Cute deer and cute puppy sharing love

Today, I want to talk about little dogs.

I was at a client’s home a few weeks ago, doing a behavior consultation for their adorable two-year-old Maltese mix. “Chloe” had a tendency to get over-aroused and begin barking, jumping, and nipping over seemingly benign activities like family members putting on their coats, loading the dishwasher, or using their exercise equipment.

Chloe was a friendly dog who hopped happily onto the couch to greet me as soon as I sat down, and she was greatly excited by having a visitor in the house. On several occasions as we talked, the family’s two young daughters came over and scooped her up to snuggle in their arms. Chloe was annoyed by this, as she was busily sniffing my coat and purse and investigating my pockets for treats.

Each time they picked her up, she snarled and air-snapped at their hands. The girls paid her no mind.

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Another recent consult was for an elderly miniature dachshund, adopted from a rescue group a few weeks prior to our meeting. “Jojo” was having some trouble getting along with the family’s other dog (a puppy who constantly wanted to play), and also showed some aggressive behavior related to handling. In particular, she had a history of biting her owner when he tried to get her out of her warm, comfy dog bed for her morning potty trip. She also sometimes snapped or bit when she was picked up at other times.

WHY IT’S HARD BEING TINY AND CUTE
WHY IT’S HARD BEING TINY AND CUTE

Today, I want to talk about little dogs.

I was at a client’s home a few weeks ago, doing a behavior consultation for their adorable two-year-old Maltese mix. “Chloe” had a tendency to get over-aroused and begin barking, jumping, and nipping over seemingly benign activities like family members putting on their coats, loading the dishwasher, or using their exercise equipment.

Chloe was a friendly dog who hopped happily onto the couch to greet me as soon as I sat down, and she was greatly excited by having a visitor in the house. On several occasions as we talked, the family’s two young daughters came over and scooped her up to snuggle in their arms. Chloe was annoyed by this, as she was busily sniffing my coat and purse and investigating my pockets for treats.

Each time they picked her up, she snarled and air-snapped at their hands. The girls paid her no mind.

******

Another recent consult was for an elderly miniature dachshund, adopted from a rescue group a few weeks prior to our meeting. “Jojo” was having some trouble getting along with the family’s other dog (a puppy who constantly wanted to play), and also showed some aggressive behavior related to handling. In particular, she had a history of biting her owner when he tried to get her out of her warm, comfy dog bed for her morning potty trip. She also sometimes snapped or bit when she was picked up at other times.

When questioned, her owners said they could easily tell when picking Jojo up was likely to be a problem, because she flattened her ears, gave a hard stare, and rolled onto her back when they reached for her. Fortunately, she had very few teeth due to a history of severe dental disease, so she wasn’t able to cause any injuries when she tried to bite.

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I’m sharing these two examples to kick off our discussion today because they happen to be cases that I saw recently, and are part of what made me think this would be a good topic to cover on the blog. Please note, both of these clients are wonderful owners who love their dogs very much, and take great care of them. They’re concerned enough about their behavior issues to seek help from a professional, and were very open to suggestions on different ways to interact with their pups.

My point here is emphatically NOT to frown and shake my head at them for not knowing better. These are perfectly normal, kind, intelligent people, doing normal things that most owners do with their dogs. So if you recognize some of your own habits in these stories, don’t feel bad! But I do think it’s worth taking a closer look at the way we often relate to small breed dogs, and asking ourselves if we can do better.

#cute #dogs #deers #puppy #animals #pets