Sick of ‘little dog’ owners.

[Ratdoghater]

Every damn walk! Every sodding walk without bloody fail a little dog attacks or lunges or snarls or chases aggressively my large (retriever) dogs.

I am sick of it. Today’s dog was a cockerpoo. Yesterday it was a JRT. Day before it was a chihuahua.

Every fucking time the useless piece of crap owners say ‘he’s just playing.’ Newsflash, if your dog is snarling, lunging at my dogs, curling their lips or jumping up and snapping it is NOT playing. If my dog is backing away, my dog is not happy. If my dog is screaming, it is not happy

Big dog owners also often suck, but at least they have the decency to say sorry and put their dog on a leash. Or often leash their dogs before we meet. Little dog owners just laugh…and say ‘well he’s little so he won’t do any damage’ and then once I’m past let their dog go again - which 9/10 times means their dog chases mine!!! Honestly, do they not understand that being attacked for most dogs, when it happens near constantly, does affect their confidence and is a prime reason why so many dog do suddenly snap and turn aggressive?? Its basic common sense.

I know this thread will make no difference - little dog owners will continue to be entitled and incompetent. And little dog owners will pop onto this thread and say ‘my dogs not aggressive.’ Great. BUT disproportionately little dogs are the main instigator in most dog fights or dog on dog attacks I’ve seen.

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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!!

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.

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

There’s a man near me with a GSD - similar age to my youngest. He was a lovely dog and used to play with mine whenever we met, but he repeatedly attacked as an adolescent. He now is incredibly reactive and has to wear a muzzle, can’t be off-lead and it’s 100% because of the continual attacks by little dogs.

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.

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

Get real. The police aren’t interested if you’re burgled or your car’s stolen.

I've only had my (medium to large) dogs ran up to a handful of times by small dogs, one of which is extremely aggressive and it's always been fine because I can restrain my dog against a small dog and scare the little dog off, or sometimes if I only have the none aggressive two they will sniff it quite happily because it's so none offensive and harmless.

On the other hand I've had 30+ bad experiences as someone who avoids loose dogs from medium to large dogs, and I've had 5 separate bites/dog fights from a GSD, a GSD staff mix, a boxer, a bull lurcher and a lurcher. Other than the actual fights it's been daft lab/spaniels who are bored because their silly owners buy a working dog and take it out to run fields like it's a pet breed who persistently bother us and won't leave us alone when shouted at

If you own a large dog who can do damage if adequately annoyed by companion breeds acting like normal annoying pets, you should have it muzzled and work on your dogs desensitisation or take it to secure fields. Part of living in society means other people won't be perfect, you should plan dog ownership accordingly.

Small dogs certainly seem more likely to have an attitude problem. My mum's westie is a classic yappy miserable dog. Everyone in the family kids included hates the dog, except mum. Her other dog the Labrador everyone loves. In short summary, small dogs are twats.

Too true. Friends had 2 big black Flatcoat Retrievers, and one little white Westie.

Guess which one could never be trusted around strangers or children?

The two Flatties were as soppy as you like.

The superiority of big dog owners is irritating and ridiculous. Dogs, like humans, have different personalities and character traits which have been bred in to them over many, many generations. Small dogs have been bred as lap, companion dogs. They believe that they will be loved and welcomed by people. Training them not to be over friendly is really hard, so they should always be on a lead outdoors. Big dogs, which are usually bred from working dogs ,will have been bred from generations of animals kept outdoors with a completely different and lesser experience of interacting with humans. They are just as capable of hurting other dogs and people as small dogs, the difference is they don't expect everyone in the world to love them.
Next time you see newspaper headlines about dogs mauling a toddler to death check how big the animal was. I can't imagine it will be a tiny dog.

Yes! Even if the dog is just playing, if my (very large but very tolerant) dog takes to it unkindly or even just 'plays' back, your dog could get seriously injured and whose fault would that be? I think a big part of it is that big dog owners know what a huge responsibility it is to have a big dog so (generally) have to take things a bit more seriously. Small dogs can't do that much damage so some owners can get away with not really training them or taking it seriously. Inexperienced owners don't seem to really understand what the repercussions could be of letting their dog run up to others.

Completely agree with you. Owners of small dogs generally do not bother to socialise or train their dogs properly and allow them to yap, snarl, lunge and even bite big dogs. Because of their lack of socialisation the little dogs are often fearful of big dogs and decide to get in their first, hence their yapping and snarling. If a big dog acted in the same way the owners would be reported to the police! My large springer spaniel has been attacked 3 times by small dogs, one was hanging off his bag leg and wouldn't let go. There are several small dogs that are lead walked around our village and they always try and go for our dog, even when we cross the street. Luckily my dog has been well socialised and trained and is very laid back - he just ignores them despite previous attacks.

2 large reactive huskies. Many yappy little dogs have leant the hard way.

Small dogs can't do that much damage

As someone who’s had a Dandy Dinmont literally hanging from their hand by its jaws I’d strongly dispute that! I haven’t taken against every small dog as a result.

A little dog bit my husband. He still has the scar several months later. He's a sweetheart so did not tell the owner as didn't want to upset them.

What makes this worse is that the owner of the little dog is part of a small group of dog owners that gossip about my large dog. My large dog is a big softy when off the lead, but snarls on lead, so he appears aggressive even though he's not.

We have a little dog as well as out big dog. So I'm not anti little dog! But I am anti judgemental owners who don't think their own pooch can do any wrong but will merrily criticise others.

Mumsnet is mad.

Dogs are terrible monsters, all dog owners are shite, we have dog owners complaining about dog owners based on their size of dog. There are rivers of shit flowing in the streets and most of us carry bits of our dogs that have been bitten off home in a poo bag.

In reality things are sometimes a bit of an inconvenience but mostly fine aren't they? I can't imagine many people are surrounded by terribly behaved dogs every day. We live somewhere fairly average and find dog owners to be nice people who generally stop to say hello to our dog while I say hello to theirs.

It never ceases to amaze me the hostility that dog owners can throw at other dog owners. Yes, there can be idiot dog owners, but retaliating with tuts and eye rolling or worse outright aggression doesn't help anyone.

Everyone who owns a living animal can find themselves levelled pretty quickly, even the best trained can have a slip up, and training inevitably involves the odd mishap, they are living creatures, not robots.
My recent hound was jokingly called part kangaroo by the vet, it has taken months of work to teach him manners, so while it's easy to point fingers, just bear in mind that your next dog could well be the one to teach you the most.
No wonder dog owners are hated when we can spout such vitriol at each other.