Big Bite, Little Dog

Once upon a time, I thought puppy ownership would bring a sense of calm and rewarding joy to my home. My head was full of thoughts about the dog I hoped one day to have, a big giant of a Great Dane I would call Duke or Daisy, depending on which way the gender happened to go, and we would all live happily ever after, ever after, after...

Apartment living however put a small scale hope on my big scale dreams and the dream reinvented itself in the form of something smaller.

I have never been one however to like small dogs. Sure they can be cute. And sure you can put them in fuzzy little sweaters with matching booties if you really want to publicly humiliate yourself as well as your dog, but small dogs all have one thing in common.

Behavior. Bad behavior.

It's always been my opinion that small dogs are more prone to bad behavior for one reason and one reason alone.

They're small.

And seriously, I can't blame them for thinking they need to be a little nippy. A little intimidating to make sure that everyone gets it that just because they're small, it doesn't mean they're not tough.

And little dogs are stubborn. They want to win. They need to prove themselves top of the food chain right, ruler of the roost. And they don't like being told no. Not ever.

Big dogs don't have this problem. They're hardwired in a completely I'm in control and don't need to assert myself to prove my point way.

Little dogs? Little dogs are just wired.

Now I love my Lucy, don't get me wrong. But there are days when she is pure trial and tribulation, with the biting, the chewing, the barking, the whining, the pouncing, the prancing, the leaping, the flying, and of course, her nocturnal habits which keep me up all night long.

Something has got to give.

And by giving, I have a feeling it's my purse that's going to be footing the bill on this one. Lucy is a dog obedience class waiting to happen. And oh, it's happening soon.