Big Dog, Little Dog...

Yesterday while leaving work in downtown Toronto, I was walking along the city streets with Arlo to my van. We had two separate incidents of small breed dogs barking furiously at the end of their leash at Arlo. One was a toy poodle, the other a Yorkshire terrier. The Yorkie's owner even continued to come closer to us. Arlo paid little, if any, attention to these dogs, as he knows he must behave while on leash. Left to his own devices, I don't know how much of that he would have put up with before he decided it was enough. My mind was boggled as to why these owners allowed their 5 to 10 lb dogs to behave this way, especially since a 92 lb dog could have easily been within their reach. Working in the veterinary business, I have seen many incidents of small breed dogs having been bitten by larger, more powerful dogs. I now wonder how many of these incidents were instigated by the small breed dog harassing the larger breed? I do know of a few incidents where for sure the small breed dog was the instigator. The large breed could have simply been giving a doggie version of a "correction" to the small breed, one that if it had been given to another large breed would have not caused injury. However, a correction from a large, powerful breed to a toy breed could easily result in serious injury or death. How many times have small breed dogs been inadvertently "corrected" by larger breeds for being irritating little pests because their owners refused to stop the behaviour? In hindsight, it is not the small breed dog at fault, but the owner who was oblivious to the danger of allowing their dog to behave in a way that could easily irritate other dogs. These two owners I encountered were lucky I am in control of my dog. Small breed dog owners should be more diligent about their dogs' behaviour, as some small breeds are known to behave as if they were large breeds. This behaviour has landed many small breeds in the emergency veterinary clinic for serious injuries.