Growing up I recall an elderly woman who lived in my neighborhood that owned a small dog (a dachsund). From time to time, my grandmother (who was friends with this woman) would take me along to her house. Her little dachsund was extremely feisty toward me in addition to barking excessively and acting overly hyper. Looking back at the situation, this dog felt as if he was in complete control. He would not listen to her or anyone else, unless of course food was involved. Clearly, this woman did not show this little dog that she was in control and as a result he felt threatened by anyone he did not feel comfortable around. This is a perfect example of small dog syndrome.

Remember, when purchasing a small dog it is vital to educate yourself with issues such as small dog syndrome so that you can prevent this behavior before it takes place. Moreover, choosing the right small dog for you and your lifestyle is highly recommended and requires research of the different types of small dogs.

As far as I can tell, you have 3 factors working against you, but they are all workable.

1. Rat Terriers are extremely high-energy dogs.
2. Your Rat Terrier is still a puppy, which makes him even more high-energy.
3. You are not only not getting any help from your boyfriend, your boyfriend is making the job of training your Rat Terrier even harder because he is encouraging bad behavior.

First, I like what you are doing with feeding time. Getting your dog to eat at the time you want him to eat is a good step towards teaching your dog discipline. Most dogs will eat their food in less than 10 minutes, and some eat it all in under 2 minutes. Small dogs tend to be picky eaters. As long as your Rat Terrier is not becoming underweight, don’t worry that he doesn’t finish. Just stick to your feeding schedule and your dog will take what he needs. Worrying about his eating habits will not only not help him, your worry will only make your dog eat less.

I’m not very good at understanding your abbreviations, so I’m not sure what PPL is. Is that people? Is your dog jumping on people. If so, take a look at my article called “Stop Jumping up Cold.” You’ll find it in the very top, black bar on the home page of Asmalldog.com. The article is password protected. You can get to the article by entering the password: Jump Up.

I’ve written a very short book on how to get your dog to pay attention to you. If you sign up for my newsletter list on the home page of my website, you will get a free download of the ebook “Get Your Dog to Pay Attention to You.”

Here are some other things I can recommend:

1. Tell your boyfriend that it is extremely important to you that your dog learn basic manners. If your boyfriend is not willing to help, then tell him to at least not interfere or make matters worse by encouraging your dog’s bad behavior. He may think everything your dog does is cute, but it’s not cute if it causes problems for you. He needs to take the focus off the fact that your dog entertains him and begin to understand how his behavior negatively affects you and your relationship with your dog. If he cares about you, he’ll make that small sacrifice.

2. Since your Rat Terrier is a very high-energy dog, you can best help him by staying very calm, no matter what your dog does. If you get very excited, or even raise your voice or tone with your dog, your dog will amp up even more and miss what you are trying to tell him. Calm and confident are the most important ingredients to getting your dog to listen to you. Make calm and confident your top priority. If your dog is excited and running around, give him a chance to calm down before you try to tell him anything. Chasing after your dog and getting frantic will accomplish nothing other than scare your dog. (That’s why he hides behind your boyfriend.)

3. Be consistent. If you cannot keep an eye on your dog to make sure he doesn’t get up on the bed, then set it up so he cannot reach the bed. If there is a door to the bedroom, keep the door closed when you are not in there. Your dog needs to learn some limits on his behavior and a good place to start is to consistently teach him where he can and cannot go in your home. If there is no way to stop your dog from having the run of the house, you can go so far as to attach a leash to his collar and tie the other end to your waist so your dog has to stay at your side wherever you go in the house. This is a highly recommended procedure for undisciplined puppies, especially puppies that are not house trained.

4. Right now is the perfect time to start teaching your dog basic obedience behaviors. As your dog learns to sit, come, stay, and lie down on signal, many of the problems you are having will begin to disappear on their own. As your dog learns that he works for you, he will gain more respect for your wishes, and you’ll see the bad behavior melt away. Take a look at the book: “Let the Dog Decide” by Dale Stavroff. it is the best book, among thousands on dog training, that I have found.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I really appreciate it. Let me know how it’s going with your dog from time to time. I’m here to help.

Your Friend,
Jeff Kanarish
Asmalldog.com

P.S. I’m going to post my reply to your comment at my website so others can follow along.

Let’s try to figure out what you mean by Small Dog Syndrome. I need to know specifically what your dogs are doing. I’ll pick up the conversation with you by email.

Jeff