Quote: betty landercasp

Then my kids bought me an IG, 11 years ago. It was an awakening. Raised as a farm dog, she did everything the big dogs did, chasing the tractor, eating cow pies, all of it (in SUMMER!).

Betty - that's cool that you had an IGlet farm dog. We've always been very cautious to keep ours on leash or line just for fear about him running off - have read many, many horror stories about IG's lost in the city - and can't be caught or captured because they are so skittish and FAST. That said, it's just a blast to watch them off-leash.

Sadly, our 11 year old IG male is losing his sight (PRA), so I guess that makes him a "sightless" sight hound.

A healthy sight hound is an amazing creature, for sure. Have you ever seen the Iggies at a lure coursing event? WoW!!

Back to the thread topic, our 18 pound IG is a friendly, social boy who has impeccable manners in public, with no real training other than extensive socialization. When we got him as a pup, he accompanied the family to every little league game in the city for a couple years. Great place to socialize dogs, BTW.

He is the alter-ego of our ill-mannered, neurotic, reactive, but too dang cute, mini-dachshund.

My little dog murdered 9 beetles last night.....and got away with it.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

My little dog murdered 9 beetles last night.....and got away with it.

Do you really think the larger Coleoptera community hasn't taken note of this egregious offense?? You do know insects have the largest biomass of all other land animals... combined...

~Natalya

 Quote: Michael_Wise

My little dog murdered 9 beetles last night.....and got away with it.

The horrors. On purpose?

I'm calling PETA.

Or would that be PETI?

When I first started working with my Am Staff for some serious DA, I was terrified to walk her in the neighborhood. Every corner I turned there was a small dog that was going ballistic at my pit and very often in that early time of MY training my girl would be reduced to being as annoying as the smaller untrained dogs, which as you can imagine is lovely to see when there is a pit bull at the end of your leash!

But as I became more of a leader and she became more of a follower I looked forward to the challange, it was like unlimited training opportunities for my girl! The best story I have of a small dog just testing her limits was the Min Pin that lived behind us....every day he would wait for her to come out to go to the bathroom, and he would rush the fence, then run away...and if she ignored him he would come right back. Now mind you the fence is a 6 foot high privacy fence but you can see ever so slightly through the boards. I would wait until she (my girl) was just about to go into drive, as he (the Min Pin)barked away, put her in a down walk over to her and praise her and have her follow me in the house. One day I suppose she snapped and she went from a complete still stance to 6 feet up in the air with the paws over the top of the fence back feet a movin to go over and I got her by the tail just in time...it broke her drive and also allowed me to pull her back down.....my neighbor kinda gave me a nervous smile and said " I supppose I shouldn't let him do that"....I said, "ya think"

I think many owners of small dogs are like many young parents today of young children, they think everything the dog or the child does is "so cute", little do they know many of the on-lookers find it not very "cute" at all, and are even more taken aback when the bad behavior is rewared with endearing gestures.....sigh!

I feel sorry for the small dogs who have no pack structure and who are left to perceive no leadership, no protection. Imagine being that size and seeing nothing between you and the world. Nothing, in fact, between your whole PACK and the world except an empty leadership position. It would make me growl and bite at everything.

As if they didn't have the same need for a secure pack position and leadership that the big dogs have .....

I saw so much of that this weekend at a state park campground. 7 women, 8 dogs, no trouble from us. We were charged by a lot of little demons on Flexi leads. Found 3 lost dogs, and we were only there a 2 days. People are nuts, I tell ya.

I hated dachshunds for years. Well, maybe hate is too strong but heavily disliked- "they are such yappers! No dog and and teeth they readily sink into anyone they have the chance to. And they never SHUT UP! Agressive noisy beasts!" This is actually why we got dachshunds (long story- I wanted another dobe and my SO said that he wanted a dachshund hoping I would never let one through the door and we won´t be taking any more dogs :P ) but now I love them! Turns out they are just dogs like any other if you raise them like dogs!

I have been told that you an´t keep one in an apartment because they bark ALL THE TIME. Well... I live in an apartment and I have two that have never been the cause of any complaints. And that they are agressive to children (I have three small ones). A family picking up their puppy were surprised to see that the dogs were sleeping when visitors were around and not pacing and barking a the time. If they thought the breed was like that why did they want one in the first place?

It is all in the higher end of the leash. It is just that dobermans and rotties are known as big mean dogs that need training and people that want a "furbaby" take a small dog. They are brave, not agressive, and praised for it when they try to attack a bigger dog. They are cute when they growl and great bold protectors when they lunge at strangers... Things that in a big dog most people woul recognize as warning signs are even prased in the tiny ones. My friend that owned the most agressie doberman I have ever known and seen many dogs, said that the most agressive dog she has ever seen was a russian toy terrier that attacked anyone an anything. Only the daughter was able to put a leash on her to take hert on a walk. She attacked the trainer unprovoked when she was walking past the dog. Fortunately they are ca. 2 kg little critters and wth a pair of heavy duty gloves there are options other than euthanasia but.. How do you even get that far? How are you so stupid that you fail to recognize these things? And why in the Gods name would you assume that the world should adjust to YOUR obnoxious and/or downright agressive mutt and you have not nor plan to train or even manage?

 Quote: jaana aadamsoo

I hated dachshunds for years. Well, maybe hate is too strong but heavily disliked- "they are such yappers! No dog and and teeth they readily sink into anyone they have the chance to. And they never SHUT UP! Agressive noisy beasts!" This is actually why we got dachshunds (long story- I wanted another dobe and my SO said that he wanted a dachshund hoping I would never let one through the door and we won´t be taking any more dogs :P ) but now I love them! Turns out they are just dogs like any other if you raise them like dogs!

I have been told that you an´t keep one in an apartment because they bark ALL THE TIME. Well... I live in an apartment and I have two that have never been the cause of any complaints. And that they are agressive to children (I have three small ones). A family picking up their puppy were surprised to see that the dogs were sleeping when visitors were around and not pacing and barking a the time. If they thought the breed was like that why did they want one in the first place?

It is all in the higher end of the leash. It is just that dobermans and rotties are known as big mean dogs that need training and people that want a "furbaby" take a small dog. They are brave, not agressive, and praised for it when they try to attack a bigger dog. They are cute when they growl and great bold protectors when they lunge at strangers... Things that in a big dog most people woul recognize as warning signs are even prased in the tiny ones. My friend that owned the most agressie doberman I have ever known and seen many dogs, said that the most agressive dog she has ever seen was a russian toy terrier that attacked anyone an anything. Only the daughter was able to put a leash on her to take hert on a walk. She attacked the trainer unprovoked when she was walking past the dog. Fortunately they are ca. 2 kg little critters and wth a pair of heavy duty gloves there are options other than euthanasia but.. How do you even get that far? How are you so stupid that you fail to recognize these things? And why in the Gods name would you assume that the world should adjust to YOUR obnoxious and/or downright agressive mutt and you have not nor plan to train or even manage?

Good post and great points. I like that expression "It's what's on the higher end of the leash."

There is a breeder over here who breeds and trains German Dachshunds for blood trailing deer. Reportedly, no other critter can do the job as consistently well as his doxies can. They are the wire-haired, standard sized variety, and yes, very well trained.

I've been reading this thread giggling at the stories here, I totally understand about the small dog thing, the worst bites I've gotten have been from small dogs and so far all of them have been when I've been walking down a sidewalk or on my own property (I....HATE....FLEXI-LEADS). Then something happened yesterday that almost IS the title of this thread....I went to a local Flea Market yesterday to sell off some old art stuff. I brought Ryuk with me because I brought him last week and he loved it, the Flea is very dog friendly (though last week it was muuuch quieter since the weather was a bit cloudy).

Yesterday a few paces from my booth there was a lady with a little teacup chihuahua. She had the dog in her arms, it was doing that small dog shaking thing but was otherwise calm. A little girl asked if her dog was friendly and if she could pet him. The woman said "yes of course, he's an angel". The little girl immediatly backed away and knelt on the ground with an outstretch fist so when the dog was set down it could approach her. The MOMENT that dog hit the ground it charged, the kid didn't even begin to have a chance to back away. The little thing bit her and drew blood. The girl yelped and immediately jumped back. The owner said "oh, that's so cute he was playing with you" the child said "that wasn't playing he bit me" the child's mother told her daughter "it's fine, the dog is cute" (WTF does that have to do with it). The dog made a second charge (flexilead) and grabbed the child's pants leg, it was going for flesh. The little girl jumped back again and fell on top of MY dog who was laying beside my table with his toy She caught his foot in the fall and he yelped and jumped up but when he realized what had happened he simply wagged his tail and licked her cheek. The child apologized to me (and my pup) and gave Ryuk a little pat as she stood up. Ryuk loves kids (the only people he actively will seek petting from if permited) and sticks his head under her hand. She gives him one last ear scratch....then...

...the girls mother FREAKS OUT and yanks her daughter away from Ryuk SCREAMING about how my vicious wolf is attacking her daughter, threatening to sue me, all of that....

So to get this straight, the little dog that DREW BLOOD on her daughter and CONTINUED to bite at their ankles after the fact is fine because he's "cute" but my dog who didn't bite your daughter even though she startled him, fell on him, and stomped on his foot is vicious....and also a wolf (can someone find me a wolf with Ryuk's coloring that weighs 55lbs? This isn't the first time I've gotten this...)?

I just sort of stared at her...she ended up calling a security gaurd over to get my dog taken away, luckily the daughter (and about 150 witnesses) stepped in since I couldn't even form intelligent words to respond to this lady....

Oh, the chihuahua BIT two other people as the woman walked away from the action...