The tinier the dog, the bigger the man.
In her upcoming book “Yap! A Short History of Small Dogs,” animal historian and pug owner Stephanie Howard-Smith says that for the modern man, touting around a “small, ‘tiny’ dog in public can demonstrate [his] absolute confidence in his masculinity.”
“[They] have no need to overcompensate by owning a typically macho dog,” Howard-Smith writes in the book, which covers the last 2,500 years of the relationship between man and his pint-sized best friend and explores the history of famous small pups of the past. It is set to be released by Granta Books and Ballantine Books in October of this year.
Though there are limited public stats on the tiny dog trend for men — though a 2022 study conducted by researchers at the University of Jaen in Spain on involving 300 female college students found that the women felt more at ease around men with smaller pooches — celebs seem to be leading the Chihuahua-favoring charge in real time.
Chris Evans (a.k.a., Captain America) isn’t too tough to have a tiny dog, regularly speaks about his small boxer mix Dodger, a rescue he adopted in 2017, even recently filming a commercial for pet Wellness brand Jinx with his pup for National Dog Day.
Movie star Orlando Bloom has toted around his teacup poodle Biggie Smalls, named after The Notrious B.I.G., since 2024, labeling him his emotional support animal.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is another man with a penchant for compact dogs and has a French bulldog named Rosie Blue Honeybuns Johnson, joining his small rescue mix Turbo.
Even King Charles is in on the small dog fun, with a known affection for yapping Jack Russell Terriers.
Howard-Smith has said that tiny dogs like Chihuahuas and dachshunds can point to a willingness to move from outdated stereotypes for men, who were previously expected to own bigger breeds, like Rotweilers and Great Danes.
In her August Instagram post announcing the release, Howard-Smith called her book a “love letter to the little dogs who have shaped our lives as much as we have shaped theirs” and points to the “blueprint they’ve provided for the modern canine,” praising the pups for “[offering] us companionship when we’ve most needed it.”
The enthusiastic response to the release shows that the pet historian, who received her PhD from Queen Mary University of London in the cultural history of the 18th century lapdog, is not the only one with a clear love for the little companions.
“We are getting this for our mom because she loves yapping, small dogs,” wrote one fan.
“Tiny dogs are the bestest and I will always and forever be a tiny dog person,” wrote another tiny pooch lover.
