To strongly dislike small dogs

[Cappuccino5]

Full disclosure: golden retriever owner of 30+ years… never had and never will have another breed.

I just don’t understand the fascination with little dogs. So many are horrible, yappy little things that get away with murder because they’re small. Only breed that I’ve ever been bitten by is a dachshund (x 2!!) and it always seems to be terrier or schnauzer types that launch at DDog. Generally they seem to attract people who haven’t got a clue re: dog ownership or can’t be bothered having a ‘proper’ dog - they don’t train properly and seem to just leave the tiny dog sitting at home all day barking at windows.. lacking mental + physical stimulation.

I’m with you to a certain extent OP. I’ve never met a small dog that wasn’t yappy, bitey or annoying. But I do think a massive part of it is training. Most of the little dog owners I know seem to assume that they don’t need training.

I don't understand why so many people prefer large breeds.

There are good and bad owners of every sized dog... but at least a small dog with no training is unlikely to be able to kill you.

I like small dogs. I like golden retrievers too, but I'm not needy enough to want one as a pet.

Please say he is not called Teddy. These dogs always seem to be called that.

I had two lakeland terriers.

They were proper cheeky fuckers but were bloody good at all the things that mattered, like coming when called, being remarkably tolerant of children that insisted on trying to cuddle them, not being arsey with other dogs etc.

They were too bloody clever for their own good though and could climb like mountain goats. One of them learned to bridge the gap between the chairs at the kitchen table and the worktop, and would get on the worktop to steal anything tasty. I moved the table a couple of feet to prevent this.

I came home a couple of days later to find that one or other of them had pushed the chair over to the worktop and climbed up there anyway.

I suspect it was the male, as he was also the one that could open doors, even those with round handles. I never caught him in the act, so have no idea how he did it.

@YeOldeGreyhound
no he isn’t called Teddy!
His name is Lorcan.

My name is a clue as to the dogs I prefer, and I have never really been keen on small dogs. I think in the main it is because they tend to be yappy and poorly trained, and when I had my greyhound it was small dogs that would go for her.

I’m bemused by the phenomenon of large men and small dogs that they dote on.

My childhood dogs were cairn terriers. Such a lovely breed, loyal and friendly and a bit bolshy. Lots of personality. Yours is gorgeous.

Love all the pug pics

Agree.

@Cappuccino5 We have a terrier and he’s been trained extensively (and we revisit training regularly). He certainly isn’t left at home unstimulated all day. My husband works from home most of the time and on the odd occasion he goes to the office, our dog goes to ‘dog day care’ for a few hours (this is probably every third week). Terriers need huge amounts of exercise - he gets 3-4 hours a day of walks. He is very much loved, is the centre of our family, and we have clear routines and rules for him.

That said, he is a terrier, and he does bark sometimes. We’ve trained every other bad habit out of him (he has excellent recall, for example, and responds to most commands very well) but no matter what we do - including working with a professional dog trainer - he does still sometimes bark. It’s in his nature and is a feature of the breed that we see often, although it varies as each dog has a unique nature.

He’s incredibly loving and loyal, and clever and sweet. We accept it as a feature of the breed and just make sure he’s on a lead as required as a precaution.

ETA: Yes, reasonable to dislike any dog you like, but not reasonable to assume that owners of small dogs don’t work hard to train them.

Your wish is my command. Lola, my Peekapoochi 🤣

Have a Lhasa apso and a golden retriever. The golden is so nosy. Always up barking at the window when someone goes by. He then sets the Lhasa off! He’s a dopey big lump but so loveable and chatty!!

YABU. I've met just as many untrained and terribly behaved larger dog breeds. And the issue with those is that they cause more damage and cannot be scooped up as easily by their owners. I love dogs and have my own small, non yappy, elderly dog. But the majority of dog owners are entitled arseholes.

I’ve had dogs of all shapes and sizes. Currently have a small
and a large dog and both are gorgeous and well trained. The small one is a trained assistant dog and the large one has done gun dog training so both well socialised and trained

I like all dogs, big and small.

Apart from Staffies. Because I’m scared of them.

They are v easy to transport

Mine have tended to believe they knew better. Knew all the commands but weren’t sure why they were expected to follow them. But adorable characters. One used to announce that evening meetings were overrunning by standing in front of the vicar and barking.

We had three GSDs corner a woman in the nearby park. They were put down. If I’m going to be cornered by dogs I’d prefer they were small yappy ones.

I love dogs with a personality and fun so I have a Springer

I’d never own a dog I couldn’t pick up, that said my little dog can be a dickhead at times.

Terriers aren’t for the weak 🙈😂

What's not to understand?

Different people like different things.

Some people like Ed Sheeran. I think he's shit.

Because, you know, opinions.

Here's anther opinion for you, OP - it's really twattish to use terms like 'proper' dogs.

Just judgey bollox.

I love retrievers especially flat coats. I have 2 large breeds and you have to be so much more responsible because of preconceptions of the breed. My two are big softies. I don’t mind small dogs apart from the high pitched yapping. On saying that, my girl has been attacked a few times whilst on lead by small off lead dogs with no recall.

Sort of know what op means - chihuahuas and similar are bony and rat like. But miniature sausage dogs and corgis are cute, and many of the small dogs posted on here. Edit to add the miniature poodle and cairn terrier are adorable (but I would class as more small-medium).

He’s going through the “teenage period” so is rather feisty at the moment, but he’s a good little lad!