Hi everyone - I am new to this forum although I have been reading the info for ages! In fact I have learnt a huge amount from the knowledgeable folk here so a big thankyou is in order first of all!!
Now for my current query - I have a toy breed bitch aged nearly two, she has been given quite a lot of opportunity to mix with dogs large and small and is friendly without being pushy, however due to a few negative experiences lately I am concerned as to the safety of letting her interact with much bigger dogs unless we know them! To illustrate what I mean, at the weekend we were on the beach, my little dog walking quite near me off lead, when a couple appeared in front of us with a much bigger dog. The dog appeared friendly but ran over to play and was very boisterous which resulted in my girl being a bit shaken up. So the couple called their dog away and I walked away with my dog. However a few seconds later the other dog raced back, my girl was terrified so took off in the direction of the car park with the other dog chasing her! Fortuately I get there to discover another couple had grabbed her just before she was knocked over by a manouevering car. Anyway this scary incident made me worry about her safety as she is quite often intimidated by much bigger dogs , even if they only want to play she tends to get hurt a little. So my question is, should I do anything differently? I have previously tried to resist the urge to pick her up, in case it encourages nerves etc, but I would really appreciate advice as I have lots to learn about dog behaviour and I don't want to create problems! Many thanks!  

Carry a jif lemon in your pocket and give the bigger dog a shot of it if it gets out of hand like that again. You can't risk your little girl getting seriously hurt or run over and boy, she must get scared.

Know how you feel! Finding the place between not turning them into nervous wrecks and protecting them! My boys like playing with any dog that gives them the nod :rolleyes: but they can get damaged quite easily, even when playing with my bigger (but not much bigger) Std poodle x they will come off worse if play gets too rough. So I'm always a rather cautious if their chosen playmate is very much bigger/boisterous.
That said they love playing with my friends akita who's known them since they were tiny - she is soooo gentle with them, like she knows she must be. :)

It's because she doesn't have her big bodyguard Curtis looking after her!!!!;)

I have a toy poodle who is great with other dogs.  If I'm ever in a situation where I'm worried about her welfare I pick her up.  It's never done her any harm and hasn't made her nervous around big dogs, as it's only on a couple of occassions I've picked her up where a bigger dog has been too boisterous for her / my liking.

the same here i have 3 very small dogs and 3 large biggest a rottie, now they all rough house at home and the little ones allways seem to get the upper hand, with my own but it is a different matter when we are out i am worried that some big dogs don't know how to interact with smaller dogs and i tend to put my little ones on leaders when another dog is near, just so i have control, but i also carry a jif lemom bottle filled with water just incase so far never had to use it hope i never have to either.
carolann

I have 3 small dogs, though I only walk two at a time, and there are some large boisterous dogs in our park too. I'm not strong enough to lift 2 sturdy Cavaliers for more than a few seconds though! Luckily we haven't had any injuries, though my girl was rolled over once!

my 10 month rottie plays with a 10 month jack russul and they are sooo funny they play tag ha ha she even tries to jump over him ha ha but if i see another small dog i do lead him and ask if they want to play as i know my boy can pack a punch with the little ones.oh and she can really wear him out ha ha .

My papillon was walked with labradors and weimaraners from the minute he had his vaccinations.  He was always there in the thick of things and loved every minute of it.  However, whilst he was still a baby puppy I did have to look out for him as often the larger dogs (and even my own papillon puppy) didn't realise how fragile he was.  If things got just toooo boisterous I would just scoop him up for a minute until they all settled down and then put him down again.

Thankyou for these comments - I will pick her up if really necessary and I may also take the jif bottle of water idea up! It surprises me just how often other dogs race up to mine and leap around/on top of her as I learnt from this forum that I should train my dog to have manners!! Today a family turned up at the beach and put their dog out of the car to walk itself while they kept warm in the car, and they watched their dog annoy everyone else's!!