My dog won't stop barking at certain dogs!!

[ohLizzz]

I have a Shih/Chi and he is about 20 pounds. He gets along with dogs his size and dogs that are his kind. Weird but its true. some dogs that are bigger than him, he will constantly circle them and bark at them! His bark sounds vicious and scary but he is actually harmless! Is there any way I can fix this? I don't want him scaring off the owners and sometimes they get upset because they thing he will hurt their dog even though he won't.

[KrazyKatLady]

Training. Get him in a good training class that has a mix of breeds and sizes. Many dogs are "breed-ist" and many are "size-ist" ... especially the smaller breeds. Though, my lab mixes don't like dogs bigger than them ... and my female only likes puppies, not adult dogs. :) They're just like people, really! :)

[Macawpower58]

What do you do when he does this? Is he off lead?

First off, it seems he does not listen, you are telling him to stop, right?

Second, if he's not listening, you need to up your training. A dog that respects his owner begins to listen when he's taught something. This is a handler (you) error, not a dog error.

Get training! :)

If you need help training, we'll be glad to advise you.

[SarahK]

One of my dogs (they're in Ireland now with my mum, and I live in Australia, but I still think of them as mine!) seems to hate little white dogs, westie types! He normally has a really good recall, and is obedient and well behaved, if a little hyper - but when he sees a westie, he just goes nuts. After one incident when he actually got hold of one (not serious, just trying to bully him, but the little dog had a complete melt down) I made sure to leash him as soon as I saw any little white dogs, just for safety.