I think we’ve all met a dog with small dog syndrome. They’re a tiny little ball of concentrated mischief and rage, complete with barking, biting, and bossing. They live on the other side of the fence, at grandma’s house, down the hall at your friend’s apartment, and pulling their owners down the other side of the street. One might even be living in your house with you!
If that’s the case, don’t worry. I have been there, too!
My personal dog, Grimm, was once what I affectionately call a “wildly aggressive little monster” and the poster child for small dog syndrome. Today, he’s living proof that even little dogs can turn around and become the best version of themselves! I write all about how he overcame it all in my article, The Dog That Turned Me Into A Trainer.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have titled this for what it was: small dog syndrome.
What Is Small Dog Syndrome?
Don’t let the name fool you; small dog syndrome is a behavioral concept in dogs, not a medical one. Think of it like “princess syndrome” in people!
Small dog syndrome refers to the tendency of little dogs to develop a pattern of behaviors ranging from aggression, barking or whining to get what they want, poor leash manners, excessive barking, poor obedience and noncompliance (not listening), resource guarding, begging for or stealing food, pushiness, and all-around bossiness. In short, little dogs who misbehave have “small dog syndrome.”
While dogs of any size can misbehave, it’s common for small dogs to develop a certain set of behaviors that share a common cause (more on this later). After seeing enough cases of little dogs of varying breeds show less-than-charming behavior sets, the term “small dog syndrome” was created.
Small dog syndrome is an anecdotal term, but it’s also observed enough to be widely accepted as very, very real, much like littermate syndrome.
Common Behavior Problems in Small Dogs
The behavior problems commonly seen in small dogs and toy breeds, which are dubbed “Small Dog Syndrome,” have a broad range with a common source. These behavior problems are:
- Resource guarding
- Growling at humans and nipping
- Other aggression
- Begging
- Separation anxiety
- Stealing food (from humans and other animals)
- Getting on furniture when not wanted/not invited
- Poor leash skills
- Excessive barking
- Pushiness and bossiness (often aggressively)
- Poor/no obedience
- Refusal to listen to cues and commands
- Whining to get what they want
- Barking to get what they want
What Causes Small Dog Syndrome?
Small Dog Syndrome happens when little dogs are allowed to get away with too much, and are not provided with reasonable boundaries. Oftentimes, small dogs are “babied” by their owners, and are not given the same consequences for undesirable or unacceptable behaviors that larger dogs do.
Not all dogs end up getting small dog syndrome, but it is common among many small breeds.
Small Dog Syndrome is common in a lot of breeds that tend to be “lap dogs” or “fur children.” Breeds that are prone to getting small dog syndrome are:
- Chihuahuas
- Pomeranians
- Spaniels
- Pugs
- French Bulldogs
- Papillons
- Yorkies
- Mini Schnauzers
- Bichon Frise
- Toy Poodles
- Shih Tzu
- Boston Terriers
- Maltese
- Italian Greyhounds
- Havanese
- Japanese Chin
- Pekingese
- Lhasa Apso
- Miniature Pinscher
However, Small Dog Syndrome is less about the specific breed and a lot more about what the dog is allowed to get away with, regardless of size.
Small dogs develop unwanted behaviors when those behaviors are left uncorrected (or even rewarded, in many cases) and the dog is not provided with and taught solid boundaries and structure within the household.
This is sometimes due to an excessive babying and emotional projection onto the dog, but it also sometimes comes about when a well-meaning dog owner reasonably doesn’t know how to go about training a small dog or toy breed.
Are Little Dogs Harder to Train?
The core concepts to training small dogs are the same as they are with a dog of any size at all. Regardless of whether your dog is a Boston Terrier or a Staffordshire Terrier, the science of reward and correction are true for them all.
So then why are small dogs so hard to train?
The stature of small dogs creates a few hurdles to deal with when approaching training; trust me, I have two small dogs of my own.
The first difficulty in training small dogs is making rewards appropriate for the dog without leading in to overfeeding and health problems.
Obesity is very common among small dogs, and even moreso among dogs that tend to get babied. A little bit of extra weight on a larger dog is usually not a critical health concern, while on a small dog an extra pound can be a really big deal for their joints and organs.
While rewarding with food, we can prevent overfeeding our dogs by using a low-calorie dog treat or using your dog’s daily kibble for training throughout the day. You may think that your picky little dog won’t work for kibble, but with consistency dogs usually turn around and will work for food after a day or two.
Another complication is finding appropriate tools to follow through on corrections of unwanted behavior. At Lugaru K9 Training, we tend to recommend prong collars and remote collars to follow through on unwanted behavior because they are safe, precise, and measured. Unlike a can of pennies, citronella spray, or annoying beeping collars, you can adjust each correction to the appropriate level for a specific situation.
I talk more about our philosophy around the when’s, where’s, and why’s of dog training corrections in my article, The Ten Commandments of Dog Training Corrections.
Small dogs need tools that will be measured for each situation, be safe for them to use, and actually work for reducing unwanted behaviors. For this I recommend a small dog e-collar, like the ones I talk about in my article, How to Train Small Dogs with the E-Collar, and a micro prong collar from Kimberland.
You can also try out a compressed air can, which may help correct some unwanted behaviors, but lacks the nuance of tools like a prong or remote collar.
At the end of the day, small dogs can definitely be trained just as well as large dogs.
Small dogs are not inherently less obedient than medium and large dogs. Small dogs simply tend to be trained less than dogs of a larger size.
It may seem like small dogs are never trained because it can genuinely be difficult to find the means to follow through with them on unwanted behaviors, and because many people get small dogs with the intention of babying them.
I know that when I first got Grimm, I absolutely wanted a “fur baby” type dog. What I got, and what a lot of small dog owners struggle with, is a dog that had no concept of boundaries, and had a whole host of unwanted and even dangerous behaviors.
Are Little Dogs Harder to Potty Train
One area where little dogs genuinely do get the short end of the stick is housetraining.
Small dogs are, generally speaking, more difficult to potty train than larger-breed dogs. This is because small dogs have a smaller bladder and digestive tract relative to their body size. So, understandably, their food and water intake tends to “go right through them.”
I talk more in-depth about housetraining for different dog sizes in my article, How Long Does It Take to Potty Train Your Dog?
At the end of the day, small dogs may just need more attention and more time to develop the bladder control that you might expect from a larger-breed dog, regardless of age or specific breed.
Why Do Little Dogs Bark So Much
Little dogs may bark a lot due to a genetic predisposition, or some other behavioral concern that may or may not be related to small dog syndrome.
For instance, small dogs are also prone to reactivity caused by fear, because the world is so much bigger and scarier to them than it is for a larger dog. Small dogs may bark at other dogs or humans in an attempt to get those scary things to go away.
Small dogs may also be predisposed to barking. Some small dog breeds are just known to be kind of “yappy,” on a base level, like Chihuahuas and Yorkies. If your small dog is a hound like a beagle or a basset hound, the baying is going to just become a part of life for you.
Excessive barking can also be related to Small Dog Syndrome in that a small dog may learn to wear their owner down by barking to get what they want. They also might learn that barking helps them boss other dogs around, as well, and so sometimes this little dog yapping is a learned behavior that has been rewarded.
At the end of the day, a little dog might be yappy because of a number of reasons, including fear-based reactivity, genetic factors, and barking as a learned behavior to achieve a result.
Why Are Little Dogs So Aggressive
Little dogs tend to get aggressive because the behavior is allowed. Unlike large dogs where biting could be really serious, usually aggression in small dogs is not taken seriously (though it absolutely should).
While there is definitely a genetic factor to behavior, small dogs as a group are not “naturally” aggressive.
However, you might see aggressive small dogs more often than aggressive large dogs for one uncomfortable reason: small dogs that bite humans are often allowed to live.
If a giant dog attacks a human, it is treated as an urgent issue. The dog is either put down, or comes to trainers like me for aggression rehabilitation training.
Small dogs, on the other hand, often get shrugged off when they exhibit similar behaviors because their potential for damage is significantly decreased. A small dog bite might hurt a little, while a larger dog bite might mean a trip to the hospital.
That doesn’t mean that aggressive small dogs will get away with it forever; I still recommend training that behavior out of small dogs, as well, because aggression can land little dogs in a number of dangerous situations such as picking fights with dogs bigger than them, or attacking the wrong person who does indeed decide to report or sue.
And little dogs can seem so mean and angry because they are not provided with solid boundaries in the same way that owners of larger dogs simply have to. And if a little dog is being treated as an actual human child (with carry-bags, strollers, food-sharing, coddling, etc.) this can exacerbate the issue by rewarding unwanted behavior. This can, in turn, cause these small dogs to “act crazy,” and have a very low tolerance for not getting what they want.
I write about the parent-like relationship between dogs and humans in my article, Do Dogs View Their Owners As Parents?
Why Are Little Dogs So Clingy?
Little dogs, especially those who have other signs of Small Dog Syndrome, can tend to be clingy or even have separation anxiety.
It’s common for little dogs with Small Dog Syndrome to “pick a person,” usually the person that babies them the most, and act mean or angry towards other people, animals, or even members of the household. They can become overly-attached to a person and act as their shadow, whining for attention and other nice things throughout the day.
What makes this issue worse is that, oftentimes, you’ll find that the “chosen person” of that misbehaving dog will secretly (or sometimes very not secretly) like the attention and feeling of “being special.” People that feel this way share in their dog’s addiction to affection and dare I say it codependence, and so they are unlikely to be willing to take the steps to change the behaviors.
This can also lead to separation anxiety when the dog is left alone or with the non-favorite persons. Separation anxiety, which is essentially an addiction to attention and an extreme inability to be independent in even the slightest way, can result in other issues such as destruction, eliminating in the house, excessive noise, and even the dog causing harm to themselves.
I have a full guide to separation anxiety that is available in my article, How to Fix Separation Anxiety For Good.
Does My Dog Have Small Dog Syndrome?
If you’re wondering if your dog has small dog syndrome, they probably do.
If your small dog acts pushy to get what they want or consistently gets away with misbehaving, it’s safe to say that your little dog fits the title.
Luckily, Small Dog Syndrome can absolutely be reversed.
I struggled with it myself when I was first starting out many years ago, and today I’m actually considering taking Grimm for his Canine Good Citizen test.
It’s our behaviors as owners that impact a lot of how our dogs behave, and if you can commit to a change of dynamic and structure, your dog can also learn to be the best and most fulfilled version of themselves.
How Do You Get Rid of Small Dog Syndrome?
Small Dog Syndrome is fixed when you take a long, hard look at how you react to your dog’s behaviors, and commit to adjusting how you choose to respond.
When your dog snaps at you for approaching the couch, do you choose to sit somewhere else, or do you correct that behavior and have your dog move to a different spot?
When your dog barks at you to get the leftovers on your plate, do you eventually cave in, or do you tell them “no,” and send them to their place?
Do you crate your dog when you can’t supervise them, or are they allowed free reign over the house in your absence, to do whatever they like?
When your dog acts aggressively or inappropriately to your spouse, children, roommates or parents, do you follow through and correct it, or do you coddle and pet them for being afraid?
It is time to look at your dog’s motivations and begin using them to your advantage instead of having them work against you.
