Size is not directly proportional to training

I was at a pet store buying bird food. I had Ivy with me. I'm sure most of you know that Ivy is extremely leash reactive (along with some other mental/behavioral issues). So, I'm always on my guard to be as responsive as possible, and I've been training her extensively. I take every cautionary step to ensure that I'm promoting a positive image of Ivy and of her representative breed.

So...I'm at the store and this man walks in with a white Mini Poodle. His Poodle is going CRAZY at Ivy. The man was standing in line at the one and only open cashier. Ivy and I stand about 5 feet behind him. And all you can hear is "YAP YAP YAP GROWLGROWL YAP YAP YAP", etc. The poodle was tugging and lunging and screaming at the tops of its lungs. And what was my leash reactive Ivy doing? She was laying quietly in a Down. The man finally picks up his dog and assures another nearby customer, "Oh, she's really friendly!" Arrghhhhhh!!!!

Honestly, I've HAD it with people who seem to think it's perfectly acceptable to leave their little dogs untrained. It's NOT okay and it's not fair. Like my title says: "Size is not directly proportional to training". Just because the dog is small does NOT give it permission to display such abominable behavior! If I cannot let my leash reactive dog explode at every trigger, that man should not have given his little dog free range to aggress. There are no excuses. I don't let my dobermutt aggress and I don't let my Pekingese aggress. My big dog receives the same training I give my little dog. I don't understand this!! A little dog displaying bad behavior is not cute. It's disturbing!

ARGH. Rant over.

I don't know why the little guys feel the need to have such big attitudes..bubba is one of those little guys and I have really been working on his little tude.

Oh heavens, I know the feeling! One day, in Petsmart, I was in line with Jake. A lady gets in line behind us with two pugs screaming bloody murder at my Jake! He thought they wanted to play.:p Thank goodness they did. They were very friendly. If I would have had Layla with me and they did that to her, God help those pugs.:rolleyes:
Another time, I had Layla with me and an old lady (older than me;)) had a poodle and it was barking it's head off and growling at Layla. Surprisingly, Layla was calm but then the lady heads towards us saying "look, he 's not afraid of your big dog":mad: I took off with my 'big dog' and never told her my Layla has a slight dog aggression problem and she could easily rip your dogs head off!
I do know if one of my big dogs acted like that people would freak wondering why I brought such a vicious dog into the store. My Jake is little but doesn't act like that or he would be trained not to or wouldn't go to the stores! In all fairness, I have seen plenty of small dogs that were very well behaved.;)

At least you have a small dog. I have large Shepherds and it irks me no end to see someone letting their shepherds sniff, bark or pull on a leash to get at someone or some other dog. I just feel people are thinking all Shepherds are like these, which of course is far from the truth in my case. I've had mine on flat collars since pups and they would never think of trying to act out...it all starts in the home...

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Originally Posted by shepgirl

At least you have a small dog.

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Huh? I've got both!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/DSC_0055.jpg
I get irked by irresponsible bad rep breed owners just as much as I get irked by irresponsible toy breed owners. But I have to say, I get MUCH more irked by people who dismiss toy breed bad behavior as acceptable and "cute". ;)

I hear ya!

We get A LOT of small dogs at work that have problems with larger dogs, on leash/or kenneled. Most of the owners just pet the dogs and tell them it's ok, now that irks me even more. People actually think they are helping there dogs when they do that.

I totally agree! I can not count the times I held an event or was in a petsmart and in comes the large dogs, all well behaved on the leash, not so much as a sniff and people are like "oh, my god! it's a pit bull" but then in come the small dogs, yapping away and jumping like crazy dogs....and what do the peoples say? "Oh, aren't you so cute?" What in the world is that all about!!!??? So stereotypical!!! People can be so....what's the right word to say?? Ignorant???

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Originally Posted by Reachoutrescue

I totally agree! I can not count the times I held an event or was in a petsmart and in comes the large dogs, all well behaved on the leash, not so much as a sniff and people are like "oh, my god! it's a pit bull" but then in come the small dogs, yapping away and jumping like crazy dogs....and what do the peoples say? "Oh, aren't you so cute?" What in the world is that all about!!!??? So stereotypical!!! People can be so....what's the right word to say?? Ignorant???

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Happens when I have casey and bubba together all the time, casey is a total good girl and everyone ooohhss and aaahhhs over bubba....the brat! It makes me annoyed they ask me questions about him and I look at her and say this is casey, she is bubba's big sister.

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Originally Posted by caseysmom

It makes me annoyed they ask me questions about him and I look at her and say this is casey, she is bubba's big sister.

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That is so funny! I don't understand why people are that way. Scruff is pretty well behaved in public, but people kinda back off when they here his breed, but when we are with my sister's shih tzu/peke mix....they go gaga over the little hyper pup...it really drives me bonkers!!

I completely agree. I can't even begin to count how many times I've had to go through the same sort of thing. It's ridiculous. Good on Ivy though for not reacting in that situation!

Sophie you have done such a wonderful job with Ivy so she would not react in that situation. And some people just don't recognize it. :mad:
I agree that small doggies are cute (as all dogs are) and all, but come on...they need to have manners too.

Having owned a decently behaved small dog, I understand why you are annoyed by such crap. In public or on walks Sassy never bothered anyone, she might have tried to get near them but she never barked and tugged at the leash to get to them. We never took her to the petstore though since she peed all over the store LOL, but other then that she was a good girl most of the time, due to my mom training her with the leash early on. I will admit she was never the nicest dog, has bitten people and broken the skin, but she never had bad manners on the leash or any sort of problems, even when there were other dogs around(she didn't like other dogs much).

I will say though, I've seen my share of badly behaved larger breed dogs. They were VERY sweet dogs just badly behaved. Last Sunday, as me and my friend were leaving the shelter this sweet boy named Omega, jumped onto my friend Alexa. She didn't mind, and he did not intend to hurt her but that is not acceptable and I honestly think that's why he has not been adopted, he has TERRIBLE leash manners, but other then that he's a great boy. Being a pitbull isn't helpful, but I will say the lady walking him had NO control over him whatsoever, I saw her again yesterday walking him and she shouldn't walk him, he's way to strong for her and very very hyper. That's part of our job, being volunteers, to teach the dogs manners, and the lady obviously wasn't she lets him jump onto everyone.

You shouldn't worry about what other people do, Ivy is a very good. :)

Alyssa, I agree. There are plenty of big breed dogs that are not well mannered either. In fact I have one of them. Zoee is horrible on leash around other dogs. She flips out, the hair on her back raises and she barks her head off. She looks like she wants to tear the other dog apart. But once she meets them (if the owner is not running the other way) she is all butt waggles and wants to play.
I'm hoping to learn some more techniques in Taggarts training class, since another dog has that issue too. Also, I'm hoping to meet up with Sophie (Giselle) and have her help me too. :D

agree.... small dogs should not be allowed to have nasty behaviours... just as one demands good behaviour for a big dog, small dogs should be demanded likewise..

I hate yappy dogs... and I´ve found out it´s not a small dog thing... yes they do have to make up for their size in temperament.. but in my case having big and small dog... I´ve learned Queeq is not a yapper... and it could well be just how she is but most learning takes place at home...

just yesterday I was taking a vid of her to show her "sounds" and barely got a yap out of her... I mean it´s a great thing... she just growls/barks while chasing a ball but even then not always.... so I do have a quiet wel behaved small dog... if I can have one anyone can....

what I also hate is people having untrained dogs that lunge ours and say "they are friendly".. well... I don´t doubt that but lunging a dog like that one can not know the others dog reaction... good for Ivy being such a good girl and to you doing a great job... but if in this case Ivy lunged back and bit the small dog it would have been your fault and your dog would be the aggresive one... so not fair... (I used this as an example only)

Wilbur is very much like that. :( It's embarrassing, frankly, and it means he doesn't get as many walks as he should. My family has worked with Wilbur, and even hired a behaviorist to help, but it has only helped to a point, and he still loses it occasionally.

He has several problems resulting from a very old injury (before we had him) and some really bizarre behaviors that he displays, so we have wondered if he might be brain damaged in some way.

Believe me, it's really embarrassing to be holding the leash of the dog that loses his head. I don't take Wilbur to parks, or places where he is likely to run into large dogs (since his problem seems limited to dogs at least 3x his size), and I have to be on my guard CONSTANTLY when I'm with him.

My pet peeve when I'm out with him is bozos who think that just because they have a friendly dog that every other dog is friendly too, especially the little black mop-dog. One day a man let his three HUGE dogs (two shepherds and a disgustingly obese lab) drag them over to me and Wilbur, and when I snapped at him all he said was "well, they're all friendly".

That's great, but what are your friendly dogs going to do when my 15lb dog latches onto their nose? Defend themselves maybe? I couldn't blame them if they did, but the results wold likely be catastrophic for my little guy.

Here's the problem child:
http://pics.livejournal.com/smittenkittenn/pic/000c8hdw

Cathy,
Your problem child looks a bit like mine. I know what you mean it is embarrasing.
I have had Bubba since a pup and it happened gradually, I would take him to the dog park and he would mostly hide under my chair, then the snarling started toward big dogs.
He wouldn't dream of trying any of that with his sister.

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Originally Posted by Husky_mom

what I also hate is people having untrained dogs that lunge ours and say "they are friendly".. well... I don´t doubt that but lunging a dog like that one can not know the others dog reaction... good for Ivy being such a good girl and to you doing a great job... but if in this case Ivy lunged back and bit the small dog it would have been your fault and your dog would be the aggresive one... so not fair... (I used this as an example only)

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And this is why I do not take Zoee to the park as much anymore. :( But I hope to correct this behavior so I CAN take both of them to the park again. My problem lies in ME. I am the one that gets so wound up and it transfers to the dog. While I know this, I do not know how to change it. But I am definitely going to work on this.

Oh, I certainly understand that legitimate issues and temperaments can exacerbate behavioral problems in any dog. I'm not criticizing ANYBODY who is actually trying to curb their pups' problems. What ticks me off is people who disregard behavioral problems in small dogs as amusing, entertaining, or "cute". That's it! Nothing less, nothing more :)

BTW, Cindy, I never knew Zoee had gotten that bad. Anytime you want to work on it, just let me know :)