Small dog V big dog rant

[ChairRider4]

Anyone else struggle with it

My boy is 14 month lab and is pretty good .no jumping up etc and recall friendly with other dogs .and I put on lead if other dogs are on or if dog off that I don't know .

But finding that people are allowing their small dogs to run up jump all over him get in his face and growl and snap at him and jump up at me to (I'm in wheelchair so end up muddy .
Owners finds behaviour funny or OK because they only small .Yet if I was to allow my boy to do that they soon complain about him being dangerous and out of control

so why is it socially acceptable it seems to allow little dogs to behave this way

(not saying all ,but lot I meet on walks do behave this way

Well I have four dogs, a mixture of breeds, tiny & big, & I wouldn't let any of them behave like that.
I don't think it's the size of the dog so much as the attitude & training ability of the owners.

I don't mind small friendly dogs, but the little ones with bad manners and owners who laugh because they are just small drive me nuts. Our lab is very friendly but a bit nervous of barking dogs (after two attacks as a pup). Took him out walking yesterday and saw someone in the distance and a little white speck bounding towards us.

It was a little Chihuahua so I put my lab on lead (as I worry he'll run in the opposite direction). The little shit came up and started dancing around barking and mine didn't like it, but not much I can do other than try to calm it down. Next thing I see another 3 bloody white specks coming towards us and then I had 4 of them dancing around and barking, thankfully not nipping. They have no idea how close they came to being launched into space with my welly!

As the owner of a little dog I would never let my little dog go up to a big dog growling or jumping for his own safety as I don't know how that dog would react and my dog would come of worse if a fight occurred.
I hate it when owners of big dogs think it's OK for their dog to jump on mine while he's on lead so he's squealing and terrified and it's not like he's not used to big dogs he plays with my father's Japanese Akita daily.
It's normally labs I find do this where I am and now my dog is terrified of black labs hes been jumped on by them so many times that he shakes and hides behind me if he sees one.
The owners don't seem to care, when they eventually get to their dog all I get is he's friendly or he only wants to play, they don't seem to get that while that might be true my dog doesn't want to be jumped on and trampled and "play" like that and is terrified.
I keep my dog under control I don't let him jump on people or at other dogs on lead I just wish other owners would do the same regardless of their dogs size.

Loki

Your last paragraph says it exactly how it should be .

Argh! I am so fed up of this debate. It has nothing to do with dog size, it is all about idiot owners.

Idiot owners of small dogs who allow their small dogs to misbehave and idiot owners of big dogs who do the same.

No considerate dog owner thinks bad behaviour is ok/funny/acceptable whatever the size of their dog.

I think size dies matter here. If a big dog chases another, snarling aggressively, you won't find its owners standing around laughing and remarking how cute it is. You may find some will do nothing, or not enough to get their dog under control, but that's a different matter.

With little dogs however I've regularly seen them act aggressive towards bigger dogs and the owners just think it's funny.

No considerate dog owner thinks bad behaviour is ok/funny/acceptable whatever the size of their dog. I agree wholeheartedly.

So from the other perspective Callab the big, over excited lab puppy doesn't have a mean bone in his body but he is terrifying the small dog he is bouncing all over while the owner smiles indulgently and says "he is only playing".

In my own experience of an idiot owner and a husky this escalated until it ended with the death of a small, elderly dog he was only playing with.

Not my dog I should say but I'd known the husky since it was a puppy and knew the elderly dog also.

So from the other perspective Callab the big, over excited lab puppy doesn't have a mean bone in his body but he is terrifying the small dog he is bouncing all over while the owner smiles indulgently and says "he is only playing".

Fair point.

Although I have at times said this while trying to get my dog away in order to reassure the other owner that my dog does not intend to attack.

I appreciate however that the other dog will not know this.

There is a world of difference between an off-lead dog approaching either 1. another off-lead dog or 2. an on-lead dog. If a dog is likely to show aggression when approaching or approached by another dog, they should be on-lead. All dogs should be capable of being recalled, and should be recalled if approaching a dog on-lead. It is up to the owner to find out what the reaction of the on-lead dog is likely to be.

I'm fortunate in that my dog is the living breathing definition of submissive. When approaching another dog she will always first offer her tummy for inspection.

Collaborate Honestly you sound like a good, considerate owner but none of us, or our dogs 😊 Are perfect!

I have 3 dogs, one of whom is now very quick to take offence if he considers another dog's behaviour rude. He's been bowled over or felt threatened by bigger dogs too often. He's not viscious but very vocal! I've done lots of training with him and can quickly get him under control but I do have to keep an eye on him.

Your dog sounds lovely, there is nothing like a tummy to diffuse tension. 😍😜

Exactly my point mothership
my little dog got his leg hurt by some over excited black lab who jumped on him the owner did nothing made no attempt to get her dog under control just said he's only playing while my dog is squealing in terror. I had to pick him up and the dog was still jumping up at me.
That said there are also owners out there of little dogs who are assholes too, who think it's OK to let their dog growl and jump at other dogs on lead and people just because they are small.
Some Owners need to be more considerate and control their dogs, the dogs size should be irrelevant.

I have 3 dogs. DDog 1 aged 7 is a medium sized staffie cross, ddog 2 is a very large collie and ddog3 is a very small Chinese crested x chihuahua.
One thing I was worried about when I got ddog 3 was not letting him become an annoying little dog that got away with running around barking and annoying other dogs! He has been to dog training since we got him and is very well behaved (for an 8 month old delinquent teenage dog !!) DDog 2 has epilepsy and some neurological problems and is VERY reactive on lead and ddog1 is now quite chilled but was a very nervous 6 month old rescue dog when we first got her.
I agree that there can be annoying dogs both big and little with stupid owners. We have has little terries running round our bigger dogs barking at them while their owners just laughed, then again I have also had a chocolate lab run up to ddog 2 who was going mental on the end of his lead and the owner laughed and called over "oh, he's probably a bit excited cause she's in season" like I say...there's stupid owners of both big and small dogs out there!

FarrowandBallAche I could have been the Llhasa Apso owner who picked the dog up! Not because I am scared of him being attacked but because I am sick of big dogs running up to him and weeing on him!

It takes forever to bathe and dry a Llhasa Apso! Not that he appreciates it.

@serin

My lab has a habit of going in to sniff male dogs just as they cock their leg.

Daft as f**k.

I do find locally owners of little dogs find their untrained dogs just oh so funny and cute when acting aggressive. In fact the local chi owner had ago at dh for shaking his leg as his chi had come into our land and was biting dh's leg. He was very taken back when dh asked if he would mind one of our gsds doing the same to him and responded that if a gsd ever did that to him he would push for it to be pts but his chi was only playing by biting dh.