Little Dogs

Most of the general comments lead to the conclusion that dogs are individuals, just like people, and they only respond to the training teaching they are given on top of, or in spite of their natural instincts. Although I guess it is a part of training, socialization is the key to level behavior in most dogs. That means you need to get them early, but controlled exposure to lots of "stuff", noises, smells, people, other animals (not just dogs) will do wonders for even a dog with strong instinctive behavior. No, I'm not a vet or any professional anything, just a dog lover. We have even had some older dogs who can be socialized in the right atmosphere and recover from some bad teaching. Give them a chance and firm boundries and they will grow up good citizens, usually. (Kinda sounds like rearing kids, doesn't it?) JMHO

BCSnob wrote:
You should see our Border Collies tremble in excitement right before working sheep; but they better not start on their own.

You have trained them well! :C

You should see our Border Collies tremble in excitement right before working sheep; but they better not start on their own.

BCSnob wrote:
I think you'll find many JRTs (and a few other terriers) still retain the terrier drive to hunt. Greyhounds still retain the prey drive of a sight hound.

X2

Yes those 'instincts' are still strong in those breeds too. :C

Our training classes are centered very strongly around distractions.
And the end of an 8 week class we do what is called 'devils walk'.

You line up with your dog at your side in a sit command and across from that line is another line of owners with their dogs facing the other line.

We then walk down the devil's aisle birds, reptiles, rabbits, raccoons,cats, rat, etc, you name it we walk it down the aisle between the owners and dogs.

Just to PROVE to these owners that good training REALLY does work we ask them to step forward and make the aisle width even smaller and walk those animals down again.

Have to admit though, the bird dogs still tend to shake a little bit when we walk a bird down the aisle, but they never break the sit. :W

toedtoes wrote:
when you've got more dogs than you have people, then it becomes very difficult.

Not very difficult to do; it just takes effort on the owner's part. Dogs don't learn "house rules" and "manners" with the owner sitting on the couch watching TV.

Dog Folks wrote:
It is a training issue. Small dogs do not require much, if any, training to control them on a leash.

For example, how hard can a Chihuahua pull on a leash? Because of that, a higher majority of owners do not train smaller dogs at all. Thus poor behaviors are tolerated.

Larger dogs are more powerful and need training to control.

There is no excuse for poor or no training, but it certainly exists.

I agree!! We just bought a condo in a dog-friendly place, and as I meet people and their dogs, I'm seeing a great deal of this. The big dogs are quiet, well-mannered and friendly (out of necessity) - the little dogs (particularly terriers), not so much....LOL! Our neighbor introduced us a few days ago as having the "best-mannered dogs in the complex" (?) which caught me by surprise until I started looking at the smaller dogs and realized mine heel quietly, pass other dogs without commotion, and are friendly with strangers. I guess I didn't realize how unique that was until lately? But I've always had "big dogs" and have that mentality even with Ben at a whopping 17 lbs....

I think you'll find many JRTs (and a few other terriers) still retain the terrier drive to hunt. Greyhounds still retain the prey drive of a sight hound.

Rockhillmanor - I wasn't suggesting that any of those things are problems in and of themselves. A shy sheltie is not a problem. A shy sheltie whose owner doesn't socialize the dog is likely to become a problem. Not because of a fault in the dog - but because of the failure of the owner to address the shyness appropriately.

The problems ARE the fault of the owners.

An example of what I'm saying: I had a very pretty and sweet husky/shepherd mix as a foster. After several days with no problems, I left her with my 2 dogs to go to work. Within 2 hours, she had torn a hole in the chain link fence to the enclosed cat run, jumped through the window into the house, played in the inside water bowl until water was all over the floor, went back out through the window and hole and was happily playing outside with the other dogs when I came home (2 hours).

Now this dog looked very much like a shepherd, but her personality traits were pure husky. She had many people interested in her, but I insisted on a home that would provide tons of mental stimulation. She went to live with the couple who read everything on huskies they could find, established an agility course in their backyard, enrolled her in agility courses, etc. The other homes would have failed the first time her husky brain saw a challenge.

Considering breed tendencies is simply a tool - not a catch all.
I'll also clarify that I am talking about personality tendencies such as excessive shyness, intelligence, stubbornness, activity level, etc. - not labels like "dangerous breed", etc.

And 'none' of those terms are breed specific either.

Baring the herding dogs and hunting dogs that have been able to maintain a good percentage of what they were originally bred for and have strong 'instinct' tendencies. I.E. harmless need to herd and/or shake all over when a bird is near!

For all other breeds of dogs their final outcome will be based on who raised them and who trained them.

I train ob and conformation classes and a special class called last chance. Which is a 10 week class for dogs that have severe problems where the next stop could be euthanasia.

In all instances and over 30 years it is the 'owner' that is the problem not the dog.

Dogs are way smarter than most people think they are. They have your number from the get go and as early as 8 weeks. Which makes it very easy to train them.....if done properly.

Considering breed tendencies is simply a tool - not a catch all.
I'll also clarify that I am talking about personality tendencies such as excessive shyness, intelligence, stubbornness, activity level, etc. - not labels like "dangerous breed", etc.

And 'none' of those terms are breed specific either.

Baring the herding dogs and hunting dogs that have been able to maintain a good percentage of what they were originally bred for and have strong 'instinct' tendencies. I.E. harmless need to herd and/or shake all over when a bird is near!

For all other breeds of dogs their final outcome will be based on who raised them and who trained them.

I train ob and confirmation classes and a special class called last chance. Which is a 10 week class for dogs that have severe problems where the next stop could be euthanasia.

In all instances and over 30 years it is the 'owner' that is the problem not the dog.

Dogs are way smarter than most people think they are. They have your number from the get go and as early as 8 weeks. Which makes it very easy to train them.....if done properly.