Category: small dogs

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This Guy Made Fun of Tiny Dogs Until a Chihuahua Saved His Life. Now, He Rescues Them.

There is a certain set of people who think small dogs are dumb. Or, maybe, not very manly. My fella was once verbally harassed in a McDonald’s drive thru for having my papillon on his lap, so this is definitely real.

Luckily, my husband is confident and my dog was awesome, so whatever.

Bobby Humphreys, though, used to be one of those guys who had no time for small, girly dogs. He’s a competitive bodybuilder and hardwood floor layer, and he always had big, rough-and-tumble dogs that matched his lifestyle: Rottweilers.

He thought they were regal and imposing, and he and his wife had owned three of them during their 17-year marriage.

But then his life took an unexpected turn in 2016.

It began when his wife left him (on New Year’s Eve), and continued when he injured his shoulder a week later.

He needed surgery, but he had no one to lean on. Without his wife, he fell into a deep depression that he struggled to climb out of as he healed. Try as he might, the depression remained.

One day, his friend messaged to ask if her chihuahua, Lady, could stay with him for a little while.

Bobby didn’t really want the little dog around – he’d used to make fun of his friends who carried similar pups around for their girlfriends in the past – but he couldn’t say no to a friend who had been there for him in his tough times.

Once Lady was in the house, well…everything happened rather quickly.

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Here’s a special post that absolutely warms my heart and I feel this little story needs to be told. A fan and follower of the page who just happens to be of the younger generation decided to do something completely selfless and have a fundraiser on his birthday for me. Not a fundraiser on Facebook but an actual fundraiser at his own birthday party. Between friends and family Grayson, sent in a check for $150 that he was able to raise from his party. If you look at the photos, you will see a beautiful story of his own and understand the connection. I am just completely blown away by this. Of course, I am always grateful to everybody who donates whether it be simply because it’s nice to get the magnet in return, whether it’s something that is completely from the heart and not needing anything in return, whether it’s a generous donation to the vet, something we desperately need it on the Amazon wish list, or anything. The giving of oneself it’s so beautiful and very well respected by me. It’s a trait far too seldom seen these days. This however, is on an entirely different level. Do you have somebody his age have the comprehension and awareness to do something like this and then of course have the selflessness to do it on his birthday is just light years ahead this however, is on an entirely different level. Do you have somebody his age have the comprehension and awareness to do something like this and then of course have the selflessness to do it on his birthday is just light years ahead at his age in my book. So I want to say from the bottom of my heart and I’m behalf of all of us here. All of the Littles all of the misfits. Thank you so much, Grayson! ❤❤❤❤ #myislandofmisfits #sanctuarysquad #bigguylittlesworld #bigguylittlesworldsanctuary #couldwechangetheworld

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“Lady did not just transform my opinion, she transformed my life,” he told Bored Panda. “What didn’t she do? She gave me my self-respect and dignity back. After everything I’ve been through; humiliation shaming, abandonment, and everything else, she gave me the reassurance that I wasn’t such a bad person after all.”

She kept him going, she gave him purpose, and on the days when he didn’t want to get out of bed and go to work, her little stare made him do it, anyway.

When it was time for Lady to go back home, Bobby adopted Kira, a similar-looking chihuahua with food aggression issues. Then came Harley and Quinn, two inbred dogs that were unlikely to get adopted by anyone else.

He realized at some point that he was trying to show the dogs a kindness that society and his life had refused to show him – acceptance, no matter what.

They kept coming – bait dogs, abandoned dogs, abused dogs, hoarded dogs – and he kept them all.

“I made a promise to each and every one of them that they would never have to experience abuse, neglect, abandonment or the pain of loving someone that would not give you love in return no matter how much you tried.”

His small, unintentional mission turned into a chihuahua sanctuary called Big Guy Littles World.

Bobby takes the dogs no one wants, shows them love and kindness, and lets them live with him as long as they want.

“I call this place the island of misfit toys… Staring with myself, we are all the rejects. The ones nobody wants. The ones that don’t look perfect. The ones hat don’t fit,” he said to Bored Panda.

The dogs stay with him until – or if – they find someone they like better.

I don’t know about you, but I seem to have something in my eye. I need to go and take care of it.

And possibly find another little papillon that needs a home.

The post This Guy Made Fun of Tiny Dogs Until a Chihuahua Saved His Life. Now, He Rescues Them. appeared first on UberFacts.

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New Study Finds that Bigger Dogs Make Better Pets

Small dog owners beware: you may not lie to hear this.

Recently, a study published in Applied Animal Behavior Science sought to answer whether big or small dogs make better pets. The researchers examined a variety of criteria, including obedience, aggression, excitability, and anxiety.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Going into the study, they believed they would find that smaller dogs displayed less obedience and more of the negative behaviors like aggression and anxiety, and their findings supported their suspicions: bigger dogs do in fact make better, more laid-back pets.

However, that could be our own fault. Owners of small dogs reported treating them differently than their larger counterparts. They didn’t engage in as many training and play activities and also reported fewer uses of punishment and reward tools when training smaller dogs.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Owners who used positive reinforcement and reward-based training with smaller dogs saw an increase in obedience and a decrease in anxious and fear behaviors.

The paper concluded that owners of smaller dogs would do well to spend more time training and playing with their dogs and correcting unwanted behaviors with rewards, since punishments can reinforce fear and fear-related aggression.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

So while it is true that small dogs tend to be more anxious and prone to aggressive fear responses than their larger counterparts, it’s at least partly because people are more likely to treat them like babies and not animals. If you have a small dog, it’s important to remember that it needs to be played with and trained like any other canine, and that the responsibility is yours to reinforce behaviors positively to soothe their natural anxieties.

The post New Study Finds that Bigger Dogs Make Better Pets appeared first on UberFacts.