Aggressive Small Dogs

Last night the Dog Whisperer consulted with a couple who had problems with their Maltese. One problem was dog aggression when they tried to walk him. He would go berserk at the sight of another dog and try to attack. Cesar brought along one of his German Shepherds to be part of the therapy. He finally gained control over the Maltese and eventually had him sitting peacefully beside the Shepherd.
Later when talking to the couple the lady remarked that certainly the little dog wasn't considered dangerous and Cesar replied "Oh most certainly he is dangerous...to himself." If he would ever have the opportunity to actually attack a big dog he would have been seriously injured or killed. The couple never thought about that.
I have seen people at the dog park who obviously thought it cute that their small dog was trying to attack a big dog through the fence. They really should think about what would happen if that fence were not there.
Aggression should be dealt with, no matter the size of the dog.

 

OMG you don't know how many agressive small dogs I've met while walking Rocky. Some owners are so ignorant about it too.

Once we were going to the park and this lady was walking her Min Pin and she stopped to talk to me about Rocky ( you know the same old stuff. What breed is he, how old, he's got such a nice color, etc.) and her dog was fully growling and snapping at Rocky while he was hiding behind my leg. Then she has the nerve to say "Oh look, she likes him!".

There's also this little Bichon that lives about 20 houses up the street from me and his owners always let him run loose all over the street. Literally all over the street, I can't tell you how many times I've almost run him over with my car. When he's out and Rocky is in the back yard he always comes to the gate trying to attack him. Luckily Rocky just ignores him. I'm still waiting to see the outcome when he decides to take on the German Shepherd or the 2 Rotties that live across the street from me.

 

my parents shitsu is very aggressive, luckily my dogs havnt snapped at her when she wants to be dominant over 2 big dogs.


I should see if my parents get that channel

 

words cant describe how annoying aggressive small dogs are when brought to places like dog parks and the beach. quite often all dogs have to do is look at them and they come charging. kuma never backs down if a dog tries to fight her so its always me getting in trouble because my dog is bigger. even if kuma is unable to fight [the dog is trying to bite her face so she tries to get away] she STILL gets blamed. now we walk the other way if we see a small dog, ive come across so many snappy ones, not only to dogs but to humans as well.

 

I have to agree. Having a male dog agressive dog, its hard. Smokey will not tolorate another Male dog. PERIOD. Anything female, and he's cool with it. I can control him enough to let him know that its not ok for him to snap. And hes really come along way. Now, if another male aproaches, He will calmly sit there with a look on his face like, UH you better leave....
But if they start it, I can't control him. Other than picking him up.

As for smaller dogs. He's not that bad. But one bite andhe can kill them instantly. So I keep him out of situations where smaller dogs can be in harms way.
When we go to Pets mart or Petco, I keep his harness on with a short leader. That way he's at my side at ALL times.

Meeting Lacy this morning was a shock to him. He was sooo ahppy!!!

She wanted to bite his head off though, he kept tryin gto hump her and she was not going to have it.

 

Someone at work advertised that they need to rehome their pets because they are moving (don't get me started...). One of the dogs is a "Chorkie" - Yorkie and Chi mix. They say he is "a bundle of energy and a bit protective of my home. My Mom isn't sure how I would be in your home. Sometimes I have been known to nip at visitors ankles. I am such a watch dog! I am only 2 yrs old and if I love you...I love you completely!"

You can tell she thinks it is cute that he bites at ankles and is protective. Why would you encourage a 5-lb. dog to be protective?! That dog would be so hard to retrain at this point.

 

Jasmine is agressive but not in biting when she sees another dog she barks like crazy i cant get her to stop she doesnt want to go near them but she barks her head off. We were camping when she was about 6 mos old and was about 2 1/2 lbs we were down by the water and some people were walking kinda far away from us with 2 pitbulls jasmine was barking like crazy barking so hard her head was going up and down and her little feet were coming off the ground the people just laughed and kept walking i kept telling her no and held her and she quited down but she still barks at other dogs.

 

Rene,
A tip from the Dog Whisperer, Don't hold her while she is barking, even while telling her NO. By holding her you are rewarding the behavior you are trying to avoid. What Cesar did was to turn the dog on it's back and just restrain it in this submissive position until the dog stopped the unwanted behavior and calmed down. Then you should reward the good quiet dog with praise.
Weird thing about the canine psyche is that they feel "rewarded" if they get a response from you, even though you think it's negative. By holding the dog in the submissive position without saying anything to further add to the excitement of the situation will let the dog know that you are the leader.

 

"Feisty Fido" is a good book about desensitizing dogs to other dogs.

 

thanks dukesdad and jamiya i will try both it is very annoying her little voice is ear pericing

 

Topher is one of the few small dogs I know of who doesent have an agression or fear problem. Not that im putting down small breed dogs i think their great. But our neighbor breeds Yorkies and when she visits she usually has a dog under her arm and almost always the little thing is yapping and snarling at our dogs and my dogs just kinda sit there like yeah i could snap you in one bite but i won't lol.

 

oh ive come across a real nasty little dog. a jack russell. he often 'gets out' of his owners yard and comes down to the park. he is VERY anti social, tries to hump all the dogs and if dogs look at him or goes near him he goes bonkers. we always return him back to his home but we have to pick him up by the scruff of the neck and then hold his mouth shut otherwise he tries to attack. ive seen a few kids go up and pat him, thinking hes friendly cause its small, only to have him growl at them. lol the look on their faces when they realise hes not so friendly after all!

but i have come across some nice small dogs. kuma has a few small dog friends.

 

All of this talk of such yappy little dogs makes me SO happy I have the sweetest little chi boy ever! :y_the_best: I think I just got really lucky since you see so many with behavior issues. He really was socialized really well and it definetly shows. He's just a big bundle of love, I have to apologize to anyone he meets because he'll crawl right in their arms and lick them to death. He really loves everyone and every dog, he thinks everyone is his friend and wants to cuddle, this is probably more dangerous on his part than being aggressive. He's very naive and innocent to the fact that not everyone wants to be his best friend =P Thankfully the only big dog he does hang out with (my husky) has tolered him. He just adores her, he always tries to cuddle in her fur while she's sleeping or curl up with her. Sometimes she doesn't mind or will even encourage it by gently pushing him to lay next to her with her nose (though she only when she thinks I'm not looking, hmm? :-# I think she's in denial!) So sometimes she'll keep scooting herself all the way to the opposite end of the bed :lol: It's funny to see a 45 lb dog curled up all the way at one end of the bed with a 2 lb dog getting the rest of it. He doesn't bark or growl at any dog except my husky when they are playing because she's like his big sister that he can bug all of the time, but even then it's like awkward howling. If you have ever heard a husky you know what I mean, and he tries really hard to "reply" the same way.

 

I must admit (unhappily) that I am an owner of an aggressive little dog. I have a black and white male peke, neutered, about six years old.

He's very aggressive, esp. when guests come into the house. He has also been known to bite. (Sorry, but it's true).

I read these posts, and maybe one of the things I'm doing wrong is rewarding bad behavior by picking him up when he's barking at guests. I won't do that anymore.

After everyone is in and settled, he's fine. But as people come in the house, or leave the house, he's barking constantly and awful. My other peke is like Gwen's chi...she'd go home with a burglar, she's so sweet and friendly...

 

My mother in laws Pom is HORRIBLE!! I hate that little rat!! He's not so much agressive as he is a yappy head. He never stops!!! Smokey got ahold of him one day, but didn't do any harm to him. Just snapped at him and held him down with his front paws. He tolorated his yapping for a LONG time before he just had enough.

I dont blame him.....