I can't say for sure how many times I've heard self-described dog lovers voice their disdain for small dogs. "They're yippy", "they bite", " they're impossible to house train", or perhaps the most damning, "they're like cats".
I'm not entirely sure how we got to this point. I mean, to a certain extent, dogs are dogs, right?
Many smaller breeds were initially bred and developed as hunters of small game and rodents. Others were bred for companionship, but all the same, they are all dogs.
My completely non-scientific and baseless assumption is that when people bring a dog into their home that is or will be on the larger side they take more seriously the need to train certain behaviors. With the smaller breeds, it seems that the assumption is that since the potential mayhem they can inflict is mitigated by their diminutive size, the need for training is too.
Pee pads around the house, flexi leads for the walk, and a general no rules atmosphere are things that I commonly see. With that comes dogs who aren't house trained, can't properly walk on leash, are intolerant of other dogs, and usually coddled into constant anxiety. Because smaller breeds are so easy to just pick up and remove from any situation this becomes the default for just about any issue that arises. So, instead of receiving lessons about how to exist in and interact with the world around them they instead get all of their worst behaviors reinforced by generally well-intentioned but misguided owners.
We ask all of our dogs to live with us in a world that is incompatible with many of their instincts, and as their friends, family, and caretakers it is our responsibility to give them the skills to do that well.
A 10lb Bichon Friese is every bit as much a dog as a 100lb Bullmastiff. Take them as seriously, and train them as dutifully and you'll be amazed at who they can be.
