An underdog who is still a top dog

Just check out the little pomeranian in one of today’s photos. Most poms I’ve met have bonded to one or two members of their family and don’t think much about anyone else, but this little kid is so friendly that he allows even strangers to pet him. You do, of course, have to tell him how beautiful he is, which is certainly the truth.

Yet this attractive, friendly little kid has ended up at the Chulalongkorn Small Animal Hospital with a huge bandage around his neck and chest.

The owner isn’t clear about what happened, just that this morning, the kid and another dog started fighting.

Poms are known for their smallness. They’ve been bred for it. The largest pom is not more around 28 cms and 3.5 kilos. They just seem larger because of the proud way they carry themselves and that lovely plumed tail that curves backwards.

The other dog in this dogfight happened to be a bangkaew, one of Thailand’s most aggressive breeds. Believe it or not, the bangkaew and the pom are related genetically, both having descended from the spitz breed.

Both the pom and the bangkaew are known for their intelligence, as well as the difficulty of training them. Call them democratically inclined. They expect their owners to understand and accept them for what they are.

Since poms are so small, owners think that it’s easy to dominate them. Without suitable training, though, these little dogs are the most aggressive of the “ankle biters”, and their little teeth are sharp enough to give your ankles some serious bite wounds.

The bangkaew, although considered medium-sized, is an athletic, well-built dog, and without suitable training, it can severely injure a person, and not only the ankles.

Whether you acquire a pom or a bangkaew, do educate yourself on the breed. Read books on the breed, talk to professional dog trainers, learn as much about the breed you’ve chosen – and then set aside enough time to socialise your dog so that he becomes a member of your family.

Hiring a professional trainer is great, by the way, as long as you yourself continue to work with your dog, practising the commands the trainers has taught him.

It’s not fair, is it, to expect the dog to remember everything without reminding him constantly of what he’s learned.

I don’t know what happened during this particular dogfight, but I do know that a pom doesn’t back away from a fight easily, even if his opponent is a great deal bigger.

Perhaps the bangkaew ended up with some chewed-up ankles.