hi  me and dud my boxer were taking a nice stroll along the river when a lady with a yorkie and jack russel  came close. i held dudley while he sat and watched them go by as he is a big dog compared to them and felt it was only polite to do so .  when the they had wonderd on for a bit me and dud set off again . he took no notice of them and trotted off into the grass and woods ,then out of the blue the two dogs came thundering up the path into the woods and started on my dog for no reason !!! i ran into break it up and dudley was just stood their crying and shaking. the lady came strolling up and "said sorry they do that some times "!  i said thats all well but if it was my dog attacking them i would get reported !!!  i did not notice his cuts on his pads at the time or would of taken her name and address .  dudley ran away from me as i was arguing with the lady she liffted the dogs said mine was a f*****g p**f and should of growled at them to get rid of them  !!! i thought cheers !!!!  said i tell him when i find him !!i now not all small dogs are the same he loves to play with pugs and my friends terrier crosss, but its not fair when people say the ig dgs should be kept under controle but i think small dog should as well. all dogs need to be kept under controle infact.  he now has to be walked on a dogmatic headcollar as he
is so scared of other dogs now . i just hope it dosent ruin his showing .

does anybody agree or think i beening silly ???<

All dogs should be kept under proper control; as far as I am concerned if the owners will not or cannot I do it for them, with my stick!

Totally agree Box Mad :)

I've lost count of how often small dogs have been snarling and lunging at my own breed (similar size to yours) and their owners laugh it off and think it's funny but harmless   It would certainly be a different story if the larger dogs were doing it to the little ones.  

Dogs that don't behave around others should be kept on a lead and under control at all times - regardless of age, size, breed, weight etc - responsible ownership applies across the board.

Hope your boy isn't too badly affected by this and forgets about it.  Regards, Teri :)

I have had a few incidences like that over the years and my boxers always just stand there looking slightly puzzled at the small dogs behavior,wondering what all the aggression is for.Some small dogs seem to be so defensive and aggressive without any provocation.Do they have some kind of size complex?

Yes, actually, some of them do have a "size complex."   Some small dogs actually know they are small and are unsure around large dogs. Many times the growling and barking is a defense mechanism to frighten the larger dog away.

By the way, in the Common where I walk my dogs sometimes I saw an English setter twice try to attack a Newfoundland. The setter was fine as long as the Newfie did not get too close, thankfully.  The setter is normally very placid and total ignores my two boisterous Cairn terriers.   I spoke to the Newfie owner and he said that his dog is frequently set upon by other dogs, he believes they are afraid of him. 

Stacey

Hi,
I know what you mean cause I have exactly the same problem with my Leo. All small dogs have a go and him being a big softy he stands and takes it.
If he did fight back I would be affraid that the little dogs would get stuck in his throat!!!!!LOL!! The police would not get involved with dog fights cause I've already checked.

I do suffer 'dog walking rage' and the next time I meet up with these dogs, the owners do tend to controll their dogs better.

I'm sorry to hear that your dog is now wary, please try and mix him with 'friendly' small dogs as much as possible or give him a treat when he see's other dogs.Positive reinforcement every time works.

Good luck.

Not all small dogs are bad :-(  Our Bichon is friendly with everyone, be it people, children, all other dogs.   He will play with any dog and has never growled or shown any nastiness in his life :-)  He doesn't care if they are big or small he will play chasing them and let them chase him.  He has made a new friend on our walks, a Staffordshire Bull terrier cross and they play really nice together :-)

Our newfoundland is terrified of jack russells after being attacked by three of them on different occasions.  The owner of the last one actually laughed and asked why he couldnt take care of himself.  I replied that if she better hope he didnt decide to defend himself or she would have no dog left!  I cant believe how some owners behave.

I must say I get narked with people who let their small dogs get out of control.  We were at a show when this evil little daschaund bit Tigger on the leg the owner looked down and didnt even apologise.  I wonder if she would have been quite so blaise if Tigs had bit her dog!  She wasnt doing anything just standing their while we were talking.

One of my dals was attacked by firstly, a pair of Poms, and on another occasion by a pair of chihuahuas. The owners thought it was funny seeing this big dog having her feet bitten, until I asked them how funny it would be if two of mine started biting one of theirs ...

We have had the same thing, a Jack Russel attacking Hudson and the owner just standing and watching. Mind you, Hudson peed on it eventually ...so thats alreight then :p :p :p :p

I get this all the time and majority of the time Jack russells (nothing against them i was brought up with them) a swift kick normally works wonders in my case!!
One of mine wears a muzzle in public (hates other dogs) and it never ceases to amaze me the amount of ignorant people that think its ok to let their little pooch free running and being aggressive towards mine as she can't defend herself!!! Its ok its only a giggle to their owners, to me its infuriating that my training has took 3 steps back to get her socialised yet again.
I usually shout call your dog back and thats fine but you get the odd one with no recall whatsoever :(

thank you i dint want to sound like i was anty little dogs . im not i love all dogs what ever size i agree that dogs should be kept under control dudley was a perfect gentleman on his walks would sit next to me (holding him )and watch people on bikes etc and dogs go past i always keep  him close just in case every dog can have a off day !!i raley let him off his lead now only in secure fenced and gated paddocks as i no i can recall hi t me if i see a dog coming toards us !

Jwilson you say that the police wont get envolved with dog fights, but the dog warden will, I know this because when another dog attacked my Golden Retriever for no reason, I rang the police to complain and they told me to contact them which I did.
I rang a friend who breeds Boxers, and she said this dog was well known in the area. People were afraid to walk down that part of the country walk, as it stands guard over this area. I didnt know this.
My dog was off the lead at the time, and even though I kept her close to me, this dog came over and attacked for no reason.

The dog warden called round within the hour, and I put in a written complaint, because I thought no dog is going to tell me where to walk, or cannt walk. Also my dog was very shaken up, and I wasnt going to put up with it, and I thought this dog has got to be stopped.
The dog warden went round to see where the dog was, afterwards he rang me up and told me what happened.
He found the dog laying down in the centre of the walk, he tried to call the dog to him but it ran under the hedge into its home.
He spoke to its owners who were very angry when they were told to keep their dog in, and if they didnt keep it in then he would catch the dog and remove him.
He also told them about the dangerious dog act.
The end resolt is, we (the local dog walkers) never see this dog out on its own now, so a good resolt.

I have another dog now a Lab x, my old Goldie is no longer with us having died at 13 yrs old.
Anyway Yorkshire terriers and Jack russels when out on a walk with their owners have on occasions gone for my Lab x she is such a softy, and wouldnt hurt anybody or anything. You would be surprised how quickly they put them on their leads, when I quote the dangerious dog act to them.
Badly behaved dogs and badly behaved children are a pain in the a**e

Hi box mad,

The same thing happened to Lolly the other day. There is a border Terrier that lives in the same villiage as us and whenever we walk past it it stands up againsts its lead growling and looking really evil for want of a better description. Thankfully its owner keeps it on lead for walks but the other day we were walking past its house when it came charging out of its drive, bearing its teeth. It then charged at Lolly and smashed into her. Thankfully it didn't do any damage and she decided, like your Dudley, not to do anything about it.

It is a real shock when you see another dog coming towards you like that and I realised that I really didn't know what to do. I did contemplate trying to kick it away somehow, which I know isn't a good solution and I really didn't want to have to do it, but I could not think of anything else to get it off my dog. Thankfully it decided to retreat and we just kept walking on but what do you all think is best to do in this situation?

Jen

Hi Box mad
I do agree with you, I have a small Yorkshire Terrier and a short but large in size Basset Hound, I always keep both dogs under control as my Yorkshire is the boss in our home, as the Basset is a really laid back dog and she gets away with anything.
But not all large dogs would like this and if you know that your small dog is going to try to bully any larger dog it is only fair to be a good dog owner and keep your own dogs in check

large and little dogs are not perfect they can all be "picky" when out , its just a same when u have a lovley behavied dog and the attack spooks him.  i did a open show with dudley a couple of days after , i knew there would be jr and yt there so i had him on a head collar . every body most of thought i was killing him the way he was crying every time one walkedpast !! to make it worst a woman let her beagl who was out of seaon by 3 days i say climb all over him and as soon as he stood up she bit him !!!! he did get post grad and best of breed, yet he still grummbled at the other dogs in the class. lookly after he was placed !!1