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Little Dogs

BoneheadNW

New member
I would like to first apologize if my opinions on little dogs offend anyone, but I have come to (in general) loath little dogs. Anyone who knows me knows that I love dogs and go out of my way to greet and pet them. Now, my neighbor up the street has two doxen (sp). One of them, named Dirk, has always barked, snarled, and even tried to bite me everytime we happen to meet. Fortunately, my neighbor always has Dirk on a leash, although it is one of those telescoping types that allow the little rat to seemingly run out to infinity. The neighbor is always very apologetic, and scolds Dirk for his behaviour, but she and I both know that it is a useless effort. By the way, Dirk behaves the same way toward my kids. Dirk is just one example of this "small dog behaviour" that I have experienced over the years. With very little exception, larger dogs have never acted this way toward me.

Now before you tell me that the little dogs are sensing that I hate them and that is why they act that way, I have gone out of my way to try to be nice to them.

What is it with small dogs that they have to be so agressive?
Bonehead
 

Jim_S

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
BoneheadNW said:
Now before you tell me that the little dogs are sensing that I hate them and that is why they act that way, I have gone out of my way to try to be nice to them.

What is it with small dogs that they have to be so agressive?
Bonehead

I wish I knew. I've had at least one dog since I was 6. We've rescued and placed over 200, and bred another 20 or so. There are six cockers in various states of rest sprawled around the house now, at least until someone knocks on the door :smileywac Got along fine with all of them.

I've been bitten once. I worked in a TV shop in high school. One afternoon we were delivering a TV after repair and a Chihuahua tried to take a bite of my kneecap. It was a big console and we were setting it down. almost dropped it on the dog. I was standing there with holes ripped in my jeans and blood running down my leg and the lady of the house was much more worried about the little #**hole than my knee.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
BoneheadNW said:
What is it with small dogs that they have to be so agressive?
We have a little dog. Mean little shit that will bite any stranger he can get near. We have to lock him up when workmen show up at the house. He is good with kids and is fine at parties, but he's a mean little dog. He chases our Akita off the bed, growls at her and has often jumped off furniture to attack the Akita.

Honestly I wonder if the little dogs see the world from an elevated position because they are often carried by their owners. When a little dog is carried, it looks down on larger dogs, children, etc. Perhaps that gives it a different perception of its own size? When a little dog is carried it also is bonding with its owner, and perhaps that bonding leads to over-protection?

Or maybe just by their nature they are just mean little shits :confused2:
 

humor_me

New member
Chihuahuas have got to have the most neurotic behavior of any small dog out there. I never met one that didn't have an attitude.

My mechanic has a Boston terrier that is an awesome little dog. He lets it run loose around the shop and it never fails to "make the rounds" whenever customers are dropping off or picking up vehicles. He is always friendly with people.

Maybe it has nothing to do with size.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
I found little dogs like it when you get down low to their level. Of course, you are also easier to bite when you are down low too.Bone, try calmly getting down on all fours and sticking your hand out for them to sniff. You may get bit but then you can just blame it on some guy on the internet that you have never met! :whistle:
 

Junkman

Extra Super Moderator
Little dogs get nasty because the owners allow them to. I have a dachshund that is about 8 pounds and she isn't nasty. The few times that she did start to test the waters, she was quickly stopped and disciplined. Just like kids that don't behave, blame the parents, not the dogs or kids. Some people like dogs that are nasty because they see this as protection. I see it as a potential problem. In CT & MA, the homeowners insurance carriers ask what kind of dogs you have, and if they are on "the list" of dogs that are considered "problems", you will have your homeowners insurance renewal declined. I know of a family that just received a notice of non renewal because they have horses. I don't see horses as a problem, but the insurance companies do.
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
PBinWA said:
I found little dogs like it when you get down low to their level. Of course, you are also easier to bite when you are down low too.Bone, try calmly getting down on all fours and sticking your hand out for them to sniff. You may get bit but then you can just blame it on some guy on the internet that you have never met! :whistle:

Oh hell, if they bite me I hit them with a right hook that sends them a good 30 or 40 feet. If they get back up, they never seem to bother me again. Many years ago we had a Sheltie that snarled at one of our kids when we first got the new baby back from the hospital. The baby carrier was in the floor and the dog just sort of gently walked up to sniff. I was close at hand. When the dog pulled her lips back to show teeth, I knocked most of the front ones out, and knocked her out cold. It cost me nearly 500 bucks at the vet for the broken lower mandible (didn't replace any teeth), but the dog absolutely NEVER again acted even remotely aggressive towards any of our kids.

I don't believe in being cruel to animals, but I am a firm believer that they do have a pecking order set into their brain. At no point in time will I allow them to ever think they fall ahead of any of our family members in that pecking order. When he was about 2 years old, the "real" Dargo apparently thought he'd challange me for the 'alpha-male" role. He was chewing contentedly on a bone I'd given him in the barn and when I walked by he gave me that raised hackles and teeth baring growl. That was it; that started a full on flat out fight. I'm ashamed to say that I gave him a pretty vicious beating that he will never forget. He got one pretty good bite in on me to begin things and I guess I sort of lost it with anger (me, imagine that; getting angry). Anyway, he has definitely not forgotten that lesson. Not with me, and not with any of the kids. He certainly rules Bruno, our other GSD, but he does not ever dare challange any family member.

Anyway, my thought on that is that perhaps some owners have been afraid to show the smaller animals who is the alpha male with no misconceptions.
 

dzalphakilo

Banned
Junkman said:
Little dogs get nasty because the owners allow them to.

Junk hit the nail on the head.

At one time, could NOT STAND a small dog. "Small man" syndrome if you would.

Apologies for the blurry pic. The small dog on top is Clover and the dog she is on top of is Scrappy. Both came to us from a family who lived in a trailer who could not care for the dogs after a couple of years of being with the family (the dogs lived outside, left to do with what they wanted to do. People were actually hopeing sp? that they would run away). Scrappy is Clovers offspring. Clover was a "puppy mill" dog who could only produce a pup at a time so she was "discarded". Scrappy has a great home a couple of miles from us with a great family. Clover found a home, but her owner had to go overseas due to uncle sam and decided that he couldn't take care of her through his family.

Wife will most likely never try to adopt Clover out again.

First night picking these two dogs up was kaotic (sp?) to say the least. They were "on their own" and wouldn't trust any people. Clover was with us for three months before she found a home, then came back to us after six months.

If you came to the house, she would run away from you. She's leary of people at first. That being said, driving with you, she wants to sit in your lap (which takes training on your end). Shes scared to death of thunder, and always wants to be by your side. She has no fear when playing with the other dogs. Her and Lexi (the black A.S. Terrior that people call "pit bull" that I have a pic here under "best buds") will go at it, and you would think Lexi would tear her apart, which she doesn't. For her size, playing with our other dogs, you would think she has the biggest set of balls you could find. However, around people she does not know, that is another story.

Never thought I'd love a small dog, but Clover has proved me wrong. Shes great, and other than the fact that when she smells something in the ground and she acts like a backhoe (sp?), is a great dog.

Not all small dogs are alike is my only point.
 

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Junkman

Extra Super Moderator
Dargo, had you tried that with my German Shepard, he would have chewed you up and spit you out. He was a trained attack / guard dog and he never lost a fight, except to cancer. He was the only dog that I ever saw that could climb a 12' cyclone fence. His trainer told me that even he feared what that dog could do. At 120 pounds, he had a lot of respect from everyone. I only turned my back on him once, and then he put me down. If it were not for the fact that I knew what to do, I might still be lying on the ground with him standing on my back. He also never growled at anyone beforehand. He didn't have to, because he was always in control of the situation. He was also very gentle around children the one time that he got loose and wound up in a school yard, and always seemed to know the differance between a friend and a foe. He also had a vicious dislike for people that smelled like drug dealers. He was trained that way.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
We just had an interesting -almost tragic- event in our house. My sister-in-law just came to visit for 2 months with her 2 dogs. Day 2 and one of her little dogs tries to eat out of Misha's bowl of food.

Not a good thing to do!

Misha bit the boston terrier with her top fangs piercing the terrier's nose in 2 places and her bottom fangs piercing the terrier's back between his shoulder blades. She was violently shaking the little dog when I pulled her off of him, fortunately I was only a few feet away when it started. BLOOD EVERYWHERE. Fortunately the wounds were simple puncture wounds and not tears. No stitches. No major problems. But now my sister-in-law keeps her dogs away from my dog. Misha would have easily killed this dog if she had another 30 seconds, fortunately for the boston terrier she only had him in her jaws for 5 or 6 seconds.

Can't say my dog did anything particularily wrong. It was her food. It is her house. I warned everyone up front that these 2 new little dogs were 'intruders' and there might be problems. Akitas are KNOWN for being protective of their homes and their families, it is part of their personality. Akitas are also known for being intollerant of cats, racoons, etc. And apparently of small dogs too.

:pat:
 

BoneheadNW

New member
B_Skurka said:
My sister-in-law just came to visit for 2 months with her 2 dogs.

That is your problem right there. No offense, but nobody would stay in my house for that long, especially with their dogs, unless it was absolutely necessary.
Bonehead
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
BoneheadNW said:
unless it was absolutely necessary.
It is pretty much necessary. We are trying to get her back on her feet. Long story, no need to go into it here as this is a dog thread.
 

Junkman

Extra Super Moderator
B_Skurka said:
..........

Can't say my dog did anything particularily wrong. It was her food. It is her house. I warned everyone up front that these 2 new little dogs were 'intruders' and there might be problems. Akitas are KNOWN for being protective of their homes and their families, it is part of their personality. Akitas are also known for being intollerant of cats, racoons, etc. And apparently of small dogs too.

:pat:

Bob....... I will vehemently disagree with you. What if that happened to be a small child. All of my dogs were taught that they were not allowed to be protective of the food bowl. When I was about 4, I was bit severely by our cocker spaniel because I came too near to the food while he was eating. The dog was gone by the end of the day, and we never had another dog in the house. When I was on my own, I got a Weimeraner, and that was one of the first thing that I had taught him. Even my German Shepard which came to me as a trained attack dog, was not protective of his food, and he had already been trained that way. He was protective of the grounds, but he was never vicious. He was doing what he was trained to do. I also know of people that own Akita's and there dogs are not protective of the food, because that is the way that they were trained. Cats and small animals that they are not familiar with, are another topic.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
Dargo said:
Oh hell, if they bite me I hit them with a right hook that sends them a good 30 or 40 feet. If they get back up, they never seem to bother me again. Many years ago we had a Sheltie that snarled at one of our kids when we first got the new baby back from the hospital. The baby carrier was in the floor and the dog just sort of gently walked up to sniff. I was close at hand. When the dog pulled her lips back to show teeth, I knocked most of the front ones out, and knocked her out cold. It cost me nearly 500 bucks at the vet for the broken lower mandible (didn't replace any teeth), but the dog absolutely NEVER again acted even remotely aggressive towards any of our kids.

I don't believe in being cruel to animals, but I am a firm believer that they do have a pecking order set into their brain. At no point in time will I allow them to ever think they fall ahead of any of our family members in that pecking order. When he was about 2 years old, the "real" Dargo apparently thought he'd challange me for the 'alpha-male" role. He was chewing contentedly on a bone I'd given him in the barn and when I walked by he gave me that raised hackles and teeth baring growl. That was it; that started a full on flat out fight. I'm ashamed to say that I gave him a pretty vicious beating that he will never forget. He got one pretty good bite in on me to begin things and I guess I sort of lost it with anger (me, imagine that; getting angry). Anyway, he has definitely not forgotten that lesson. Not with me, and not with any of the kids. He certainly rules Bruno, our other GSD, but he does not ever dare challange any family member.

Anyway, my thought on that is that perhaps some owners have been afraid to show the smaller animals who is the alpha male with no misconceptions.

Dargo, next time instead of just hitting the dog with a punch or kick try picking them up and pinning them to the ground with your hand around their throat. Then yell at them as loud as possible and show them your teeth (I know you have one or two left). You might get scratched up a bit but it is very effective and is more representative of how dogs deal with each other in the wild.

Some dogs are harder to do this with than others but I have done it with dogs up to 140 lbs and once you have done it once it usually works. You're a gib tough guy you should be able to pull this off

Sometimes a kick or punch is necessary in self defense with aggressive large dogs but it isn't as effective as getting them into the submissive position. Works great with wives too.:whistle:
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Junk, I missed your post, but the dog is not protective of the food bowl against people. In fact she was taught that it is OK for people to take food right out of her mouth. That has not been a problem.
 

soundguy

New member
I think you are generalizing way way too much. A dogs personality will depend on the breed, the owner.. and lastly.. the individual dog.. the last option being the bulk of the determination.


I have 5 dogs.. 2 large..( cur, husky/lab mix ) 3 small ( papillion, jack russle terrier, beagle ).

ALL my dogs are loving... If you come into our fence.. they will bark
If they are out of the fence being walked.. they don't bark.. and are rather shy.... well.. the beagle is kinda permanently outgoing.. sorta dumb.. and just plain nice to everybody.. including the robbers and intruders..

Soundguy

BoneheadNW said:
I would like to first apologize if my opinions on little dogs offend anyone, but I have come to (in general) loath little dogs. Anyone who knows me knows that I love dogs and go out of my way to greet and pet them. Now, my neighbor up the street has two doxen (sp). One of them, named Dirk, has always barked, snarled, and even tried to bite me everytime we happen to meet. Fortunately, my neighbor always has Dirk on a leash, although it is one of those telescoping types that allow the little rat to seemingly run out to infinity. The neighbor is always very apologetic, and scolds Dirk for his behaviour, but she and I both know that it is a useless effort. By the way, Dirk behaves the same way toward my kids. Dirk is just one example of this "small dog behaviour" that I have experienced over the years. With very little exception, larger dogs have never acted this way toward me.

Now before you tell me that the little dogs are sensing that I hate them and that is why they act that way, I have gone out of my way to try to be nice to them.

What is it with small dogs that they have to be so agressive?
Bonehead
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
soundguy said:
I think you are generalizing way way too much.
Chris, maybe we are.

I have Crapweasel (6 pound Maltese) and Misha (90+# Akita) and find that if I let you into my house, Misha will run around, be annoying, bark, and generally try to get you to notice that she wants you to play with her. If I keep you at the door with her behind me, she stays in guard mode and would gladly tear your throat out if she would be allowed to.

On the other hand, when strangers approach, Crapweasel is just a 6 pounds of mean and nasty. All fangs and claws attached to an angry & demented brain.

The farmer who farms my fields stopped by the house last evening to talk for a while. I had to put Crapweasel behind the doggy gate to keep him from attacking the farmer. Misha, on the other hand, intimidated the hell out of this guy but when I let him in, Misha became a friendly dog. I think the farmer was still pretty wary about Misha, but all was good with her. Crapweasel, on the other hand, was snarling and growling and yapping the entire time, even when we went into the kitchen.

Little dogs are just mean shits. Oh, any for some reason, the lovely Mrs_B doesn't seem to like it when I refer to her dog as Crapweasel :yum:
 
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