Toy/Small Dogs [What's Your Opinion?]

I love dogs of all sizes.  I have had many large dogs while living at home, but ended up being a "toy" owner by accident.  I found them to be WONDERFUL big dogs in little bodies. 

I had always heard of and seen the proverbial "ankle biter", then I was stunned by the number of tiny tot owners who claimed they did not think it was necessary to train their dog.... or they thought it was not possible.  I have owned Toys since 1980 and have NEVER had an ankle biter.  I have never had a nasty, snappy or yappy Toy.    I work my Toys hard.  I give them the best and I expect the best from them.  They never disappoint me.

I have recently become a first time Pom-mom.  He goes to the groomer's whether or not he has an appt, he goes to the vet's just to sit in the waiting room.  He has a hired puppy sitter/ playmate, he visits an elderly woman, visits cats, other dogs,  he goes for car rides and spends time in front of the window and door to become familiar with passers by.  Under all circumstances, he is instructed in his behavior and he is expected to behave appropriately.

This is the same work I put into all of my big dogs.  I always say, "they don't know how small they are... why would I tell them?"  I do want to love my dogs, but not "baby" them.  The more they can behave, the more they can enjoy.

timsdat

I completely agree.  If a large dog were exhibiting that same behavior in public animal control would be called and the dog would be destroyed or declared dangerous. 

Thats for sure!  I live in a very small neighborhood...small yards. I am the only nut with a big dog...the others own yorkies, *** a poos and a sheba.  I walk my dog everyday on a leash.  I have complete control of her. My neighbor down my street (about 5 houses away) thinks its the funniest thing in the world when his cute little *** a poo is loose in their small yard and practically attacks Bubblegum when we walk past. It will come out after her a house away from theres...and the guy stands there laughing. I told him after a few times that I was carrying a can of DIrect Stop ONLY BECAUSE of dogs like his. I said "if you dog keeps doing this and gets too close and my dog barks, snaps or even slaps at yours.... you or some other neighbor will call the police or AW and my Bubblegum is in trouble. Its up to me to protect her against everything,,,and I will!"      And you know...when the neighbors here that little dog barking horrendously at Bubblegum and then Bubby starts barking back and eventually pulls.....it sound horrible and the they think Bubblegum is a big bad trouble maker.  Its not fair.  

I like any dog that is in control and is somewhat sweet.

Unfortunately, in my neighborhood there are WAY too many untrained, undertrained and just out of control dogs of all sizes.  I have a neighbor/friend a few houses away who has a Chi that is insane!  It is a real risk for me to go into the house and this dog has known me for about 9yrs.  No one can walk anywhere around the property without the dog going nuts. 

 I have a neighbor with a Rotti-Sharpie mix that I would LOVE to see animal control come get.  They allow her to run and she "stalks" and attacks other animals.  I also have a neighbor who has two Pitt Bulls and two Pitt mixes.  They are not trained or well behaved.  I have two Yorkies, a Shih Tzu and a Pom.  I am terrified to let my dogs walk with me to my car for fear a large dog is on the loose.

Any time I talk to anyone who is considering getting a dog, the first thing I "try" to impress on them is to consider arranging the finances for obedience classes.  No one ever has, but I try.  I have never done formal classes either, but I have studied obedience and behavior or years and have been very successful with my dogs.

Best of luck.  Love the dog pic.  What a beauty!

Well, I guess you could say Tabitha is a toy dog.  She's a maltese, although her mother weighed 5lbs. and father about 5-6 lbs. she's a wooping 3 1/2 lbs., maybe 4 after she's eaten.LOL  She's a good girl.  She's not entirely housebroken, but I often think sometimes it's because of her size.  But she's not a yapper, never was, she's definitely a lap dog.  That's exactly what I wanted at the time we got her.  Then Emily (my youngest) wanted a puppy.  I told her we have one!  But she wanted a puppy that she could actually play ball with, or run around w/ outside, etc.  Hence, getting Misty (Border Collie).  So, I guess I love them.  Although, Misty is absolutely a great, fun dog to have too.  We have the best of both worlds.

Hmm...maybe it's just my experience but I have encountered way more out-of -control large dogs then small.  Almost every time I take Zoe to drop her off at doggie daycare, I have to prepare myself because countless times I have been nearly knocked over by someones overly hyper and untrained lab, boxer, or something-doodle in the waiting area .  Not once has a small dog come at me out of control like that there.  You see the dog choking itself at the end of the leash with an owner at the other end struggling with all of their might to not let go.  These are the times I actually wish I had a larger dog with me!  I don't understand why these people think they don't need to have control of their dog, and it obviously has nothing to do with size.

 Most of the behavioral issues I see with smaller dogs in my neighborhood are related to barking.  But that doesn't necessarily mean it's a training issue.  Most small dogs are either terriers or have terrier in their breeding and these dogs were bred to kill vermin underground.  They need to bark to alert the the humans of their whereabouts.  Now my dog does not bark that much, but when she does, it sounds like it's coming from a dog about 10 times her size!

jenns

 You see the dog choking itself at the end of the leash with an owner at the other end struggling with all of their might to not let go. 

Oh I agree and I know what you mean.. THAT is what my neighbors see when they come out and the little *** a poo is loose running by us...that is why they think Bubblegum is bad. BUT I think the key thing in my case is "at the other end of the leash!"   I will take ANY dog on a leash...whether the owners can handle them or not..  my problem is that many people in my neighborhood don't think their little dogs need to be on a leash..because after all what can they hurt?  

dyan

My neighbor down my street (about 5 houses away) thinks its the funniest thing in the world when his cute little *** a poo is loose in their small yard and practically attacks Bubblegum when we walk past. It will come out after her a house away from theres...and the guy stands there laughing.

we walk past a house that now has 5 small dogs - all untrained ( to my eye) all rabid barkers and not a one with a recall.  The owner thinks its funny that since Bugs was a pup they all charge at him barking and nipping at him.  He has never barked back, he has sometimes become agitated (understandably) and then I have to try and calm him down.  worst case scenario they have followed us a quarter of a mile circling and yapping.

It makes me very angry, doesn't break my working belief of small dogs and sometimes I wish Bugs would tell them off. Its a PIA.

If someone's pack of medium or large dogs did this to walkers regularly they'd be confiscated. 

Oh my goodness!  I adore Maltese.  I lost my Maltese in July of 06.  I was devastated.  He was 13, but his passing was very unexpected.  I lost my Terrier only five months before that.  She was 17, and believe it or not, her death was not expected.  Sudden and freakish events.

                Skrufi...... passed July 06

 Kaiser feels ya Bugs...there's a dog in my neighborhood...maybe a kerry blue terrier or a schnauzer, i have no clue. It has some mad leash aggression. I guess the girl who walks it doesn't care because she lets it go berzerk at the end of the leash. I always go to the other side of the street but kaiser hates that dog, proabbly because it's psycho on him at all times. So, when kaiser does the lunge/bark/snarl thing she basically cries. the sad thing is i have better control of my 90 lb dog than she does of her 25 lb dog. so now all the neighbors are petrified of kaiser (who is very sweet with strangers) but think her little "tough" dog is a badass.

It is nice to have a well trained and well behaved dog, but one has to understand instinct too.  When someone has a psycho dog, they are allowing that dog to signal other dogs that there is potential danger to the dog and it's master.  Many dogs will get out of control if they sence their master is in danger.  It is so difficult to try to correct that.  They often interpret your commands as a vocal alert acknowledging the perceived danger.  It can be a vicious cycle.

Of course, then there is the scenerio of the little dog that has not been trained well enough NOT to say, "hey!  predator!.... HERE'S DINNER!!"  These little guys do think they are the big guy on the block.  Granted, the big dogs get the bad rap, but they also bare the greater part of the burden.  Their very size can do devastating damage.  When I had my shepard, I trained him to react to NOTHING unless given permission.  I try to do the same with my small dogs.  They may not be able to do much damage, but unsupervised and untrained, they would have the potential to provoke a disaster.

BTW, beautiful dogs!

Around here and where I've lived it always is large dogs out of control.  Most people have large dogs and a lot of people let them run loose and don't train them so I hardly think that's a small dog only issue. 

 Ive had both and I like both.  Really depends on the breed.  There are perks to having a 70 lb german shepherd then there are perks to having a 5 lb papillon.  It's a trade.  They're all dogs and honestly there's not too too much of a difference owning them. 

 That said, I was not a small dog person and definitely not a toy dog person before we got the papillons (not my idea either).  After having toys, I just love them.  There's something about toys as a group that is just so appealing to me.  I can't really explain it, but I'll just say that I've never seen any dogs with more heart and character than a well bred toy dog.  They're just a hoot.  I'm glad I was forced to change my opinion.  I'd have missed out on some amazing companions.

Laurelin_429

That said, I was not a small dog person and definitely not a toy dog person before we got the papillons (not my idea either).  After having toys, I just love them.  There's something about toys as a group that is just so appealing to me.  I can't really explain it, but I'll just say that I've never seen any dogs with more heart and character than a well bred toy dog.  They're just a hoot.  I'm glad I was forced to change my opinion.  I'd have missed out on some amazing companions.

My experience has been similar.  I think more people would feel this way if they gave toy dogs a chance.  I really think you have to own one to finally be able to appreciate them.  :)

Ok..well i havent read through the post..but here goes..im a largebreed person..thats just me.  Its what i was raised with growing up..and i guess it just came natural.  I love the large powerful breeds. 

I have kinda developed a slight disgust for some small breeds such as YORKIES, chis, poms, just because i get tired of every stupid little snothead carrying one around like its an accessory and not a LIVING being..and i've met so many that were treated just that way and the personality shows it!  And it seems..atleast locally around here, that NOONE believes in spaying/neutering their Chis/yorkies.  ugh it just aggravates me.  And then they sell them for $1000.  geez...but the breeds as a whole?  No, i dont have a problem with them.  I have met a couple of individuals that i really did like, but the bad ones i guess overpower my opinion. 

That being said..the one thing that DOES disgust me is all the breeds that people lately think they need to make a "toy" version of.  Like "Toy/teacup chihuahua's" or "toy yorkies" or "toy schnauzers" Its riduculous.  There are REASONS there are standard sizes for these breeds...and its irresponsible and dangerous to promote these stupidly small dogs.  When your breeding dogs KNOWING your going to have to have a C-sec to deliver the puppies because the mom is far to small..i think someone needs to cut on your stomach every 6 months. 

I like all dogs - my personal preference is for a medium size dog that can play with larger or smaller ones, and that I can still pick up if I have to.  But, I own a 6 pound Yorkie, an Aussie, an Aussie mix and a large hound.  They all have great personalities, though different, and the Yorkie is just as well trained as the others, and is a "real dog".  I think that you can create a great companion out of a tiny dog if you socialize, manage and train it as you would any other dog.  But, I do hate to see the designer mixes/puppy mill dogs in the smaller sizes as much as I hate to see them in a larger breed mix.  If you want a mix, IMO start at the shelter and then go to rescue - even if you have to wait longer because you want a small dog. 

First of all, I like all dogs.  At one time, I only preferred larger dogs.  I now have a golden and three Westies.  I love all four.  They each have their own personalities and attributes.  I know many have really bad opinions of smaller dogs.  They say partially because of other small dogs they have seen.  I can only say that my Westies are expected to behave the same as my Golden.  They all have to go out to do their business.  They all know what they are allowed to do and not allowed to do.  My Westies are not allowed to yap at people or nip at them.  They never have nipped at people.  They bark if someone comes up or if they see squirrels in the yard. I will then go out and tell them quiet--they then no longer bark.  They have been trained not to stand out and just bark. My Golden may bark if a stranger comes up, I will also tell her quiet, and she is then quiet. My small Westies are able to do many of the same things that larger dogs can do.  I can do anything outside with them that I want to do.  I take them for walks, and often take them on hiking vacations.  They are sturdy little dogs and I am not afraid that I am going to hurt them. 

 As I said earlier, I take all four of my dogs on walks.  They do not pull and control me.  As we walk in the neighborhood I now live in and the one I lived in prior to this one, there are many large dogs that come running out at us.  I have had to cross the street at times because of these large dogs.  I will not even go as far down one road as I would like because of a large dog that acts as if it would like to attack us if we go down the road.  I even left a note on the mail box informing the people of their dog.  The dog continues to be allowed the run loose.  I hear larger dogs out barking at all hours of the day and night.  Large dogs are seen roaming around our neighborhood.  From my experience, dogs behave as they are trained.  Some people do good jobs training their large dogs and some do good jobs training their small dogs.   I completely understand why some people prefer large dogs based on their size, but all small dogs shouldn't be looked down on just because all owners haven't trained them properly, just as large dogs shouldn't be looked down on just because all owners haven't trained them.