3 Ways to Handle a Little Dog with a Big Attitude

August 27, 2022

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Co-authored by:

Certified Dog Trainer

This article was co-authored by Sheri Williams and by wikiHow staff writer, Jessica Gibson. Sheri Williams is a Certified Dog Trainer and Behaviorist and the Owner of sheriwilliams.com, a business that specializes in teaching veterans how to turn their dogs into service dogs or emotional support animals to assist with PTSD. Based in the Los Angeles, California metro area, Sheri has over 20 years of dog training experience and also runs a general dog training practice specializing in rehabilitating dogs through positive reinforcement training techniques. She is certified by The Animal Behavior and Training Association. This article has been viewed 13,913 times.

Co-authors: 6

Updated: July 28, 2022

Article SummaryX

You can handle your little dog with a big attitude by socializing it with other dogs and people, which will help prevent aggressive behavior. If your dog barks at other dogs or nips you, make sure to discourage these behaviors by firmly saying, “No!” so it knows what it did was wrong. It’s also important to use positive reinforcement to train your dog so it learns that it gets a reward when it behaves. To do this, start by teaching it simple commands like “sit” and “stay” and rewarding its obedience with a treat for encouragement. To learn how to recognize signs of small dog syndrome, read more from our Veterinary co-author.