WIP for sure!

Much appreciated all so far

I have a JRT and she was the super friendly dog on dog walk. She then got attacked by a German Shepherd and is now scared of her own shadow…so sad !

Most dogs are at least twice the size of mine so I'm not surprised she's scared of the bigger dogs coming in to her space when she hasn't signalled she wants to interact 🤷🏽‍♀️

It's her version of F off.

TBF I work on her ignoring other dogs and so long as I remind her she's pretty good.

She also likes to have the last word bark so if she hears barking and she sees another dog she will bark at them in case it was them barking she's not the brightest

My SILs dog is a nightmare to walk, barks and snaps at other dogs - my SIL thinks he's fiesty like her, rather than a pain in the neck (like her)

I don't think most little dogs know they are little dogs.
Some breeds have been selectively bred for size and appearance rather than temperament, resulting in bad attitudes being ingrained. I've never met a pleasant or happy Chihuahua.
Some are bred to be 'plucky' little hunters, like terriers. They are ready to dispatch a dozen rats in half as many seconds.
Some small dogs get overindulged and treated like babies, so they become neurotic and anxious and bluff their way instead.
Self doubt is not a thing for small dogs.

I have a JRT. He barks at anything that 'invades' his territory (cats/foxes/birds in the garden )

When out walking/running he never, ever barks and is never aggressive.

He actually hates it when another dog barks or get aggressive. He will run back to me if off-lead.

So not all small dogs are aggressive/fighters/

Exactly this, and because some of these 'some' owners also seem to think its funny.
Like one of those in our village who have a bicha-poo. 'Oh he thinks he's Mike Tyson and wants to fight every dog he sees tee-hee, all the big dogs seem scared of him, as their owners cross the road, leave the park when we're about' No you dangerous fool, these owners just don't want to end up having their dog destroyed if it reacts to your off lead, aggressive, snarling untrained dog. And absolutely agree its not the dogs fault!

The are badly trained and badly looked after. when they are unhappy with something, rather than being confident that the owner will handle the situation and make sure they are looked after they believe that they will have to look after themselves, and then when they react inappropriately rather than being corrected and trained to give an appropriate response they are left to their own devices and excused as "they are only little"

Lots of inexperienced dog owners get little dogs thinking they are easier, and therefore the standard of training and care has a greater propensity to be lower

I've got a little dog and his bark hurts your soul. He is the reason that people hate little dogs - it's all down to him

Tbf he looks reet posh (I think) but he was a street dog for 3 years before he was rescued so who knows.

My mum has a shitzu x poodle the size of a large cat who does this. Even if he’s on the lead, she’ll let him go right up the huskies and Rottweilers and bark under their chin, while smiling at the bigger dog’s owner and waiting for them to tell her how sweet her dog is. One day he will pick on the wrong one. We have two dogs, one big, one small and I would never let them behave like that. It’s just poor handling from the owners with the notion that their little treasure should be viewed as loveable not rude just because it’s small.

Same as little person syndrome😀🐾🐾

Because people don't train them.

They think little dogs are low maintenance and don't require much exercise and therefore don't bother to put in the training and effort required to have a healthy, happy dog.

Three reasons:

1. Small dogs tend to be less robustly trained because their aggression and disobedience is less of a problem.
2. Small dogs haven’t had aggression selector bred out of them because they’re less of a threat
3. It’s suspected that dogs think they’re the size of dogs around them because they lack self-awareness. So small dogs see big dogs and think they are a big dog. It’s why if you have a Jack Russell and a Great Dane, the Jack Russell is likely to be more dominant.

i had a cairn terrorist and he hated big dogs especially staffies and there was nothing i could do to stop him he thought he was a rottie on six inch legs, so i always kept him on a lead in public and warned owners of big dogs to keep them away from him as he was aggressive towards other dogs, this was before leads warning of problems were invented it was nothing to do with his training in fact even as a young puppy i took him to puppy training classes and they asked me to leave he was that bad ,he got on fine with our other two dogs and our cats so sometimes its just the dog not the owners

Jack Russell's are the worst for it.
They think they're the Tyson of the dog world and will take anything on.