Size Does Not Excuse Behaviour!

[Animal House]

I am not sure many small dog owners think of the consequence that their dog could be seriously injured as a result of their 'cute' behaviour.

Exactly. It isn't 'cute' behaviour if my dog did it back to a small dog.

*sigh*

[Greytmate]

Some of you people should get a greyhound.

For some reason, many (untrained) small dog owners are scared of them. Even when the greyhound is doing absolutely nothing at all.

It is hilarious to see people in a blind panic, trying to catch their ignorant untrained little dog, as it runs around the greyhound.

You can stir them even more by pretending that urgency is required. Look concerned and say There! Quick! Quick! Run!" Make them move a bit faster than they normally do.

Awesome times!

[poodlefan]

Danois:

I am not sure many small dog owners think of the consequence that their dog could be seriously injured as a result of their 'cute' behaviour.

That's what I'd be pointing out to them.

Sadly, irresponsible or ignorant owners are what makes dog parks no go zones for so many of us.. regardless of the size of dogs they own.

[Remarkabull]

Some of you people should get a greyhound.

For some reason, many (untrained) small dog owners are scared of them. Even when the greyhound is doing absolutely nothing at all.

It is hilarious to see people in a blind panic, trying to catch their ignorant untrained little dog, as it runs around the greyhound.

You can stir them even more by pretending that urgency is required. Look concerned and say There! Quick! Quick! Run!" Make them move a bit faster than they normally do.

Awesome times!

All you need to add is a Dr. Evil laugh mwahh ha ha ha!

I no longer take one of my dogs to the beach because no one else controls their dogs. She is DA so is kept on lead and still people let their dogs (big and small) run up to us and call out 'it's ok they're friendly'! It doesn't seem to be obvious to them that my dog is not friendly, even though I have 4-5 dogs with me and she is the only 1 on lead. Obviously people don't take hints and seem to think that because their dog is friendly that mine won't have a go at them.

[OSoSwift]

I am not sure many small dog owners think of the consequence that their dog could be seriously injured as a result of their 'cute' behaviour.

I agree fully.

Like the time my Rotti had three small dogs hanging off her and the people thought it was hilarious until I said if you do not want your dogs to look like patch work quilts get them off, then I started growling at them and smacked ones bum to get it off. The guy abused me for attacking his little darlings.

When I on purpose walked passed again on the way home they made sure they were caught.

Or the time when the upholstered rat came screaming out of the open gate of a 6 foot high fully fenced yard and proceeded to attck my Dobe. At first she was suprised, then she started getting annoyed. It sunk it's teeth in one too many times and she started to snap at it. I had her front end up in the air so she couldn't actually connect. The guy cleared the fence to get it as the noise was a bit frightening to hear. Grabbed the dog "oh sorry"!

I was pissed off and said - Sorry, bloody sorry, keep your gate closed because if my dog had of bitten yours and probably killed it, mine would have been labelled the dangerous dog purely because of her breed and you would have been to blame, keep your bloody dog locked up!

Yes all sized dogs can be owned by idiots, we have heard that many times, but it really gets on my nerves when the idiot owners of small dogs think it is funny when their dog is attacking another dog or person just because the dog is small they don't think it is a problem.

[sas]

Some of you people should get a greyhound.

For some reason, many (untrained) small dog owners are scared of them. Even when the greyhound is doing absolutely nothing at all.

It is hilarious to see people in a blind panic, trying to catch their ignorant untrained little dog, as it runs around the greyhound.

You can stir them even more by pretending that urgency is required. Look concerned and say There! Quick! Quick! Run!" Make them move a bit faster than they normally do.

Awesome times!

[OSoSwift]

Maybe I can muzzle my Whippets and pass them off as short Greyhounds??? Might work!

As long as they don't stand next to Sam who is a proper Greyhound, because he is large even in Greyhound scale!

Edited August 16, 2010 by Rommi n Lewis

[Guest Pandii]

Yesterday while out I saw a GSD off lead walking having a great time very well behaved, walking with it was 2 SWF onlead and my oh my were they out of control

[CrazyCresties]

Can we please stop revering to small dogs as 'rats' - it's obvious that the owners are the issue in these cases, so I don't think it's right to be derogatory about the dogs. And some dogs have to be 'upholstered' due to very thin coats (greys etc) or a total lack of hair like my boy - it's not always a fashion thing

[corvus]

To stick up for the small dogs, Erik played some chasey games with two Great Danes and an Akita cross yesterday evening. He is a 10kg dog and quite short. He couldn't even reach the dane bottoms to sniff them. I don't know where he learnt to be so sensible around large dogs, but he's been that way since we got him. If they get too excited he crouches on the ground and creeps away slowly. It dissipates the arousal about 99% of the time and he's usually back playing with them a moment later. One of his best friends is a little mop of a fluffy crossbreed who bounces around like a maniac and gets bowled over and just bounces to his feet and keeps going. Another of his friends is a wee little cross that must have IG or something in it because he is a speedy devil. Lets the boys chase him all over and when he's had enough he just stops and turns around and everyone is cool. Little dogs have a hard time of it and many people that have them don't understand how scary it looks to them when even a dog the size of a Beagle comes racing over to them. They learn to attack first because it makes them feel safer.

[Skruffy n Flea]

i own 2 swfs, both of indescriminate breeding, one is a rescue about 3 yrs-ish but the other we've had since 12 weeks old...

when we got bella, i did an incredible amount of research and i still do sooooo much research not on breeds but on socialising and behaviour, food and feeding and everything in between; essentially the whole gammut cuz i was responsible for her --- then we got byron, who is similar in stature but of unknown origins.

bella was puppy schooled and although we had every intention of taking her to obedience class when she was younger, we didn't follow thru --- but for the most part, she is a very good lil dog and one that i am proud to watch as she mixes it up with the other dogs at the park for small dogs...

in the beginning tho, we took her to a dog park of mixed dog sizes and i don't regret it because her best bud was a similar aged GSD and both of them learned how to play with each other quite effectively, roughhoused very well together and quite happily --- the smile on bella's face and the effort she went to to continue the shenanigans was reciprocated by molly the GSD. my OH and i and molly's mum supervised and revelled in how well the two of them interacted...

one day tho along came another dog, smaller than molly, but it's head was low charging bella; she took flight and started to yelp the nanosecond it was upon her --- everyone at the park stopped, looked and ran to get the big dog off bella while it's owner waving his arm as if to say 'get away back', casually strolled the 3/4 length his dog had run as it beaded for and landed on bella...

bella has been a tad uncomfortable with bigger dogs since and so we now take our two to the park for small dogs...

i most certainly agree that it is the owner's responsibility to ensure they have effective control over their dogs, including swfs --- i felt that day that i had partially failed my little girl and still to this day i regret exposing her to that kind of danger...

as for the owner of the dog that ran her down, your gruff and beligerent remarks to your dog and to others assisting bella and us, you only rock your world, dickwad

these days at the park she just goes about her business, introducing herself to other dogs in a respectful manner, saying hello, very respectfully i might add, to other dog owners and generally having a pleasant time --- if there's another dog there of similar energy, she will happily participate in some chasey games and there is no greater joy for me than to watch her having the time of her life

byron on the other hand and this is for a separate thread has a tendancy to occasionally sit and bark: at someone in the park, or outside the park, or at a bigger dog in the other section of the park this is what i am currently working on

[Skruffy n Flea]

woah!

sorry about that long post!

[WreckitWhippet]

Returned dog ( from earlier post ) to it's owner, who asked had it been good ? My response was no, it snapped, snarled, lunged and had no idea how to interact with other dogs and no manners. The response was " oh, hehehehehe ".

Needless to say that's one that will never be coming here again.

I just cannot believe the attitudes. It's not fair on the dog to deprive it of socialisation and life experiences, that basically set it up for failure and in some cases to be eaten. Dogs like that are stressed and how can life be enjoyable.

[Skruffy n Flea]

i really do feel for everyone who has effective control of their dog but encounters the fluffy, bounding, yapping and snapping wee dogs with ineffectual owners --- it's these ppl that give ppl like me a bad name, and that's a kick in the guts cuz i go to many lengths to ensure my two behave appropriately. my two are certainly not perfect but i don't make any excuses for their bad behaviour...

from this swf owner, sorry

[Maddy]

Some of you people should get a greyhound.

For some reason, many (untrained) small dog owners are scared of them. Even when the greyhound is doing absolutely nothing at all.

It is hilarious to see people in a blind panic, trying to catch their ignorant untrained little dog, as it runs around the greyhound.

You can stir them even more by pretending that urgency is required. Look concerned and say There! Quick! Quick! Run!" Make them move a bit faster than they normally do.

Awesome times!

I wish that'd work down here but when you have to have a muzzle on your dog, the idiots see this as an open invitation to let their dogs do whatever they want- even aggressively mounting other dogs (which they call "just being friendly" ).

And in my experience, it's always been the smaller dogs- possibly because of the size bias; if a larger dog behaved aggressively, it'd be hounded (no pun intended) out of the park whereas people just seem to expect snarky, sh*tty behaviour from small dogs (or they think it's cute, for some inane reason).

[Staranais]

i really do feel for everyone who has effective control of their dog but encounters the fluffy, bounding, yapping and snapping wee dogs with ineffectual owners --- it's these ppl that give ppl like me a bad name, and that's a kick in the guts cuz i go to many lengths to ensure my two behave appropriately. my two are certainly not perfect but i don't make any excuses for their bad behaviour...

from this swf owner, sorry

I don't think it's a size thing - me & my dogs have been harassed by dogs of all sizes before. Not often, luckily. But in my experience, it's not just small breed owners that are oblivious. Lots of large breeds have their dogs out running free without an effective recall too, and it's not much fun when they charge you.

Perhaps it's different in different areas, though.

[Skruffy n Flea]

i really do feel for everyone who has effective control of their dog but encounters the fluffy, bounding, yapping and snapping wee dogs with ineffectual owners --- it's these ppl that give ppl like me a bad name, and that's a kick in the guts cuz i go to many lengths to ensure my two behave appropriately. my two are certainly not perfect but i don't make any excuses for their bad behaviour...

from this swf owner, sorry

I don't think it's a size thing - me & my dogs have been harassed by dogs of all sizes before. Not often, luckily. But in my experience, it's not just small breed owners that are oblivious. Lots of large breeds have their dogs out running free without an effective recall too, and it's not much fun when they charge you.

Perhaps it's different in different areas, though.

i appreciate that and thanks

unfortunately there is a preponderance of posts in this thread that concern the bad behaviour of some small breeds and i'd like to highlight in particular the irresponsibility of their owners --- i for one just wanted to let the bigger than small dog owing community know that there are those owners with small dogs that do their best to ensure their dogs behave appropriately and that mine aren't perfect but i do my best and wish that other owners would too, rather than making innane comments about their dog's cutenes and that they're just wanting to play yada yada

[Skruffy n Flea]

to be absolutely honest with everyone, it really pisses me off too when i'm out with my two and there's someone with an annoying small breed just busting to come say hello and they come over to me asking if it's okay to let their dog greet my dogs --- just that fact gets my two excited and anxious and i have a helluva time anyway keeping my two focussed while on the lead and having someone approach cuz they can't resist socialising their dog just messes it all up...

[dee lee]

I don't think it's a size thing - me & my dogs have been harassed by dogs of all sizes before. Not often, luckily. But in my experience, it's not just small breed owners that are oblivious. Lots of large breeds have their dogs out running free without an effective recall too, and it's not much fun when they charge you.

I agree.

I have had painful experiences with both big and small. As annoying as the little ones are, I do worry a lot more about the bigger ones.

Some owners are so bloody stupid, I prefer to steer clear of all new dogs until I can be sure of their temperaments.

[Skruffy n Flea]

I don't think it's a size thing - me & my dogs have been harassed by dogs of all sizes before. Not often, luckily. But in my experience, it's not just small breed owners that are oblivious. Lots of large breeds have their dogs out running free without an effective recall too, and it's not much fun when they charge you.

I agree.

I have had painful experiences with both big and small. As annoying as the little ones are, I do worry a lot more about the bigger ones.

Some owners are so bloody stupid, I prefer to steer clear of all new dogs until I can be sure of their temperaments.

actually THAT reminds me of the day we found ourselves heading towards another walking their rescued irish wolfhound [i think she said it was]!!! massive it was and no time or opportunity to cross the road given that it was a busy road but she claimed it would be a safe meet cuz 'he is just a big ole bear' --- that wolfhound, with her straining tight at the leash, sat taut and truly focussed on my two and when it jerked forward, byron barked and that kinda indicated he was uncomfortable so we bid farewell and moved around them and onwards toward home