There are a number of advantages to sharing your life with a little dog:
- They take up less room!
- You can have several in the same amount of space as one Great Dane.
- They share your bed without hogging it.
- They don’t eat as much, so they are less expensive to feed.
- You can get by with smaller backyards, and often (though not always) lower fences.
- Little dogs’ poops are tiny and inoffensive, even in the house-you can pick up their mini feces with a tissue and flush them down the toilet.
- And it’s easier to train a little dog than a Mastiff to use a litterbox, if that suits your life style. Just try to picture a Mastiff in a litter box.
- Your little dog is less likely to knock over your 93-year-old grandmother when she comes to visit, although a little dog can run under her feet and trip her.
- The little dog is highly portable; you can fit him under an airline seat, in your shopping cart, or in a doggie backpack. And you can still drive a sports car.
- Finally your little dog is less intimidating to people who are fearful of dogs, and more acceptable to landlords, hotels, motels, outdoor cafes, and other public places.
There are however, some disadvantages:
- Little dogs do break more easily, especially those with very fine bones, such as Chihuahuas and Italian Greyhounds.
- Because of their small size, they can be mistakenly perceived as good pets for children. Some of them can be, but they’re not automatically the right choice for small humans – it depends on the individual dog, a good socialization program, and the child’s ability to be gentle with and careful around a tiny dog.
- Their reputation as yappy ankle-biters is not entirely undeserved; they can become defensively aggressive if they feel threatened – and it’s easy to feel threatened when you are surrounded by humans and canine giants who are anywhere from 10 to 100 plus times your size.
What you can do?
- Commit to giving your little dog a bigger life by providing him with good-manners training that makes him welcome anywhere dogs are allowed.
- Respect your little dogs needs; don’t coerce him just because he’s little and easily overpowered.
- Protect your little dog appropriately from unwanted attention and potential threats.
Once again, I feel I must comment on my pet peeve. Just because it’s cold outside does not mean you don’t have to clean up after your dog! Come on folks, it’s not that hard.
