As a small dog owner myself, I take great exception when people say things like “I hate small dogs, they’re always yappy” or “I’d never have a small dog! They’re snappy!”. But, the sad fact is, although my little Yorkie Benji is well behaved, he has shown signs of developing Small Dog Syndrome in the past and I have to watch that I don’t let him slip into bad habits.
Small Dog Syndrome is a group of behaviours displayed by small breeds and, unfortunately, often ignored by owners. These behaviours – which would not typically be accepted if displayed by larger dogs – can include:
- Jumping up at people
- Reluctance to move off sofas or chairs to allow humans to sit down
- Climbing over people
- Barking at visitors
- Begging for food
- Aggression towards other dogs
The truth is, if a 30kg doggo was growling at anyone who came to the front door or jumping up at children, its owner would undoubtedly retrain and correct the behaviour. However, when a 3kg pooch growls or jumps up at people, it’s laughed off or seen as less of a nuisance and less dangerous and so is not addressed.
The Early Signs
Early signs of Small Dog Syndrome are often either laughed off or unintentionally reinforced. As an example, picture the scene: Your small breed puppy is in the park and a big dog comes along. Small Puppy starts growling and in response you scoop him up and and say in your softest, most ‘i love you’ voice “it’s ok little one!”. What has Small Puppy learned? That if he growls at big doggos, he gets snuggles and love! This is the same when he growls and refuses to move off the sofa, jumps up at people etc. As an owner, you could be unintentionally rewarding these behaviours.
The Solution
The long and short of it is Small Dog Syndrome develops because we let our small breed dogs get away with behaviours purely because they are small. If their larger canine cousins displayed the same behaviours, they would be corrected and retrained. Thankfully, the solution is simple: treat all dogs the same. Evaluate your small dog today – do they display any behaviours that would not be acceptable from a large dog? Work on correcting those with consistent positive reinforcement – rewarding them when they do the right thing.
9 comments
Hi,
This is great for small dog owners to be aware of their dogs behaviours. I’d really appreciate more indepth, specific solutions on how to combat each of the unwanted behaviours listed above, as my dog does display those behaviours.
Thank you!
Sarah
Hey Sarah,
Glad you enjoyed this article! I’d be more than happy to write some more in depth pieces on specific unwanted behaviours – do you have any in particular you’d like to read about?
Melanie @ Mad Paws
Hello Sarah
yes please more of correcting small dog behavior faults. We have a 15 month female Cavoodle. She is always running outdoors to our backyard and barks, at nothing, as if to scare away unseen baddies. We have tried to reward her when she doesn’t bark and scold her when she does, but it doesn’t seem to work. Are you able to offer some advice?
Hey Michelle,
Great suggestion! I’m working on a article focused on excessive barking so will make sure I include some advice for doggos who bark in the yard! Keep an eye out – it will be coming out in the next couple of weeks.
Melanie @ Mad Paws
I’ve always wondered if Small Dog Syndrome is something innate in the dogs nature or caused/compounded by the owners behaviour. If a small dog was perfectly trained from birth would it still display the same tendencies?
My assumption is that it’s a combination of both. Perhaps small dogs tend to bark more and owners are unsure how to train the behaviour out of them so it continues or gets worse.
We had the same issue with our rescue one year old Maltese X. We assumed she had not had very much socialising get with other dogs and was very reactive when walking and coming across other dogs. We got a dog behaviourist who assisted us with some training and lead control when walking our dog. What we thought was a reactive dog has turned out to be just teaching our dog acceptable behaviours. The behaviourist also suggested putting our dog in day care. In only three weeks our dog is so good and she loves day care and her behaviour has improved
I am definitely interested in learning more about small dog syndrome. My pooch is usually pretty good but there are a couple of larger (but friendly) dogs he just doesn’t get on with. And he’s worse when he isn’t allowed to say hello to another dog.
I enjoy your articles very much especially about small dogs as I have a Moodle.
10 years ago I visited a little dog who was so stressed that she would snarl and snap at me, she was really scary. She would not eat the food I put out for her even after I left.
I happened to be working next to a woman who had done dog training in the UK with the original dog whisperers – (not Cesar Milan) they were a couple from the UK. They were much gentler than Cesar.
I watched their DVDs but don’t remember their names now. I put the dogs owner together with my workmate and she worked wonders with them. – They figured out that the dog thought she was the most important being – she was the Queen, and it was way too much responsibility for such a little dog, she felt she had to look after her mistress at all costs. – The trainer retrained the dog parent to act like she was the Queen and the dog was her underling. It worked wonders – the woman – the dog owner was so relieved. The dog could relax knowing her owner was in charge.