Meanie Weenies

A few days ago I was out with Tucker and Guapo on our regular, daily walk, when we came across an unexpected visitor. At the end of our walk/run, about 10 houses from the finish line, we were confronted by a grumpy, elderly weenie dog protecting his front yard. At first I just brushed it off, took the boys to the other side of the street, and we continued on our way, slowing down the pace a bit to get a nice cool down in before reaching the house. What do you know, the crazy old weenie took off across the street and charged right at us!

At this point I really was unsure what to do, I did not want the long little guy to get taken out by a car, but at the same time, I was not about to hang around and let Guapo and Tucker think they were getting a bit of hot dog brunch. So I did what any normal large breed dog owner would do, convinced Guap and T-bone that it was a great time to go for a run, and proceeded to run down the sidewalk, away from the pint-sized menace. As we were running Forrest Gump style away from our enemy, I was doing my best to scream and alert the neighbor that their geriatric sausage dog had escaped the confines of his yard, but to no avail, the dog chased us for a good 20 feet before retreating back to his castle, the owner no where in sight.

Ironically, I came across an article last night that supports my experience with the crazy weenie, and according to the Telegraph, “Sausage dogs are the most aggressive dogs”. The first line of the article even goes on to say, “Forget pit bulls, rottweilers and Rhodesian ridgebacks, it’s the sausage dog that’s the most aggressive breed.” Amen! Just because they have tiny mouths does not mean they are not jerks! What kind of dog takes off across a street to charge two dogs that are about 1000x his size?!

I am not really sure how reliable this study Telegraph.co.uk is quoting is, but, “… new research found that one in five dachshunds have bitten or tried to bite strangers, and a similar number have attacked other dogs; one in 12 have snapped at their owners.” Dr, James Serpell, a veterinarian in the UK that was involved in the study said, “smaller breeds might be more genetically predisposed towards aggressive behaviour than larger dogs.” This is the first time I have ever heard of genetic disposition as a reason for higher bite rate statistics among smaller dogs, and it is an interesting supposition, even if it turns out to be false.

Personally, I feel that owners of little dogs feel that because a bite from their dog is not likely to inflict a lethal amount of damage (although it is not out of the realm of possibility for a dog to jump up and sever your carotid as you bend down to pet him, I am just saying…), that they somehow can be more lax on training, perhaps even encouraging aggressive behavior in some situations; i.e. – oh, isn’t that so CUTE how teenie weenie barks and growls at you while you walk by, minding your own business, on the other side of the street!

Smaller dogs also tend to be viewed as less of a responsibility for some people, which I suppose is why many small dogs are never enrolled in k-9 good citizen classes or taught proper socialization/behavioral skills. They also tend to exhibit that “little man complex”, finding the need to charge and challenge larger dogs, often unchecked by their owners because it is “so cute”. (The views expressed in the preceding paragraph obviously do not apply to ALL small dog owners, in fact, I do know one wonderful little weenie dog named Monique who would never, ever chase a person across the street or act nasty, even in her advanced years.)

I do not care if your dog is 1 pound or 100 pounds, all dog owners have an obligation to be responsible and properly train their pets, and little snausages are no exception to this rule. If you do not want to be “mean” and discipline your dog, please refrain from obtaining one, no matter how cute the puppy mill dog in the window may look. In closing, I would just like to point out, that while a lot of you tiny dog people stand together and unite against the “evil” Pit Bulls (this is especially true within the heavily biased Craigslist community), at the end of the day, you don’t see my dogs out in the front yard unattended, charging people, and chasing them across the street.

Meanie weenies…