# Small dogs harder to train?



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I really think it is an individual thing. Yes, some behaviors are inherent but I really don't think smarts are 'always' a part of it! I've known some traditionally 'smart' breed dogs that were dumber than rocks hahaha! Some dogs respond to training others do not......I don't think size matters!

Also the reason 'small' dogs have gotten such a bad rep is because people just don't train them because they ARE so small and are perceived as 'harmless' until they start peeing and pooping everywhere! By then the habit is set, and hard to break of course...........unless they REALLy are dumber than a box of rocks hahaha!


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Well, some small breeds are certainly smarter and more trainable--toy poodles, Papillions for example. But even within the breed there is a range. Zooey is not a bright Maltese, but I know Maltese that do obedience and agility successfully. Shih tzu tend to be not so smart or trainable in my experience, but my mom's, Scout, is brilliant.


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## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

My parents Maltese is an evil genius. He steals, fetch, dance, sit, down, sit pretty. His favorite thing is fetching my dad’s slippers. 

He pees on things when he is unhappy. Whenever he is in my home, he is unhappy because we dog sit for my family during their vacations. The little man never pees in my parents home. He barks nonstop but it is not as bad sounding as Happy’s pitch. 
My new neighbor has a yorkie. That dog will not stop barking after Amazon drop off even if it isn’t for his home. It will do it for a straight 10 min after. 


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I think it’s more a breed thing than a small dog thing. Pomeranians are not known to do well in obediance, and they are not good at any type of work. Toy poodles, miniature schnauzers, yorkiesmd many more are easy dogs to train. (Not housebreaking for yorkies though, they are stubborn).


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## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

Pomeranians are very headstrong but very outgoing and friendly. He got a lot of attitude and personality packed in a small body. In my home, my pug is the boss of everyone including the Pomeranian but the Pom is always looking out for her especially if other dogs bullies her. He is smart but just does not respond to training for some reason. I remember reading that about Boo the Pom. He is very good looking but not well trained at all. Lol. I don’t carry him around like other people. He walks on his own everywhere. My favorite thing about him is grooming him. Happy loves to be brushed and massaged. Grooming small dogs is so much fun. There isn’t a lot of work but you can get very creative with the haircut. Sometimes I wish he was a girl so I can put nail polish on him.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I took one competition obedience class specifically for small dogs. They need some alternative techniques to train because they are short. I would have loved to continue but the teacher got frustrated training for utility and her dog did so well in agility that she quit obedience and rally to focus on agility. 

I do think some breeds are more difficult to train but within each breed there are variations. Sometimes you need a different approach.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

I agree that trainability varies a lot by individual. There are some breeds that just weren't bred for it, though - for most small dogs that were only ever bred to be companions/lap dogs (often for rich people), they just never needed to have a strong working/training drive built into them. Toy poodles were circus dogs, which is probably why they maintained so much of their smarts even when they got too small to be retrievers. Same with other little geniuses like Papillons. Whereas a Pekingese was pretty much designed to sit around and look regal. That doesn't mean you won't sometimes find a genius Peke and a dunce Papillon, but it's less common.

Of course, their size makes them harder to train for some things just as a practical matter, too. Like we've had the hardest time teaching Cleo to do "down" because her legs are so short that she never has to lie down to reach a lure. So we pretty much have to wait for her to lie down on her own and reward her for it. And with housetraining, it's easier for them to sneak off and hide messes. Stuff like that.

Owners do tend to be more tolerant with them too, just because they cause less damage. I'll admit that I would be a lot more strict about Archie jumping up on people if he were a standard instead of a mini. Then again, maybe I'd have an easier time enforcing "no jumping" rules with strangers because they wouldn't have to bend down to pet him, either. Hmm.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Well since my private obedience trainer has an OTCh on a Pomeranian I would say not a small dog thing or a breed thing for the most part. the one thing I do agree with among other comments here is that sometimes small dogs need different methods because they are short. The woman who owns the NJ training school I went to for workshops this summer has a golden retriever, a border collie and a chihuahua. She definitely has made adaptations to her training for the chi (who has a UD and is starting to work on UDZ/OTCh legs and points). While she expects eye to eye contact from her larger dogs in heeling she has taught the chi to watch her left knee as an example.


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## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

lisasgirl said:


> Of course, their size makes them harder to train for some things just as a practical matter, too. Like we've had the hardest time teaching Cleo to do "down" because her legs are so short that she never has to lie down to reach a lure.


Happy is exactly like that when I tell him down. He only goes down with his front leg and not his back. My parents Maltese is roughly the same size and I trained him down in 5 min when he was a puppy. Not sure what they do other than offer companionship. He is very athletic and a confident little fellow that have a ton of energy. He has the best stamina of all my dogs. 

Nibbler is slightly larger but knows so much. I taught Happy and Nibbler side by side and Happy will not pick up anything. Nibbler knows a bunch of commands ie place, ring bell, spin, perfect heel, roll over, bark, touch. She even knows the command “please leave the room”. She picked that one up on her own. We never taught her that one. She also figured out the words “walk” and “dinner”. Nibbler did super well in agility but we never went to formal obedience for her because she was already really well behaved. Happy is a size bracket under Nibbler and I wonder if this makes a difference. He is on the small end for Pomeranians. I wonder if the larger ones are more agile. 


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