Growing up we had a medium size poodle terrier mix that was super friendly. I was fairly crushed when I heard he escaped the fence and didn’t return.
Since then I haven’t had a dog. Early on it was because I lived in apartments and didn’t think it fair to have a dog without a yard. Then I had a yard but didn’t want to set myself up for loving a dog and going through it’s death. When I got married, we were moving every 3 or 4 years with the military and didn’t want to put a dog through that.
Now that we have our forever home and it has acres for a dog to have fun in, we have been discussing getting a dog or two. One for me that’s hypoallergenic and smaller so I could handle it and a medium to large dog for him to play with and for security. With my husband gone a bit for work now, I have been considering it more heavily. Then this dog sitting situation happened and here I am taking care of two larger dogs that scare the crap out of me. Mostly because if I had to restrain them I’m not sure I could. One is a big, strong, aggressive male with over-inflated protective instincts.
Today, my fears became reality. I took them for a walk and a guy walking by got too close, the dog went for him and I lost hold of the leash. Thankfully, he didn’t go far and from what I could tell was aggressively barking at the man but didn’t bite. I have a clicker that emits a high pitch that works pretty well to back the dog down but it took longer than I liked to work this time. Scared the crap out of me.
I got hold of him and the man just started walking again and didn’t look back so seems he’s ok, it could have been a lot worse. We turned around and went home, I was shaken up – literally shaking. It was completely my fault for not having a better grip on the leash. Lesson learned. I had gotten overly confident and paid for it.
The dog felt bad and was saying he was sorry in his way. He’s a real softy when he’s not being defensive and mean.
Called my husband to cry it out. I am way out of my comfort zone here.
Definitely solidified my feeling that if I get a dog it will be small and cute.
Life Notes 
I used to think I wanted a medium to large size dog. Then I got a small dog and I like them better.
– You don’t have to worry about them mauling anyone
– If they don’t listen you just pick them up
– They cost less to feed
– You will have less or no trouble during vet visits
– Their poop is smaller
– You can carry them into shops and generally the establishment won’t mind
– They live longer
Exactly my reasons for wanting a smaller dog. I am not a fan of the yipping barks but the trade off for having control and the ease of care is worth it. I’m looking at maltipoo likely.