I am and always will be a big dog lover. If it is under 70lbs it is a little dog in my opinion.
Now, in recent years after dealing with numerous strays going after my chickens I can say I hate a lot of dogs.
When it comes to little dogs my very strong dislike towards them does stem from their owners and letting the rats get away with murder. Their tiny and no one trains them. Their behaviors that are deemed cute would have my 113lb CeeCee confiscated and put down and me in jail. I also do not like their high pitched bark or yapping. It is like nails on a chalk board to my ears. My next door neighbor had 8, yes 8 Chihuahuas and chi mixes inside. When they get going I can hear them in my house. They are never allowed outside because they are too little so never walked either. Instead they potty on puppy pads. I cannot walk in that house very often because of the smell. CeeCee is inside, and I have cats, but my litter boxes are cleaned constantly and CeeCee is house broke so while yes there is hair floating around no matter how much I clean you do not smell pee and poop.
There have been a handful of small dogs over the years that I will say I really loved. My Granny always had Chihuahuas. Feisty was special. She was not yappy, never bit any of us grandkids and Granny trained her. My dad got a Chihuahua Sparky after feisty passed. He was a little yappy but again well trained and not a ankle biter. When dad died I thought about taking Sparky but his next favorite person was my aunt and she wanted him so I let her have him. My grandmother had a little Sheltie x Peke mix. Rusty was a good watch dog and companion for her. He was good with kids but yes I do believe he would bite a stranger if given the chance. He passed a year before she had her stroke and I am thankful for it. Over the years we have had him up here for a few nights if her power went out. Rusty hated the chickens and would try to strangle himself on his leash if he saw them trying to get at them.
19 years ago now I tried and got a little dog. I met and fell in love with a little Shih-tzu pup. I knew better but had to have her. I took her everywhere and did my best to socialize her. She had a problem, she hated children. Even my then 8 year old sister who she was around from day 1 she growled and snapped at. It was not just Sara it was all children I exposed her to. She never bit but I did not like the snapping. I kept working with her until I became pregnant with my daughter. Priorities immediately changed and I found her a home with a elderly lady who had no small grandchildren. Match made in heaven for both of them. Some told me I should have waited until after Rosie was born as she may have loved my daughter. I told them no, if she had snapped and bit Rosie she would have had a one way trip to the vets to be put down. In my mind I did the right thing and give me the big guys from then on out.
I've known so many great small dogs and owned one for a short time (I was a teenager, my parents were getting divorced, neither wanted to keep him. I was devastated. Still angry about it to this day
). I've known very few small dogs with issues.
My boyfriend's parents (do not like them at all. Won't get into it) have 3 chihuahuas. When I lived with them I did what I could to train them. Bf's parents didn't cooperate to say the least. Refused to. The dogs have a lot of potential to be good, happy dogs but 2 of them are neurotic messes (one of them to the point where it would be merciful to have him euthanized if the parents aren't willing to change or rehome him— and they aren't). The third is truly a sweetheart, but with guarding issues. She's possessive of her person/people and certain areas like the couch and the bed. And they all howl and bark and cry the entire time bf's dad is out of the house. They pee and poop in the house, on the floor, the couch, the bed. They have potty pads but only use them half the time or less. They deserve so much better and I really tried my best to give them that while I was living there. Bf tries his best to care for them but there's only so much he can do
Fact is, it has nothing to do with the size of the dog and everything to do with 1) training 2) breeding 3) environment. Guess where the 2 with the worst neuroticism came from? The worst came from a backyard breeder with no knowledge of breeding or genetics. The other anxious dog came from an accidental pregnancy from an unspayed female dog being cared for by a woman while her son was in jail, and a stray male. The third dog is a rescue who had a good home and was loved before but couldn't be cared for by the previous owner anymore
My own small dog that I had as a young teen was given to me as a birthday present because I'd been wanting one and talking about it nonstop. He was free from my (at the time) stepdad's friend who had a bunch of dogs. Little Dog (his name) was a chihuahua mix. Here he is cuddling with our pitbull mix Stitch
He was Stitchy's mini-me. And a little rascal. Little Dog came with some of his own issues but he was a very good boy otherwise. For the first few months he pooped inside. Never peed inside, but would poop mostly in the basement. I quickly broke him of that habit just by keeping an eye on him and letting him outside when he started sniffing around in that certain "is this a good potty spot?" way dogs do. And lots of praise and treats when he went potty outside!
He started getting into things. And onto things. A couple times he jumped up onto the dogfood bin in the kitchen, and then up onto the counter, to grab a box of poptarts and bring it back into the living room to rip open and share with Stitch. So I started focusing in on Little Dog's command training specifically, and he learned no, and down, and leave it, etc. Again, with lots of praise and treats!
The key to training dogs of any size or breed is positive reenforcement! And keeping up your end of the work, too. Adjusting your human ways of thinking, to thinking like a dog. It's a joint effort!
As for Stitch, we got him from a rescue the year I turned 11 and I trained him myself from a young age. Of course I made mistakes because I was a kid, and he was still a puppy (about 10 months old when we brought him home). But he was so smart and so eager to learn and please! I taught him so many commands and tricks over the years, he was so friendly and respectful to dogs and people. He chased our indoor cats that we'd had previous to him for a time but quickly settled down and would sleep on his bed and the couch with one of them in particular. She was a funny cat and liked to chew on his nylabone
Anyways, yeah, Little Dog taught Stitch some bad habits so I had to work with both of them simultaneously. They were both star students
Any dog has the potential for behavioral issues. Unfortunately it's big dogs that are more likely to be punished for it because of their sheer size, along with certain breeds like pits and other bullies, rotties, etc.
Tangent over
You made the right decision for both your family and the dog, no doubts there
they are just as good as any other size dog, its not their fault that some small dog owners treat them like toys and dont train them properly
