Why all the hate for small dogs?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Just to clarify, I’m not a small dog hater. I’ve met small dogs that are so well behaved and friendly that they’re a delight. I’ve met large dogs that are hell on four legs :coughmysisterstwodogscough:

It’s just been my experience that small dog owners are more likely to see their dogs as babies or toys than dogs, not do proper training and socialization with them, and excuse bad behavior as “cute” or think the dog is so small it can’t actually harm anyone.

To me some douche who gets a teacup poodle just to carry around because it matches their hair or whatever (winding up with a badly behaved neurotic wreck of a dog because it isn’t being treated a the way a dog should be) and some douche who gets a Rottweiler or pit bull so they can strut around looking like King Shit (ending up with a badly behaved neurotic wreck of a dog because it isn’t being treated the way a dog should be) are equal in douchiness.

22

At least part of this is probably because the small dogs who AREN’T noisy and obnoxious are at home. Or they are unnoticeable. My mother used to take her Maltese with her when she was out visiting friends, or when she made a run to the bank drive through window. She didn’t take him when she had to go inside the bank, or if she was visiting friends who were allergic to dogs, or who had not asked her to bring him over. That dog was a very popular guy, he was as sweet as could be and he had pretty good manners. Of the three Maltese that my parents had, only one was a bit yappy…and that was because my father thought it was funny to command him to bark.

On the other hand, one of my old neighbors had a Maltese that was kept in the backyard, fed about five times a week, watered occasionally, and never played with. This dog DID bark a lot, not that it did her any good.

23

I have beagles. They are in betweeners. I don’t judge dogs other people own. I would not but a chihuahua . They seem yappy. But if someone gave me one I would take it and treat it well.

24

I think this is a big part of it.

25

small dog lover here! dachshunds, japanese spitz’, small terriers. any dog that can sense an intruder and gives an audible bark is all you ever need (and keep you and the kids safe from mauling.) the only big breed i like is the german shepherd.

but yeah, i find chihuahuas kinda ratty.

26

We’ve got a ‘small’ dog and a ‘bigger’ dog in our household. And I can understand teh hate for the little 'uns. Let me give you a run-down of our doggy-day.

Sunrise, Bigger dog: Oooh, oooh, the sun’s up, LET’S PLAY AND LICK EVERYONE TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THE SUN’S UP!!! :slight_smile:

Sunrise, Small dog: Fuck off, let me sleep, it’s comfortable here under the doona, just fuck off, right?? Grrrrrr. :rolleyes:

Breakfast time, Bigger dog: Oooh, oooh, there’s toast cooking and it smells SO GOOD, CAN I HAVE SOME, CAN I HAVE SOME, OH PLEASE…?? :slight_smile:

Breakfast time, Small dog: :: sniffs the toast, twice :: Takes a small bit into his mouth, spits it out again, sniffs it on the floor, and might eat it eventually if it’s not too much effort. :rolleyes:

Visitors arrive: Bigger dog: Oooh, oooh, so much fun I LOVE YOU LONGTIME, PLEASE LOVE ME BACK OOOOOH. KISS ME, LET ME LICK YOU TO DEATH… :slight_smile:

Visitors arrive: Small dog: woof, woof, woof, wooof, woof, woof, woof… :rolleyes:

Walkies, Bigger dog…Oh YES, walkies time, I do love me a run down the river and a bit of a swim chasing sticks…YES, YES, YES!! :slight_smile:

Walkies, Small dog…Meh, do I have to get out of the car?? Really?? Can’t you carry me?? Fuggit. :rolleyes:

Dinner is really a repeat of breakfast, except that there’s no toast involved, just regular dog food…which the Bigger dog wolfs down like it’s his last meal on earth, and the Small dog avoids like it’s been laced with arsenic. :rolleyes:

I swear the rolleyes emoticon was invented by a little dog. Just so apt really.

:smiley:

27

My partner and I recently saw a chihuahua, the fluffy kind that looks lie a skinny papillon, with a muzzle - the kind that looks like a cage attached to the dog’s face. Very funny to see.

The nastiness of small dogs can most often be attributed to very bad owners. If someone gets a little dog and treats it like a “wittle wee babby” chances are very high that they’ve raised the dog in such a way that the dog believes it’s the alpha. An example from a dog training book: From a human’s perspective, a dog makes “big, round, desperate, goo-goo eyes” because he’s begging for a morsel of your cookie, “poor thing.” The inverse is actually true from the dog’s point of view. From the dog’s perspective, he’s challenging your dominance, staring at you with hard eyes, and demanding that you surrender your food to him. You give the dog some cookie, and then he actually thinks that he has intimidated you and won the dominance challenge.

The accumulation of these small gestures can mean that the dog is a pushy, little aggressive fur ball who tries to challenge other humans, since he’s successful at home. Humans who treat their small dogs like fuzzy infants will likely have a poorly socialized and badly-trained, snappy terror.

28

I’ll admit I love big old floppy dogs. The kind you can wrestle around with. I figure if you’re gonna get a tiny dog, get a cat :slight_smile:

29

This. I’m perfectly content with disliking small dogs, and have no plans to change my views.

I once worked for a lady with two pomeranians. She let them roam around the office. One of them barked all day, every day. It never stopped. Since this was a medical billing company, you can imagine how professional I sounded on the phone with insurance companies, hospitals, doctors, and patients with a dog persistently barking in the background.

30

It’s the [del]poorly[/del] completely-untrained, puppy-mill Chihuahuas that are giving your dogs a bad rep.

31

Apparently one of the main reasons some small dogs are so aggressive (and I say this as a lover of a small dog) is because they’re carried around so much. This gives them less exercise, so they’ve got more energy to yip and run around. It also makes them more possessive of their owner’s body, since they are basically an extension of it from being in their arms so much…

But yeah, a lot of the guys I’ve heard hate on small dogs are the same ones who won’t get their own pitt bulls or rottweilers fixed because, I assume, they love the look of dog testicles.

32

the smaller you are, the more active and feisty you can be. that’s all there is to it. lions and tigers need a whole week’s rest to go on a hunt that take less than 30 seconds.

33

I find it strange people care about what work their dog is bred to do. How many people use their dogs for the purpose they were bred? As someone who grew up in a family that actually did use dogs bred for hunting to hunt, as an example, I actually think it strange people consider a pet dog based on what sort of work the breed was developed to do.

Many of the small dog breeds were bred specifically to be good companion animals, meaning their job is to be a pet, and since most people who buy dogs are buying them to have a pet, it’s odd they wouldn’t want a small dog.

That being said I’ve mostly owned medium sized dogs as an adult (my family had large dogs only growing up), I’ve owned some german shepherds in the past that were fairly large even for their breed.

As someone that grew up in the country I definitely saw more poor training of medium and large dogs than small dogs. I think it’s in the city and suburbs you have a lot of people who buy small dogs for apartment life. I also think on the top 10 list of dog breeds small dogs have dominated for some time, so just out of sheer numbers small dogs will have more individual animals out there misbehaving.

In the country the standard for an ill cared for big/medium sized dog was someone would buy a German shepherd, blood hound, etc and tie it out in the back yard for 8-10 years until it died, and that was the dog’s life. Big surprise it barked and snarled at everything that came by and would take your head off if you got near it…tons of dogs lived like that where I grew up, and no one around those parts had toy or small breeds.

34

I’m not a dog owner; I’m just the guy who got to visit & play/give attention to dogs that had almost become like furniture to friends. Before I got to spend time with dogs, I heard the ‘rat’ jokes & even repeated a few.
But when the dogs of friends remembered me, got excited to see me & actually looked forward to me scratching their ears & bellies, that all changed. I love dogs, big & small. Yes, I don’t have to walk one or be walked by one. Yes, I don’t get to get the joy of using a ziploc as a cheap disposable glove or of giving the carpet a scotch-brite scrub-down.

But I’ve had my hand licked in thank you… and thats made all the difference.

35

Because most small dogs spend their entire day running around dishing out “Me! Me! Me! Fk You! Fk You! F**k You!”

36

Yup.

I like dogs I can pat while I’m standing up. The vast majority of small dogs I’ve encountered are very skittish and seem to be scared all the time. A medium/large dog may get in the way/be underfoot but at least you are aware of them due to their size.
And yapping = whining.

37

Personally, I find it difficult to believe that enough can be going on in a brain the size of a fig.

38

Here’s the thing that seems odd to me. My dogs are small, and they are fine as long as it’s just us. But put them around others, and they freak out. If you blame this on socialization, I’ll point out that it’s not like we ever intentionally socialized our larger dogs either, and yet they were fine with other people as long as they got to know them.

In fact, we’ve done more training on our miniature dachshund than any other dog we’ve ever had, and, while at home, he’s the best trained dog we’ve ever had. He even stays in our yard without us having to use a fence. But put him with other people, and he will not stop barking or growling.

Still, there are some odd circumstances: our chihuahua was given to us by a somewhat neurotic owner, and he’s been around with every other. He may be teaching them bad habits that we couldn’t untrain. Furthermore, we found our cocker spaniel really, really hard to train, and she was with both of my current dogs.

Still, as stay-at-home pets, these guys beat every cat we’ve had, hands down. My cats always snuck outside and ran off, and rarely treated us like anything but the food providers. Our dogs do what they are told, train rather readily, and go overboard with the affection.

I really am a dog person, and I’m not going to get a cat just because it’s smaller.

39

While I did find this funny, I have to say that I really believe dogs simply have different personalities. I have two toy breed dogs. A Brussels Griffon and an Affenpinscher. (I am linking because many don’t know what the heck either of these breeds look like).I choose these breeds after researching what kind of dogs would fit best with our family. They were raised identically within a year apart and the Brussels Griffon is EXACTLY like your description of your big dog while the Affen resembled your description of the small dog. They are simply different and I don’t think it has anything to do with their size, I think they just have different personalities. They both tend to think they are 10 feet tall anyway.

40

Different types of dog work have differing requirements:

Retrievers Loooooooooove to have something in their mouth. This can lead to problems with distructive chewing. They somewhat smart, love to please the owner, but can be a bit clingy. They tend to be very fogiving and good with kids. They make excellent seeing eye dogs, even though this has nothing to do with fetching dead birds.

Herding dogs tend to be VERY smart, and very active. If not provided sufficient exercise and mental stimulation they can become problems.

Gaurdian dogs such as sheep dogs and german shepards are often content to sleep/relax when there is no activity to occupy them. This can be an asset when they are owned by a working couple.

Terriers are fairly bright and can be a bit aggressive and quite territorial.

Many sled dogs have a lot of wolf left in them, and prefer socializing with other dogs more than people. Their behavior is strongly influanced by pack hierarchy. May not get along well with “people dogs”, and unsuitable for an owner unable or unwilling to assert alpha status.

Of course these are generalizations from which any given dog may show an extreme departure, but the breeds to tend strongly toward such stereotypes.

Finally, behavior traits aside, the work for which a breed was developed can have a large effect in itself.

“Attack” breeds like Dobermans Rottweilers or German Shepards can be more intimidating to many people. This can be a feature or a defect depending on the owners wishes.

“Fighting” dogs like Pit Bulls can have such a strong social stigma that communities have outlawed them.