Many little dogs are actually among the smartest of breeds, and you have to give some credit even to those who don't (on the surface) seem to have the highest IQs. After all, we all have to work for a living, but toy dogs? All the best food, cutest clothes, traveling in designer bags into all the nicest stores -- we should be so smart as to arrange our lives like theirs.

But there's no doubt that many small dogs have big attitudes, and some of them have decidedly bad attitudes. The blame, says a top expert in those dogs some people call "ankle-biters," is with the people who own them, not with the diminutive canines themselves.

"People let these little dogs get away with everything because they're so cute and so small," says Darlene Arden, author of "Small Dogs, Big Hearts: A Guide to Caring for Your Little Dog" (Howell Book House, $20) and an expert on these most tiny of dogs.

Arden says some small dogs are reacting out of fear, while others really are trying to pick a fight with bigger dogs. "They're saying, 'I'm a dog, too. Want to make something of it?' " says Arden. "These little dogs really believe they're bigger."

Because so many small dogs are carried, many of them come to believe they are elevated in status as well as height. Arden says it's up to the owners to make sure small dogs are socialized, well-trained and protected.

"Some people think it's really funny when a small dog acts aggressive," says Arden, "but it won't be funny when that behavior gets a dog killed."

In other words, little dogs need manners just as big dogs do, and don't let your little dog mix it up with his big brothers. The little dog may start the fight, but the big dog will always end it.