most dangerous dog breeds, least dangerous dog breeds, and why

[ApostateAbe]

It is mainly about dog breeds, and the taboo against racism is a related tangent. If it wasn't for the very common taboo against racism, then the perspective of the pit bull defenders would seem hair-brained to nearly everyone. I think it is rather easy to connect the dots. The pit-bull defenders seem to be caricatures of the anti-racists, as dogs are analogous to people, with about as much emotional investment, so defenders of pit bulls have applied the blank slate theory to dogs. But, let's make this about dogs, not people. What important variable do you think makes a Chow a thousand times more dangerous than a Greyhound? I think it is because Chows have the longest breeding history oriented toward herding and guarding, whereas Greyhounds were bred merely for game coursing and racing.

What makes you think that herding and guarding required biting? You obviously don't know anything about dogs.

If you don't agree with that, then what? Are owners of Chows the biggest dicks in the world but owners of Greyhounds the most gentle caring people in existence?

I think there are number of factors (assuming, of course, that your data is accurate). First, Chows are more likely to be around more people than Greyhounds. Lots of greyhounds are relatively isolated because they are racing dogs. And it may be that owners of Chows are less likely to understand their dogs and do not do a good job of training and handling their dogs compared to greyhound owners. It is true that Chows are generally more aggressive and territorial than greyhounds, but a good owner knows how to deal with his or her dog.

Yeah, I think dogs bred to guard are bred to bite. If you think that means I obviously don't know anything about dogs, then that is where we part ways.

 

[gmbteach]

If it's your dog. The problem comes when others encounter the dog--how I treat animals has nothing to do with how a dog I encounter has been treated.

Every dog bite I've gotten (nothing serious) has been due to my not accepting the dog doing something to me that I didn't want the dog to do. I did not treat the dogs badly, I simply stopped the improper behavior.

How many dog bites have you gotten?

I have been around dogs all my life, both familiar and unfamiliar and have bitten just once.

Then again, I like dogs.

I have been around dogs most of my life too. I was bitten once when I was at a party and was running. The dog bit me to stop me. It was a little dog.

As you know, we have three dogs. A German Shepherd named Bella, and two Tibetan Spaniels named Gizmo and Stripe. They are not vicious dogs in general. However, I wouldn't try to come on to the property without them alerting us. And also, I wouldn't come on to the property and try to get past Bella. However, if she knows you, and you have been here before - she will be all over you with kisses etc.

Gizmo would also rip your ankle off if he didn't know you, but Stripe would bark the place down and run and hide.

It is in how to treat them, and how they are raised. A small amount is in their breeding and it's up to each owner to foster the traits they want to see in the dog.

 

[gmbteach]

The dogs I've had as an adult have all been of a herding variety, and large: 70-100 lbs. Very sweet dogs, but big and prone to knocking small children over when they are in the big puppy phase. .

Bella, our Shepherd, doesn't realise she is a big dog and is knocking things over all the time. Poor thing. She thinks she is a little dog like her step-brothers.

 

[Ford]

The dogs I've had as an adult have all been of a herding variety, and large: 70-100 lbs. Very sweet dogs, but big and prone to knocking small children over when they are in the big puppy phase. .

Bella, our Shepherd, doesn't realise she is a big dog and is knocking things over all the time. Poor thing. She thinks she is a little dog like her step-brothers.

I once knew a guy who had a couple German Shepherds trained to protect his property. They were very sweet dogs, but god help you if you showed up at the back door of his business uninvited. This one poor fellow had been recently hired, let himself into the shop with a spare key, and was working when one of the dogs showed up to see what he was doing. She nudged him a couple times, and he made the mistake of trying to swat her away. She wasn't having any of that, clamped onto his side (not breaking the skin) and "escorted" him out to the front of the building where the boss was waiting.

 

[gmbteach]

Bella, our Shepherd, doesn't realise she is a big dog and is knocking things over all the time. Poor thing. She thinks she is a little dog like her step-brothers.

I once knew a guy who had a couple German Shepherds trained to protect his property. They were very sweet dogs, but god help you if you showed up at the back door of his business uninvited. This one poor fellow had been recently hired, let himself into the shop with a spare key, and was working when one of the dogs showed up to see what he was doing. She nudged him a couple times, and he made the mistake of trying to swat her away. She wasn't having any of that, clamped onto his side (not breaking the skin) and "escorted" him out to the front of the building where the boss was waiting.

That is what Bella would be like. A well trained dog that one....

My Black Labrador Kelpie cross, Nero, was like that. He was the dog I had growing up.

 

[Metaphor]

Bella, our Shepherd, doesn't realise she is a big dog and is knocking things over all the time. Poor thing. She thinks she is a little dog like her step-brothers.

I once knew a guy who had a couple German Shepherds trained to protect his property. They were very sweet dogs, but god help you if you showed up at the back door of his business uninvited. This one poor fellow had been recently hired, let himself into the shop with a spare key, and was working when one of the dogs showed up to see what he was doing. She nudged him a couple times, and he made the mistake of trying to swat her away. She wasn't having any of that, clamped onto his side (not breaking the skin) and "escorted" him out to the front of the building where the boss was waiting.

And you approve of this? This little story rather reinforces my beliefs about dog owners. A man, who had every right to be on the property, underwent a frightening ordeal because the owner failed in his duty of care.

Oy vey.

 

[Metaphor]

If you treat a dog badly, he will most likely bite you.

If you treat a dog well, he will most likely love you.

Pretty much all you need to know.

Pretty much all you need to know to blame the victim.

I don't treat dogs badly. I simply have no interest in them.

They seem to have an interest in me, though. Barking to make sure I know they're there, bounding up to me while I'm minding my own business, stepping in their shit because some dog owners think they're above the law.

I recently saw a facebook picture of a very, very large dog "guarding" a bassinet, with the baby inside. This picture made the dog owners go crazy with 'likes', which I assume means they were not filled with horror at such a sight.

 

[gmbteach]

I once knew a guy who had a couple German Shepherds trained to protect his property. They were very sweet dogs, but god help you if you showed up at the back door of his business uninvited. This one poor fellow had been recently hired, let himself into the shop with a spare key, and was working when one of the dogs showed up to see what he was doing. She nudged him a couple times, and he made the mistake of trying to swat her away. She wasn't having any of that, clamped onto his side (not breaking the skin) and "escorted" him out to the front of the building where the boss was waiting.

And you approve of this? This little story rather reinforces my beliefs about dog owners. A man, who had every right to be on the property, underwent a frightening ordeal because the owner failed in his duty of care.

Oy vey.

Metaphor,
I am hoping that you will glean from these posts that not all dogs are as you think they are. Note the bolded bit. She did her job - GENTLY! That is a well trained dog.

Gaynor.

 

[Canard DuJour]

I agree with you that it's silly to say there is no genetic behavioral variation; but I don't see the political issue.

Because it means black people should be paid not to breed and only Marxists disagree.

 

[bigfield]

If you treat a dog badly, he will most likely bite you.

If you treat a dog well, he will most likely love you.

Pretty much all you need to know.

Out of ignorance, many dogs owners raise dangerous dogs despite the best intentions to treat their dogs well.

And dogs don't just bite their owners; they also fuck with people who have absolutely nothing to do with the condition of the dog.

So obviously there's a lot more to it than you think.

And you approve of this? This little story rather reinforces my beliefs about dog owners. A man, who had every right to be on the property, underwent a frightening ordeal because the owner failed in his duty of care.

Oy vey.

Metaphor,
I am hoping that you will glean from these posts that not all dogs are as you think they are. Note the bolded bit. She did her job - GENTLY! That is a well trained dog.

Gaynor.

The fucked up part about is not that the dog made a bad choice--the dog is not a moral agent--but that that it's owner has trained it to fetch humans with its teeth.

In my personal experience, many dog owners have a very bizarre idea of what behaviours are acceptable--or even desirable--in their pets.

 

[laughing dog]

What makes you think that herding and guarding required biting? You obviously don't know anything about dogs.

If you don't agree with that, then what? Are owners of Chows the biggest dicks in the world but owners of Greyhounds the most gentle caring people in existence?

I think there are number of factors (assuming, of course, that your data is accurate). First, Chows are more likely to be around more people than Greyhounds. Lots of greyhounds are relatively isolated because they are racing dogs. And it may be that owners of Chows are less likely to understand their dogs and do not do a good job of training and handling their dogs compared to greyhound owners. It is true that Chows are generally more aggressive and territorial than greyhounds, but a good owner knows how to deal with his or her dog.

Yeah, I think dogs bred to guard are bred to bite. If you think that means I obviously don't know anything about dogs, then that is where we part ways.

Yeah, you can continue down the road of ignorance and half-truths. It is also pretty clear that you seem to be oblivious to the obvious factors of the skill and knowledge of the owner along with the dog's training plays in this issue.

 

[Playball40]

A few problems here:

1) Note that the dangerous dogs are large, the safe dogs are small. However, also note that this is a listing of dangerous bites. How much of this difference comes down to the size of the dog? I've been bit a few times by little yappers--a complete non-issue as they basically ended up with a mouthful of denim and did basically nothing to me. A reasonably large dog that had not bee properly trained disapproved of my disapproval of his jumping on me and administered a correction. He was only trying to nip, not to inflict serious injury but I got a fair bruise out of it through the same denim that basically stopped the yappers.

2) I think there is an owner factor with pit bulls. People who want an aggressive dog will go for the breeds with a reputation for being aggressive.

You are correct. It would be a different schedule if it was listed by breeds that most often bite. Little dogs can be just as aggressive, just without the danger so to speak. That said chows suck! But, they are not a particularly popular breed. Pit bulls are very popular - hence you hear about so many attacks.

- - - Updated - - -

If you treat a dog badly, he will most likely bite you.

If you treat a dog well, he will most likely love you.

Pretty much all you need to know.

Not always. Animals are territorial and will protect their food source. Nice loving dog that you feed a steak may take off a finger if it thinks you're going to take it away.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

OMG, it is easy to tell who likes dogs and who doesn't.

I was taught to approach dogs, especially those I didn't know, the same way I was taught to approach people, reservedly and with respect. Just like you need to let a person get to know you and you need to get to know a person before you behave in a familiar manner with one another, so you do with a dog.

Now a dog can have a bad day or a violent general temperament, and a dog can just not like you. But you increase you odds of running into such a dog if you treat every dog like they are a dog that doesn't like you.

Just like with people.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Most dangerous:
Zuul

Least Dangerous:
Droopy

 

[Loren Pechtel]

If it's your dog. The problem comes when others encounter the dog--how I treat animals has nothing to do with how a dog I encounter has been treated.

Every dog bite I've gotten (nothing serious) has been due to my not accepting the dog doing something to me that I didn't want the dog to do. I did not treat the dogs badly, I simply stopped the improper behavior.

How many dog bites have you gotten?

I have been around dogs all my life, both familiar and unfamiliar and have bitten just once.

Then again, I like dogs.

Three. All were from dogs where I was a guest at the house, the dog was doing something to me that I didn't want the dog to do and when stopped the dog retaliated by biting.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

OMG, it is easy to tell who likes dogs and who doesn't.

I was taught to approach dogs, especially those I didn't know, the same way I was taught to approach people, reservedly and with respect. Just like you need to let a person get to know you and you need to get to know a person before you behave in a familiar manner with one another, so you do with a dog.

Now a dog can have a bad day or a violent general temperament, and a dog can just not like you. But you increase you odds of running into such a dog if you treat every dog like they are a dog that doesn't like you.

Just like with people.

You are assuming we were bitten by playing with strange dogs we should have stayed away from.

Every case where I have been bitten involved friendly but poorly trained dogs who didn't approve of my stopping them from doing things to me that I didn't want them to do.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

OMG, it is easy to tell who likes dogs and who doesn't.

I was taught to approach dogs, especially those I didn't know, the same way I was taught to approach people, reservedly and with respect. Just like you need to let a person get to know you and you need to get to know a person before you behave in a familiar manner with one another, so you do with a dog.

Now a dog can have a bad day or a violent general temperament, and a dog can just not like you. But you increase you odds of running into such a dog if you treat every dog like they are a dog that doesn't like you.

Just like with people.

You are assuming we were bitten by playing with strange dogs we should have stayed away from.

No, actually I'm not.

Every case where I have been bitten involved friendly but poorly trained dogs who didn't approve of my stopping them from doing things to me that I didn't want them to do.

That would make you unlucky, not the dogs bad dogs.

 

[beero1000]

You are assuming we were bitten by playing with strange dogs we should have stayed away from.

No, actually I'm not.

Every case where I have been bitten involved friendly but poorly trained dogs who didn't approve of my stopping them from doing things to me that I didn't want them to do.

That would make you unlucky, not the dogs bad dogs.

Am I the only one who's curious as to what the dogs were doing to him and what he did to stop them?

Personally, I have never come across a dog whose response to a simple correction was biting. A dog that goes immediately to a bite would appear to be worse than simply poorly trained.

 

[bigfield]

OMG, it is easy to tell who likes dogs and who doesn't.

I was taught to approach dogs, especially those I didn't know, the same way I was taught to approach people, reservedly and with respect. Just like you need to let a person get to know you and you need to get to know a person before you behave in a familiar manner with one another, so you do with a dog.

Now a dog can have a bad day or a violent general temperament, and a dog can just not like you. But you increase you odds of running into such a dog if you treat every dog like they are a dog that doesn't like you.

That's a load of bullshit.

It's obvious that there are dogs that have been raised and trained to behave well, and there are dogs that have been neglected, or have been encouraged to behave badly.

I like dogs and I own a dog, and have done so most of my life, but I have had enough bad experiences with badly-behaved dogs and their irresponsible owners to know that dogs do not need to be provoked to do harm. Some dogs are taught to play fight with their adult owners, and then the dog chews on some kid because it can't tell the difference. Some dogs are taught to greet all people by jumping up on them, and then the dog knocks an unprepared visitor flat on her ass.

And it's all because some owners are just assholes, who put the onus on visitors and strangers to approach the dog correctly.

I never blame the dog; the dog is not a moral agent.

 

[PyramidHead]

Not sure how this talk of dog breeds, which have been subjected to direct and intentional selection pressure for centuries, are comparable to outbred human populations. It would be expected that dog breeds may have behavioral differences that can be explained by their genetic makeup, because human beings intervened in the natural evolution of wolves to create domestic breeds with certain desirable traits (including behaviors). Human races aren't like that at all.