Why can't big dogs play nice?
 

I went to obedience class early tonight, and a woman came up to me and asked if Eddie was friendly. DUH! I said, yes. She put her dog down on the ground, and he proceeded to jump all over my poor little guy. I had to scoop him up.

I had the same thing happen on vacation. I went to a dog park, and all the dogs seemed to be playing nicely. I put Eddie down, and 2 or 3 of them were all over him. I'm sure they would have hurt him if I didn't scoop him up.

Why can't big dogs play nice?

lol poor Eddie...
Most dog parks I've been to have seperated areas for big dogs and small dogs, mainly because so many accidents have happened that the big dogs hurt the little ones.
Fortunately my husky and my yorkie play well together..

Anyway watch out for Eddie!! Big dogs can be mean :mad: although sometimes they don't mean to be, but they can be rough on the little ones.

Thanks. I think I'm going to invent doggie muscle shirts to scare away big dogs. Maybe slap a rottie costume on a Yorkie. It could work.

did you start this thread to bother me, Mike? lol.

Big doggies can play nice! my big doggie plays nice! I'm sorry that poor little Eddie got beat up though. :( sick Jack on them!

Poor lil guy! I'm sorry to hear his class didn't go well

Penny plays nice;)

From my own observation of other big dogs, I think when you go somewhere like a dog park or pet store, big dogs get excited with all that is going on and forget how big they are and how to behave themselves. Its like they regress into unbehaved hyper children or something.

I think many big dogs think they are as small as a Yorkie! I've been around many large dogs that wants to curl up in my lap! On a similar note, our little tykes think they are as large as a Great Dane!

Seriously my biggest concern is when sight hounds are around. I'm always afraid they will think the smaller dogs are "Game" and go after them. Just be careful around large dogs they can do harm even if it's in play.

Thank goodness Eddie didn't get hurt and his daddy was there to protect him (even if he was cursing you saying "I can take them Dad! Bring em' on! Lemme down!" cuz we all know how tough he is!)

I think you're right. The big dogs want to devour them. There's no way they would react the same way around other big dogs. They just know they can push our little guys around.

Big dogs can play nice. My little dogs walk all over my big dog and she will just lay there and take it. In fact, she is much better at playing with little dogs than she is with playing with big dogs. I am always very cautious but my little ones love playing with big dogs. I took them to the dog park once and they got to play with the big dogs, the big dogs would just lay there and let the little ones run and walk all over them. I think it depends on how dominant the dog is and if that dog is use to playing with small dogs. If they are around small dogs all the time and are use to them, then they know they have to be really gentle and careful with them. It is usually the ones who are not use to playing with such a small dog that usually hurts them and does not know how to play with them. Atleast that is my experience, I have always had big dogs and small dogs at the same time and the big dogs know how to play with small dogs even small dogs that they don't know, they would lay down and play with them because they knew if they were running they could step on them and hurt them and knew they could not play rough with them. I don't know, maybe it is just my dogs that are like this???

I kind of know how you feel. Big dogs are fascinated by the Evil one. When we go to the beach she can get mobbed! (But that might just be because she's so very hot.) I try not to pick her up because it can sometimes make the situation worse - I've had dogs try to jump up at Dixie when she's been in my arms. Very scary for both her and me.

I sometimes worry about Dixie biting a bigger dog because when she's scared she will snap at them. I have visions of her hanging from the face a giant bull terrier. Thankfully Dougal often steps in between Dixie and another dog and frightens off most dogs.

But then D&D have some great big-dog friends. Dixie just adores her golden retriever friends Summer and Merlin.

Dixie knows that Eddie would leap to her defense if they were walking on Lyall Bay beach together. She thinks he'd look good - even in a rottie costume.

I had a hard time in our obedience class too... Pixie was the smallest. There was a Great Dane, three Labs and an Akita mix. The Great Dane was okay around Pixie. She would just sniff her and didn't do a whole lot. The Akita mix was well behaved an ignored all the other dogs.

The labs were a different story... One ended up dropping out and the other two thought Pixie was some kind of play thing. Any time either one of them would get near her, they'd try to step and jump on her (and not in a nice playful way either! They were very forceful about it). It was very frightening for us both. One of the owner's managed to just stay away, but other had absolutely NO control over her horrid animal and the thing would drag her across the room to get at Pixie... I said something to the trainer about it one day and she said I should just stay on the other side of the room then. EXCUSE ME? I paid JUST as much money for these classes and I should be able to enjoy and utilize them to their full extent. There's no reason I should be paying over $200 to go to a class where I'm running from the most ill behaved dog I've ever seen the whole time!

I didn't really agree with her training methods to begin with (a little too physical for my taste), and after she said that I was just done. We dropped out. I didn't even bother calling the office to ask for a refund. I'm sure they all had the same $hitty attitude she did and would've told me their no refund policy would not be waived.

I don't know what the deal with big dogs is... I think they think they're toys or something... After all that I don't allow my pups around other larger dogs. All their friends are 25lbs or less and I haven't had any problems with them being too rough.

I'm not saying that ALL big dogs are bad... But some of them are and I have no way of knowing how they're going to react to my babies. IMO, better safe than sorry.

Mike, they can..... It sounds like you have encountered way too many irresponsible owners who take dogs out who are uncontrollable. :(

Mike, sounds like a HUGE $$ maker! Let me know when they go on the market.:D

I don't really let Coco play with big dogs. I will let them sniff each other out while I hold her, because I'd rather get attacked as opposed to Coco. Besides if they jump on me I just Knee them. I've heard too many horrible stories and Coco is teeny weeny. She's fearless which scares me even more.