What is it with yappy snappy aggressive little dogs and their owners who hunk its fine to let them carry on? Trying to get our ne dog used to other dogs and she is fine with the ones that just want to sniff and say hello, but round our way there seem to be an abundance of little yappy ****ers that will yap, bark and show aggressive tendencies that the owners think is acceptable. Now I'm sure the little sausage dog thats just barked like ****, reared up and pulled like hell to get to my bulldog is a lovely dog but it's owner just let it carry on while I was trying to keep my dog sat and calm
I remember when I was a kid, a mate of my dad's had a little chihuahua - vicious little thing it was! If you went to stroke it, it nearly took your hand off!
we have mother and daughter lhaso's and while the mother is really friendly, the daughter is a pain in the proverbial, she despises all other animals and people and barks her nips off at anything and everything... even decided quite recently that the police helicopter is an enemy worthy of waking the house for. i have never ever had a dog the same, sometimes it is not the owners (although i have seen some completely ignorant ones)..the dog just does what it wants.
It's not the dogs it's the owners. Dog behaviour does not change with size. My Saff is a Parson Russell terrier who has been socialised from 3 months old. She's been off lead since then and mixed with dogs of all sizes - labs, Doberman, Rottweiler to name but a few. They all taught her how to behave and she happily mixes with dogs of all sizes always has.... It's natural dog behaviour..... but if you keep a dog on lead it will feel anxious and threatened when meeting other dogs. How would you feel if some giant had a rope round your neck? A lot of small dog owners insist on picking up the dog when they (the owners) feel threatened which just encourages aggression. I've owned 3 labs and 2 Parsons. Basic dog behaviour is the same for both but there are obvious breed specific tenancies. Labs do as they are told while terriers do as they are told when they want to
I have 3 dogs. My Lhasa Apso/poodle cross is a twat! He’s generally a lovely dog but has a temper on him. Starts fights with dogs 3 times his size. Sure I saw one laugh at him the other week!!! I apologise on behalf of the yuppie little twats. Ozzy is one. But he does get told and stopped by me. Just he doesn’t listen all the time. the other 2 (Yorkie cross and a sprocker spaniel) are great with people and dogs. This is Ozzy! He looks like butter wouldn’t melt… but looks are deceiving!!
My experience is that owners of really small dogs will often cross the street to avoid me or look on edge when they let their dog say hello to my (small and in no way threatening looking) staff. Generally they seem aware that their dog is an antisocial menace who could fly off the handle at any minute. I dunno if it comes from the dogs or the owners but it seems to me that the smaller the dog the more aggro.
Perhaps one of you lot can give me a bit of advice. We like to walk and very occasionally we'll encounter people with big dogs that approach us snarling. (I mean the dogs by the way, not the owners.) If the owners don't call them back, and let them get close enough to take a swing, at I'll raise my stick. At this point the owners generally go nuts and shout 'He won't hurt you, just don't show him any fear'. When I ask why I need to become Anthony Hopkins to avoid being bitten by a dog they usually start getting arsey. I've only ever had to hit one and they said they'd report me ... ... who's wrong in your opinion.
Owners are wrong. I have a 10 year old who gets spooked by big dogs. The “don’t show fear” is bullshit! If you’re scared of getting bitten, how can you possibly not show fear. I’m a dog lover (to the power of millions!!) but some owners are arseholes!
I've been bitten twice so am scared. Once was a security guard's dog while I was working with him ffs ... ... the other was an alsation in a scrapyard when I was doing car repos
Owners are wrong. But you could modify your reaction, keeping the stick for a last ditch defence. You can get cans of compressed air or CO2 with acoustic nozzles that are used to train dogs to stop barking. They give out a loud hiss and a cloud of evaporating gas which will stop a dog in its tracks. A normal size can will emit about a 4ft gas cloud. I've used this to good effect to stop lose dogs going for my two miniature schnauzers who are on their leads. Sales blurb; Snakes, insects and birds such as geese, use their hiss sound to drive off predators, and our domesticated pets have an instinctive sensitivity to this sound. The Pet Corrector emits a hiss of compressed gas which mimics this sound to interrupt undesirable behaviours such as jumping up, stealing, chasing and barking. The inert gas is safe, has no smell and works on most animals including dogs, cats and horses.
I'm such a dog lover that it would be half way through my leg before i shouted "stop it, or else. Right that's it"
