The way I see it, is that video is a snapshot, how badly is that dog being treated off camera. Also even if my dog had bit me I would never pinch his muzzle shut like that. Sorry it's not going to teach the dog anything except his owner is cruel.
Lots of small dogs can be snappy, yorkie's, miniature poodles, Jrt's to name a few, that doesn't mean they all are and yeah generally it is down to poor ownership, not like the video but getting it wrong and making a fuss when they should be calm and allowing the dog to get away with stuff because it's small and they think it's funny. Also some breeds are more highly strung than others.

The way I see that video is that the owner recognised the reaction early and instead of letting up on his tormenting, he has actually trained the behaviours shown into the dog.

Some folk do find it funny to see bad reactions from small dogs - Heaven knows why.

Met some lovely Chi's, met some reactive ones. Met some lovely Labs, met some reactive ones. Met some .............. well, you get the idea

One question for you Myra, if you were playing around with your dog and found that, say, tapping him on the nose caused him discomfort, would you carry on doing it so that you could film it to put on the net? I know I wouldn't.

Who owns dogs just to spend money on them? Dogs are supposed to be friends. In exchange for me being nice to him by feeding him, speaking kindly to him, making sure he's healthy etc, he's supposed to let me pet him, sit next to him and etc. If he tries to bite me JUST for petting him, there is an issue. Would I record him snarling at me and snapping at me? No, but that is because I would not keep a dog that bit at me so there would be nothing to record.

Well sorry you haven't met any nice ones. They are not all like this. It is due to the owners (like clearly in the video) and poor breeding. They are largely popular but often badly bred. There are a few other small breeds maybe more poplar or the same but I can't claim like you to have met mostly nice ones. I've met bitey Shih Tzus and seen videos like this one online and one on the planets funniest animals like the shih tzu trying to bite & growling is funny! I was attacked by a Yorkie and one of my dogs was attacked by another (of which the owners let run at large basically all the time). Met a lot of ill tempered Doxies they will bite you if you try to pet them and one in the neighborhood where I lived would chase people walking down the side walk drew blood on my friends kid too when biting her in the leg.
I see irresponsible ownership and poor breeding as a lot of the problem with dogs and aggression in all breeds. I get this same type of thing with Pit Bulls all the time. People have had a lot of negative experience and exposure so they blame simply the breed of dog without taking into account ownership or breeding behind the dog.

I don't think all the owners are mean. Some might not be bad in negative treatment but they also don't manage the dog properly. Other times it is bad genetics, which is hard to combat. All these things can happen with other dog breeds.
Well my mom's toy poodle was properly raised and never treated mean either but the dog was very neurotic and would also growl at kids and try to bite family. He had to be rehomed. Her Chihuahua the complete opposite of that and every thing you describe of a Chi.




This is how she is ALL the time. She is extremely sweet and laid back. Wants to cuddle with anyone and isn't ever temperamental. My Uncle's Chi is the same way. My great Uncle had one long time back his little grand daughter used to hold and drag that dog around all the time. I never saw any aggression from her. The older one would growl but I'm not sure if she was always like that or if it was only because she was so old, I think around 15 and partially blind. She just wanted to be left alone so people normally left her alone.

Personally I feel that owner is tormenting and I don't see why dogs have to let you pet them because you feed them etc., some dogs like people do not like their personal space invaded some by other dogs some by humans other than their owners and some by all 3.
I feel you need to listen to your dog I do not always want my personal space invaded but I have a tongue in my head and can say dogs can't so snarling and growling are their only weapon which if ignored becomes a snap or worse a bite. Always listen to a dogs warning signs.

We have lots of little dogs here mostly terriers and most want to take Dillon on so we give them space. How they are with humans I have no idea and have no intention of finding out. As said by chris though even bigger dogs can be put out sometimes by other dogs and people.
No dogs deserves to be tormented by having its muzzle shut or pestered.

If the guy in the video can't recognise the warning signs the dog is giving out then he should not own a dog. The dog in the video initially have its mouth open when first touched around the nose yet he continued doing it. Just another bad owner who torments a dog.

is he !!

So a dog must be grateful to the human who feeds , homes and looks after it, mmmm right !!

Must remember to tell my boy this, I knew I was going wrong somewhere

I think you have just been unlucky with the chi`s you have met,,, there are plenty of happy little chappies of this breed, sadly many owners of toys dogs don`t treat them like dogs and think its funny and cute to carry them around let then snap at people, then get rid when they have turned their dog into something they no longer can deal with.

I do believe my dog should be grateful by not biting at me for touching him. Too much to ask? Lol if you say so! It'll never be too much in my case, my dog ever does what the dog in the video does, he will find himself in the local pound. Point blank. I don't torment or harass dogs, but still. Nice post Bulldogs, but I suspect all the Chihuahuas I've met would never allow a child to hold them, and I'm sure captain snarl a lot in the video wouldn't either. I think you may have a point though. Bad genetics may play a part in the horrible temperaments I've seen in Chihuahuas here. Because I've known some of these people and they're nice to dogs and their mean Chihuahua was just a mean Chihuahua. Pit bulls I avoid but give a pass, around here mostly thugs own them and chain them outside 24/7 etc. The Chihuahua owners mostly seem like nice people. Oh, well.

ADDED: Jade hates having her paws touched, so I do not touch them unless absolutely necessary... HOWEVER, there is no snarling or growling regardless. She may try to pull her feet away, but she WILL NOT snap at me or snarl. One thing I've also noticed about extremely mean Chihuahuas (ALL Chihuahuas in my case) is that they won't ever run, they just attack. This also makes me think they're just mean sometimes, not "abused". BTW, that man is breaking no laws by annoying the dog, its simply not necessary or useful to continue to irritate him. Many people find harmless Chihuahuas biting and snapping at things to be funny, I don't.

I don't think any of us do either Myra we are pointing out however that the man is ignoring any signals from the dog that he is not happy and continuing to put the dog into a stressful situation which can then become a dangerous one.
If your dog is in pain and you do not realise and touched him and he growled would you put him in the pound ? It is the only way for a dog to communicate to us that something may not be right ie: pain feeling ill etc., it doesn't always mean they are turning mean.
But deliberately carrying on with actions like that man is inexcusable.