As someone who works with behavioral issues in animals, there is a great deal of truth in this! Many small dog guardians "enable" their dog's bad behavior by reinforcing it (often unintentionally). They also fail to socialize their small dog to larger dogs so when their itty-bitty sees a larger dog, the little dog is afraid and acts aggressively (so either the larger dog goes away or you take your little dog away). That reinforces the behavior--the aggression "made the bad dog go away". Bottom line. Socialize your small dog like you would a large dog and make certain that you socialize your small dog t o larger dogs and kids. Treat your small dog like a big dog. Train them (using positive methods--there is never any excuse for using positive punishment on ANY dog--large or small, regardless of breed, regardless of how "tough" you think that dog is). Don't accept bad behavior (again, no need to yell, scream, or punish; simply teach your dog what you'd like them to do instead, so instead of jumping up to greet guests, they sit politely to greet guests and teach them using positive training methods). And remember, you reinforce behavior--NOT emotions (so you cannot "reinforce fear"; fear is an emotion, not a behavior). Don't reinforce the behavior that indicates fear (like growling), instead work on changing the dog's fear using desensitization and counterconditioning. Don't punish fear, either. The dog already thinks 'there's a big dog; something bad is going to happen to me so I better growl and make it go away' and then you punish the dog for being afraid! Would you punish your child for being afraid? When you punish fear, you're "proving the dog right". The dog thinks something bad's going to happen to them and you punish them and yes, something bad happens to them (by your own hand).
My daughters dog is a Jack Russell Terrier, and I was surprised to find I let her jump on me. I have no idea how to untrain her now.
Its the same with cats. Our little cats do things our big GSD mix would never dare to😂😢
I expect all my animals to listen. I am pack leader. Period.
Try to tell this to the owner of a small dog. They shrug it off.
As someone who works with behavioral issues in animals, there is a great deal of truth in this! Many small dog guardians "enable" their dog's bad behavior by reinforcing it (often unintentionally). They also fail to socialize their small dog to larger dogs so when their itty-bitty sees a larger dog, the little dog is afraid and acts aggressively (so either the larger dog goes away or you take your little dog away). That reinforces the behavior--the aggression "made the bad dog go away". Bottom line. Socialize your small dog like you would a large dog and make certain that you socialize your small dog t o larger dogs and kids. Treat your small dog like a big dog. Train them (using positive methods--there is never any excuse for using positive punishment on ANY dog--large or small, regardless of breed, regardless of how "tough" you think that dog is). Don't accept bad behavior (again, no need to yell, scream, or punish; simply teach your dog what you'd like them to do instead, so instead of jumping up to greet guests, they sit politely to greet guests and teach them using positive training methods). And remember, you reinforce behavior--NOT emotions (so you cannot "reinforce fear"; fear is an emotion, not a behavior). Don't reinforce the behavior that indicates fear (like growling), instead work on changing the dog's fear using desensitization and counterconditioning. Don't punish fear, either. The dog already thinks 'there's a big dog; something bad is going to happen to me so I better growl and make it go away' and then you punish the dog for being afraid! Would you punish your child for being afraid? When you punish fear, you're "proving the dog right". The dog thinks something bad's going to happen to them and you punish them and yes, something bad happens to them (by your own hand).