Quote:
Originally Posted by gemy  We own small dogs. And whilst we need to be alert and protective for our little ones, I don't believe we should automatically pull pick up our little one from the big dogs. It sends a wrong message to our little ones, and may even bruise their big dog ego.
Our Razzle lives with two big dogs and a big cat. My challenge is to discipline Razzle when he goes over the top with the big dogs. They love him dearly but he has started to be quite nasty with them with respect to toys. I trust my large dogs (by the way they are 130lbs and 100 lb size dogs) how-ever this is not a good thing to let Razzle get away with.
Razzle got in trouble in a leash free park a couple of months ago. This when he was 9months old. He went after a Rottweiler as he would our two dogs, and well the rotty didn't take kindly to that growling n jumping.
He then sped away from the Rotty-he is amazingly fast little boy and straight to Zoey and Magic. Zoey danced up and away from the Rotty - rotty came forward still - our big boy turned his side into the path of the Rotty -turned his face to him and lifted his lip - the Rotty backed away fast. Razzle by this time was under Magic's tummy barking like mad at the Rotty.
So what I'm saying is we need to train our little ones how to behave around the big dogs in as safe a way as possible.
Gail in Ontario |
Thank you, Gail, for bringing up this topic. Many owners lack dog etiquette. When in public, ALL DOGS should be on a leash and under control. Your dog should never be allowed to run up to a person or another dog.
We are always complaining about big dogs going after our little Yorkies, and that is of great concern to me. But our little dogs must have manners, too.
I would like to share the experience I had with my previous dog, a German Shepherd. She was very well trained to ignore other dogs on walks. However, there are some little dog owners who think their dogs are so cute and adorable when they run up to a big dog and tease them by barking and sometimes nipping at their legs. They will usually say something like, "HaHaHa! That big doggie will eat you for lunch"!
After putting up with this kind of assault many times, my well-behaved GSD could stand it no longer and started going for any little dog that came by. I had to use a Haltie to keep her in control and have a trainer work with her.
Daisy has only been around big dogs (in our extended family) and thinks she is one, too. I always keep her on a leash around them or in my arms to keep her safe. I would not take a chance of her being injured or killed. It's okay to be overprotective when it concerns your little dog.