Ever wonder what’s up with little dogs and their tendency to bark big — especially when the supposed threat appears? Here’s a tip of the tail and a let’s-go-for-a-walk explanation.
For starters, dogs have been individuals, with different personalities and styles, from the very beginning, and there are plenty of vocal, feisty dachshunds, just as there are plenty of super-mellow French mastiffs, both classically small and extra large, respectively.
Yeah, so why do our teeny-weeny terriers pooch, pouch and perspire over pint-size pups? Here are a handful of friendly hints to bite into:
Little Dog Syndrome: Little dogs have big attitudes — they want to let the big dogs know that they are not to be messed with, despite their little size. This probably stems from their Napoleon complex.
Small dogs think they have big balls! We might just be saying they need to compensate because they’re so puny! They’re like Napoleon; they have small balls, but they’re Napoleonic!
Territorial turf defence: A dog is a dog, and dogs simply tend to be territorial. If a small dog has been defending a turf in his mind when a large dog strolls across, the small dog might have no other option but to loudly defend that territory. ‘This is my space — back off, strutter!
Size matters: if your dog doesn’t intimidate his playmate, he will feel threatened. To tell him to back off, your little dog might bark as if to say: ‘Get lost, I’m scared because you’re big!’ Growl like a big dog! This bark is often a bluff. It could develop into an aggressive bark if bigger dogs are around, but most likely it’s a show of weakness due to fear.
Can’t they communicate in other ways? Now pay attention. Many dogs are certainly barking up the wrong tree. But other dogs are alerting to a possible threat, or barking as a warped response to excitement, or even as the start of a communication sequence with their human owners. Little dogs barking to big dogs might be greeting them, trying to engage in play, or even just saying ‘I’m scared/excited, but I feel Ok!’ This might sound like human-centric projection, but it isn’t. Other humans are able to make inferences about communicative goals even when they are completely unfamiliar with the language used.
Predatory Display, Please! What disease disorder is it? Take it easy, it’s only a dog! Let’s not forget that, in the evolutionary spectrum of things, dogs are still unfinished products. They delight in playfulness, which is why they also delight in barking at each other, often with faux aggression or an exaggerated ‘tennis ball embrace’. Pick me, pick me, please! We must also recognise that dogs are attention-obsessed creatures. And that sometimes their barking is a bid for attention, just like when my less interesting small dog would start barking at what would inevitably be a much bigger, scarier dog. I always surmised that my little dog was barking to gain attention from other people — because he knew I would react if he barked at a big dog, the size of which intimidated him.
Ultimately, we need to keep in mind that everything begs us to keep barking back by nature, so our dogs, big or small, would be doing the same. Next time you see a tiny pup barking at a big dog wherever we are, remember: Size matters not!