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According to a study from the Center For Disease Control (CDC)1, approximately 4.5 million dog bites occur in the United States each year, and 800,000 of those bites result in medical care. The U.S. population is approximately 328.2 million people as of 2019. That means a dog bites 1 out of every 73 people.
These are scary statistics. But scary becomes a lot less so when you’re armed with the right information. From the top breeds to be wary of, to accounting for your own behavior around animals, to why dogs actually bite in the first place, we’re giving you an arsenal of information in this article so you can bite back in the dog bite debate.
Article Overview
Why Do Dogs Bite?
Before we start profiling dogs or analyzing your behavior around them, let’s talk about the question everyone should first be asking: why does a dog bite?
- Dogs bite as a reaction to a stressful situation.
- They may be scared or threatened.
- To protect themselves, their puppies or their owners.
- They’re not feeling well or if they’re startled.
- They may nip or bite during play (which is why rough play should be avoided to ensure you don’t overly excite your animal).
Keep these triggers in mind anytime you’re around a canine. Your awareness of their mental state will help you recognize a potential bite situation more quickly.
Dog Bite Statistics
- Dogs that bite the most:2
- Chihuahua
English Bulldog - Bulldog
- Pit Bull
- German Shepherd
- Australian Shepherd
- Lhasa Apso
- Jack Russell Terrier
- Cocker Spaniel
- Bull Terrier
- Pekingese
- Papillion
- Chihuahua
- 81% of dog bites cause no injury at all or only minor injuries that do not require medial attention4
- You have a 1 in 112,400 chance of dying from a dog bite or strike5
- You are at more risk of dying from:
- Cataclysmic storm: 1 in 66,335
- Contact with hornets, wasps and bees: 1 in 63,225
- Air and space transport incidents: 1 in 9,821
- Firearm discharge: 1 in 6,905
- Choking from inhalation and ingestion of food: 1 in 3,461
- Heart disease and cancer: 1 in 7
- You are at more risk of dying from:
- Most dog bites involve dogs who are not spayed or neutered6
- Fatal Dog Attacks states that 25% of fatal attacks were inflicted by chained dogs of many different breeds7
- The insurance industry paid more than $530 million in dog bite related claims in 20148
- 5,714 U.S. Postal Service employees were attacked by a dog in 20189 (500 less than 2017 and 1,000 fewer since 2016)
- Over 30 breeds and dog-types were associated with dog bite-related fatalities10
Video: Dog Bite Statistics
The video below discusses more dog bite statistics.
What Breeds Have The Strongest Bite?
Below are the top 12 dogs with the strongest bite in terms of PSI (pound per square inch or pound-force per square inch), as reported by PetComments.com3. This list is not indicative of any specific animal and should only be viewed as a scientific study.
We certainly recognize that there are many well behaved and sweet dogs of these breeds, especially when paired with responsible owners.
- Kangal: 743 PSI
Rottweiler - American Bandogge: 731 PSI
- Cane Corso: 700 PSI
- Dogue De Bordeaux: 556 PSI
- Tosa Inu: 556 PSI
- English Mastiff: 556 PSI
- Dogo Canario: 540 PSI
- Dogo Argentino: 500 PSI
- Wolfdog: 406 PSI
- Leonberger: 399 PSI
- Akita Inu: 350-400 PSI
- Rottweiler: 328 PSI
How To Protect Yourself Against The Risk Of Dog Bites
Dog liability insurance is a special policy that you can get to insure yourself in case you have what a landlord or other important person in your life might consider a “dangerous dog breed.” If you have one of these dogs, you most certainly know it as some people are probably a little scared of your pup. It is unlikely that they need to be, but better safe than sorry in case a situation ever were to arise where your dog bit someone.
Why? Because with liability insurance you would merely file a claim and it would cover the cost of the situation. In many cases, we have heard of dogs’ lives being saved by the ability to cover these sorts of incidents by proactively seeking insurance rather than reacting after a bad situation occurs. Better safe than sorry, right?
According to the Insurance Information Institute, one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claims (in dollars) result from dog bites or dog-related injuries, and the average cost is more than $37,000.8
Decreasing Your Chances Of A Dog Bite Attack
While we’re not absolving the canine completely of its own responsibility in a dog-bite situation, there are always two sides to a story — even a bad one. When it comes to your side, there are more than two things that you can do to decrease your chances of an attack.
Things To Consider Before Getting A Dog
There are a few key things to consider before bringing a new dog into your home, especially if you already have other animals or children. Below are a few factors that, if considered, can help decrease your chances of an unwarranted attack before an animal ever walks through your front door.
- Dogs with a history of aggression are not appropriate for a home with children. Period.
- Before choosing a dog, research and consult with a professional (a trusted vet or dog trainer would be an excellent resource) to find the best breed for your needs.
- Proper socialization and training for your pup is key.
- Spend time with your prospective pet before adopting to ascertain aggressive tendencies.
- Spay or neuter your animal to reduce aggressive tendencies before bringing them home.
How To Prevent A Dog Bite
Just like people, there are always good pets that snap. Even though the dog never displayed any aggressive attitudes, even though you didn’t provoke him to attack, there are still those unaccountable instances that no one can explain or rationalize. However, more often than not, this isn’t the case.
That’s why, when dealing with any dog, you should maintain confidence, but cautious body-language. Below are a few things you can do to make sure your attitude doesn’t trigger an attack.
- Don’t approach an unfamiliar animal.
- Do not run from a dog, panic or make loud noises.
- If an unfamiliar dog approaches you, remain motionless. Do not run or scream. Avoid direct eye contact.
- Don’t disturb a dog while they’re eating, sleeping, or taking care of their puppies.
- Allow a dog to sniff and smell you before you attempt to pet it. Afterward scratch the animal under the chin, not on the head.
- Report strays or dogs displaying strange behavior to your local animal control.
- If knocked over by a dog, roll into a ball and remain motionless. Be sure to cover your ears and neck with your hands and arms. Avoid eye contact and remain calm.
- Don’t encourage your dog to play aggressively.
Dog Bite Statistics Infographic
To share this infographic on your site, simply copy and paste the code below:
Be Mindful Of “Breeds”, But Not Fearful
You’ve likely heard of the Pit Bull, touted as the type most responsible for dog bites. But you can dismantle much of your fear of them with our Pit Bull Facts article.
Unfortunately, claims against Pit Bulls account for the majority of reported fatal attacks in the United States (again, many of these are misreported due to a lack of understanding of dog breeds and types).
While there’s no denying that one should be more vigilant around a large dog than say, a Beagle, there’s also no denying that an animal is part product of its environment.
Remember that any dog can bite, no matter how well-trained it may be. Many popular family dogs have caused fatalities including Labradors and German Shepherds. So it is always a good idea to be a responsible dog owner and make sure pets are supervised at all times with others.
Finally, if you have a dog that’s prone to biting, consider a training collar or online training courses to help change their bad behavior.
Have you ever experienced a dog bite?
Sources: [1] CDC, [2] Puppy Lover News, [3] Pet Comments, [4] National Canine Research Council, [5] National Safety Council, [6] The Humane Society, [7] Fatal Dog Attacks, [8] Insurance Information Institute, [9] USPS, [10] AVMA
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Puppynews is not any kind of reputable statistics on bites by breed. Statistically in the UK, US, and Canada pit bulls, rottweilers, and the like are the top but pit bulls are almost four times more likely to be involved in a serious bite event. If you want to really help people, share real evidence, not a wish list produced by people who like aggressive dogs.
Pit bulls are responsible for 66% of injurious dog bites and deaths followed by Rottweilers at 10% according to every statistic on reputable sites. Your site almost absolves them
People who compare a bite of a pit and the bite of a chihuahua are dumb. You need to take I to account the amount of damage they can do with each bite. I had to save my wife from 2 full grown pits mauling her the whole thing lasted 4 min tops. In that time two pits managed to almost take my wife’s arm and leg along with toes on both my feet. I managed to get in between the dogs and her allowing her to get into the house followed by me using a step ladder like a lion tamer those dogs in 4 min caused .medical bills for her of over 3/4 of a million dollars and mine of 1/4 million dollars. So one million in medical bill’s. It would take a while for smaller breads to cause that damage also if I can get a hold on a biting smaller bread I could kill it but the pits we’re so strong. That we had nothing to stop them it was by luck that we both survived. And the first bite I received was so strong I thought that my trying to save her may have been the last thing I would do and that we were both going to die. That attack cost us everything. Including our relationship. As a side note please everyone get you dogs their rabies shots they don’t cost much for the dogs. But I know that human rabies shots and the immunoglobulin Hurt like heck and cost over eight thousand six hundred dollars. Also if you have a dog that can bite someone have extra insurance the person they bite will thank you. Because loosing everything you have to someone else dog suck more then you know
Wow! This nonsense narrative is an extremely charitable, positive, and propaganda-like spin on the CDC’s “REPORTED” dog bite statistics. I view dogs as America’s #1 domestic terrorist. Obviously, we have an indifferent, socially constructed, dog fetish culture when a writer becomes a dog apologist for nearly 5 million bites by so-called domesticated dogs in 1994,
There is no “pit bull” breed! Why don’t people know that?? Good grief – there is still so much stupid and as always, the more ignorant someone is, the stronger their opinion and louder their voice. Yelling about a breed that doesn’t exist is such a dangerous waste of time. We are better than this, people – knowledge is power.
Here are some good resources filled with facts: The American Medical Veterinary Association (AVMA), The American Kennel Club, The Westminster Kennel Club, The National Centers for Disease Control.
“Knowledge is power”. That also applies to you. Stats do not lie, people do.
I take it all of these pittbull haters have never owned one. They were originally bred as farm dogs that would be loyal to the farmer and wat h his back in the field protecting him from livestock. The problem is u take a dog that is powerful and dont properly train and socialize it or treat it right and ur gonna have problems. No one tells the news they were abusing the shit out of their pitt when it turned on them.
Meredith, you remind me of the “X Files” slogan: Deny everything, the truth is out there.
Yes, I am a pitbull hater. It hit close to home not once, but TWICE. The point I try to make repeatedly is why choose this breed when there are hundreds of much more reliable breeds available. Why make that choice? It just defies logical thinking.
As for never owning the breed to understand it, is a preposterous concept. I don’t do crystal meth, but I do know it’s negative impacts. Yes, pit bulls were trained as farm animals, but not as HERDERS. That statement makes you lose credibility.
Shelters are full of these loving dogs because of human ignorance and need for drama. My APBT was adopted and returned twice before they called me because she “is extremely rough” and “tried to attack” other dogs or people. I keep her away from the chocolate lab next door that tries to jump the (split rail) fence because she wants to kick my dog’s *ss and mine sits and watches her lose her mind and drool everywhere saying, “bring it b*tch”. The two AmStaffs behind my house are awesome, the three around the corner are too, and that angry almost-dog little terrier that has jumped his fence and bitten kids walking home from school is on my last nerve. Oh the Shepard and 2 rotties on the cul de sac are great too.
A description I think fits is comparing an APBT, AmStaff, American Bully (and all the other “bully breeds”) to those that people ignorantly feel are safe. One’s a Ford and one’s a Ferrari – neither is inherently dangerous, and any idiot can drive a Ford. It takes training and focus to learn how to drive a Ferrari or you’re going to destroy it against a brick wall or hit the idiots driving Fords.
Why would you recommend a shock collar for a dog with a biting problem??
We have a beautiful Blue Nose. He’s about 4 years old, was rescued from a shelter that automatically puts down “Pit Bulls” regardless of their history. We also have an under 10 lb. Shih Tzu who is ALWAYS excited to see her lBig Brother” and worries him to death trying to lick him in the face. She literally tries to stand up on her back feet and grab him by the jowls with her front paws to hold him still and give him kisses. He is SO GENTLE with her, and she is really quite obnoxious.
I’ve never used, owned, or even seen one in “action” but my thought is that the purpose of a shock collar if used “correctly” by the owner, would be solely to send a QUICK zap to break their attention so that you can stop aggressive and other “unwanted” behaviors. Having never had any experience with one, I do speak from a place of some ignorance regarding that particular product and it’s usage.
I have, however, seen dog(s) attacking another dog and it is quite disturbing. It is almost impossible to separate them in any sort of safe way unless you have a water hose handy to spray the aggressor in the face. (Which is not usually the case.) I had a Cocker Spaniel growing up and he was definitely a lover not a fighter, but was CONSTANTLY being “beaten up” by local dogs. I have no idea how many times we took the poor guy to the Vet to be sewn up before a couple of dogs got the better of him and left him for dead in our yard one day. (On a separate note, my ShihTzu sometimes “bites” when being brushed out, if you catch a knot. Can’t say I blame her. She’s reacting to the pain. Our sweet big boy, “Bo” has NEVER bitten any of us and has the most gentle mouth when he’s given a treat. That loving Cocker Spaniel bit the CRAP out of me when I was about 7, because my Momma sent me to add some table scraps to his bowl of dog food that he was already working on. He thought I was taking his food, so he bit, and bit hard!
Why would anyone recommend a shock collar for ANY dog? If I’m teaching my kiddo how to tie her shoes, I don’t stick her with a hot poker when she screws it up.
What a misleading and ridiculous article. You KNOW that pits are OVERWHELMINGLY causing death and maiming and it has NOTHING to do with upbringing! They kill their own “family” members for no reason, other than they’re PITS! You are obviously a pit-lover, because you’re afraid to mention GENETICS, and extreme dangers of the most dangerous DOMESTIC dog in the world! You’re putting more children, adults, pets and livestock in danger with your clear bias and willful ignorance. Shame on you!
Very true. It’s mostly about genetics.
This is exactly what I’ve been talking about! Thank you thank you! It’s always good to have a perfect real life example of what I’m trying to say, and you nailed every single one. Thank you!
Did you know the “RCA ” dog from the ’40s and ’50s was a pitty and the dog on the “Little Rascals” was a pitty. Just an FYI. I have one and a chihuahua, both girls, and both are loving and crazy. Both are rescues. Like children, you have to be consistent and give them plenty of love. Be well.
Lack of critical thinking is a serious problem for the world at large. People come to conclusions and create opinions with zero valid analysis whatsoever. So you can think of what, dozens of pit attacks? There are MILLIONS of pit bulls in this country! When something that is supposedly a genetic problem only manifests in a statistically insignificant number of a population, that makes the occurrence an aberration, not a feature! If pit bulls are the dogs most likely to be trained to be aggressive, cheapest to acquire, most likely to be abused, most likely to be abandoned, most likely to not be well socialized – all of which they are – then you don’t need genetics to figure out why they bite. The question is how come despite all this they’re still less likely to bite than chihuahuas!
It makes a heck of a lot more sense to try to figure out what conditions led hundreds of pit bulls to cause problems when millions of pit bulls don’t, and try to make sure pit bulls don’t suffer these conditions. This is why plane crashes or train de-railings are investigated: we don’t just throw our hands in the air and decide planes and trains are dangerous so stay away from them – it’s obvious that millions of flights and train trips go on with no incident all the time – the question is why was there a problem with THIS one.
Geez…people with ZERO ability to think and reason feel totally fine creating opinions based on ignorance and committing to them tooth and nail. Shame on you!
You hit the nail on the head. I had two Rottie-Pit mix who came home as 8 1/2 week old puppies, brother and sister. My 3-year-old stepson use to ride my big boy Razz (143 lbs) like a horse. They played with children at the campground they were born. When we brought them home they became part of our family. I trained them in obedience and socialized them daily with people and other pets. They knew I was Alpha and were perfect loving family members until the ripe ages of 11 1/2 and 11 3/4 when their age forced me to put them to sleep. I would bring another home in a second. It’s a fact that upbringing matters in how future behavior is shaped, whether “mans best friend” or man himself/woman herself!
You obviously can’t handle the truth. There were stats and mountains of evidence along with proof provided and you completely ignored it. You aren’t looking for the truth you’re looking for what you want to see. People like you are dangerous.
Why don’t you write about the real subject of ‘bites’ instead of whitewashing. Pits are mauling and killing like no other breed in history, they don’t play by the rules. They don’t have standard triggers like normal canines. And to talk bites while we talk deaths by pits is deceiving to the public. Grasp that it is articles like this that deceive the public and cause even more maulings and deaths. Stop being the problem, tell the truth and be part of the solution.
I have a Pittie. A big love bug! There are Chihuahuas in my park that bark and growl at us. They are on 15 ft leashes and they at times are coming towards us! All my dog does is bark back. But yet my dog is the bad dog immediately. SOO many small dog owners are in complete denial of their dogs behavioural issues!!! At times “cute” to owners when their dogs bite and many times they bite their own owners! I find little neurotic dogs much more unpredictable! But they don’t get reported or media attention. I would love to see a TRUE study of which breed bites the most! Bites are never “cute” or acceptable!! If ALL bites were reported people might have a different opinion about certain breeds!! Your dog like your children behave how they are raised. With that said there will always be dogs that bite. Be smart and careful for you and your dog’s sake.
You can’t possibly be in that much denial. You DO know that PITS KILL, and Chihuahua’s dent your ankle or finger. How do you get through life being this willfully ignorant? How?
I would rather get bit by 100 chihuahuas than 1 pitbull…
Much like I would rather get shot with a pellet gun than an AR15
My father in law recieved 27 stitches from a shitzu and my sister almost lost her nose to a maltese when she was 2. Little dogs can cause more damage than u think they can.
What is the death toll from Chihuahua attacks? Anyone who compares this type of dog to “dangerous dogs” is in total denial.
I have been around dogs all my life. I grew up with Doberman pinschers, Rottweilers, Pitbulls, and German Shepherds. I currently work with Beagles and many of the hunting breeds that get bred in with them. The only time in my life I have ever been bitten by a dog was by a Chihuahua.
Reported statistics aren’t reflective of the true number of “Actual” bite statistics. I did not report when the Chihuahua bit my leg in multiple spots leaving me bloodied and bruised though I should have. However, had a pitbull come at me with the same aggression that “little” dog had, I probably would have lost my leg. My point being, most people don’t report bites that occur by small dogs because the damage inflicted is not as severe when compared to that of a larger dog. It does not mean that small breed dogs like Chihuahuas, Duaschunds, etc. do not bit just as frequently, if not more than the other “big, mean breeds.” It is just usually that their bites don’t typically require the same amount of medical attention when they occur.
According to dogbites.org, between 2005 & 2017 there were 284 deaths by Pit Bull attack. The next breed on the list is the Rottweiler, with 45. That gap is striking. No other breed has even one-fifth the fatal maulings as Pit Bulls. The efforts to deflect the accurate public image of the breed as dangerous, are themselves dangerous. This is a breed that should not be casually spread around family neighborhoods. The disposition that was bred into them makes them dangerous, even when they have not shown signs of being so.
What actual breed was the subject of that statistic? As you know, “pit bull” is not a breed.
Except Dogsbite is run by someone who doesnt even have a degree in anything animal related. She’s a fortune telling website designer who manipulates police reports, legal documents and much much more for her stats to include using the same system the CDC stopped using in 1998 when they found an 84% fail rating in victim identification for dog breeds.
She was bitten in 2007 and got a pay out from insurance yet her biggest “volunteer” is writing insurance companies to tell them to not back laws pertaining to non discrimination so more victims of any and all dogs are covered, like the master once was. lol Hypocrisy at it’s finest.
Until you’re educated on who you spout from, you have no verifiable information. Not even medical experts understand dog bites. It’s not their field. Even vets who follow dogsbite have been put into question regarding the information they’ve tried to use in supreme court hearings because it’s jut not reliable.
There are also victims false labeled on the blog pertaining to dog breeds.
There are dog breeds left out, there are dog breeds crossed off. Cant implicate anything more than the “pit bull” just as it says in the mission statement that it focus’s on.
Question: Do you know where dogsbite donation money goes? I didnt think you did either and neither do any of the other followers.
There is no science to back up what the PeTA backed extremist organization of Dogsbite has. Nothing she has even for medical is sound and it’s been proven by people with degree’s in both medical and animal fields to include peons such as myself.
I really don’t care that the person who runs “Dogsbite.org” doesn’t have a degree in anything animal related – as you said even these experts don’t completely understand dog bites.
My problem with the site is that whoever runs it (I suppose it’s more than one person by now) doesn’t understand statistics or risk analysis, yet put a bunch of useless nonsense on the site.
By now (this site has been up for over a decade) you’d think this organization would been able to present a clear picture of how many “pit bull” attacks occur per year. That, after all, is the bread and butter of this site. But no! No where can you find a clear table showing this!
At first I thought it was stupidity, but then I realize it’s by design. The number of attacks (and I don’t mean just deaths – I mean any attacks serious enough to be reported) per year are so low as to be statistically insignificant, considering the number of dogs that are considered “pit bulls” in this country. One clear table would make that so obvious people wouldn’t spend any time being confused with the confabulations on that site.
Instead there are pages and pages of anecdotes, inaccuracies, unsupported conclusions…a major mess of claims without relevant context.
Of course, since too many people don’t bother to think straight, this site and other anti-pit bull sites have led to greater problems for pit bulls, making it more likely for pits to get abandoned and mistreated. The site isn’t only misleading, it’s actually harmful.
Hey,
So this is pretty bad research. I’ll not go into the details, but anyone with an advanced science degree would chuckle while reading this.
You can die from taking aspirin? Well yeah, in some really extreme circumstances that would not actually be attributed to the taking of aspirin, sure. This is like saying someone died from using a match, when he actually died because he lit a match and then dropped it in a tank of gas that was at his feet. And blood clotting is a little more complicated than the anti platelet properties of aspirin being enough to kill someone.
Look, at the end of the day, I’m sure everyone can agree that every life taken by any dog is quite significant. And here’s the thing, pit bulls kill more people than any other dog. Period. They kill children. Man I can’t imagine what it would be like to have someone else’s dog come into my yard and kill two of my children. But a pit bull has done that to someone else. My daughter is the world to me. And any time I see a pit bull, I assume it’s one that can kill her. I understand that you guys have great dogs. I’ve met so many good pits along the years. But, since I cannot be certain whether or not a pit bull or pit bull like dog (who really cares if it’s correctly identified?) doesn’t have one of these bad owners that you guys are calling the actual problem, I must assume the worst. And that makes me feel danger. It makes me on alert. Because to assume otherwise might mean my daughter may be attacked and killed. That simply isn’t acceptable. And that applies to all breeds of dogs that are known to kill children regardless of the circumstances.
So if you guys really want to keep these potentially dangerous dogs, then why not make people take special classes to be certified to own such a dog? That way if I do see someone with a dangerous dog, I can feel like the dog is with someone who knows their stuff. If I see military personnel with big guns that can kill people, I generally feel safe since they are trained to use these weapons. There are solutions you could work towards. How about trying to make people like me feel safe around your dogs? How about making sure no one with certain criminal records can own a dangerous dog? How about making everyone with a potentially dangerous dog register their dog so I can go look it up?
If you ignored everything I’ve said, I want you to consider what I say next seriously.
What does the world miss out on if all dangerous dogs are gone? Could the connection you feel to your dog not be the same if it were towards another breed of dog? If dangerous dogs didn’t exist, how many children would have made it to adulthood? How many more children will die? Is it worth it? I’ve loved every dog I’ve ever owned. And I’m sure anyone could fall in love with another breed if all of the dangerous breeds simply vanished tomorrow.
Hey Chris,
I’ll go with the positive first. your point about registering and training is spot on. Couldn’t agree more. But why discriminate shouldn’t that apply to all dogs? All dog Owners? I love my Pittie and wouldn’t expect you to understand or agree. That is understandable and doesn’t really affect me. But we were responsible and did spend a significant amount training him. He was a rescue and we felt the responsibility to give him all the advantages we could. Despite all that, we know when we take our dogs for a walk people similar to you exist and we know that no matter how much training or how well behaved he is. You will never see that because you know better.
Your analogy about your daughter and her safety is way off base unfortunately. I don’t expect you to agree with the relate, but I’ll toss it anyhow. I can safely assume you operate a motor vehicle. The dangers on the road from that are quite obviously significantly greater. Everything from young inexperienced drivers, unlicensed drivers etc. In your desire to protect your daughter at all costs, how exactly do you insure her safety due to your inability to control other drivers? Just an honest question. If your reply is its not the same I understand and my point has failed to reach you. That’s O.K. I’m not expecting you to understand or agree, just read and respect an alternate view.
I have considered seriously what you said last. If your solution in this world and your life is to eliminate something because of the harm it may or may not cause. Then the world will be a very empty place. Are you the one who gets to determine what dogs are dangerous? Whose statistics are appropriate for you? The ones that bolster your argument? I realize I am a minority, on my views. There is no ignorance here. I realize the danger ANY dog can pose. I also realize My Pitty has a reputation that has most likely harmed it to a degree that it may never recover. Your solution isn’t a solution. History has shown and proven that. What else will you eliminate because of your fear?
Education and Responsibility are what we need. I appreciate the chance to respond and I appreciate you taking the time to read my response. I wish you well and hold no bias or grudge against you or anyone that posts to the negative. We can all learn, if we all just open our eyes.
I am a very cautious driver. I haven’t been pulled over in 15 years.
My analogy about my daughter’s safety around pit bulls is fine. You trying to use another danger (the danger to my daughter while I’m driving) is a logical fallacy. It would be like me saying “bananas are unsafe” and then you being like “well what about apples? Are you careful around those?” We are not talking about motor vehicle safety. What I do has no bearing on the validity of my argument. I could be a reckless driver and still have a valid fear about the safety of my daughter around pit bulls. I could be a murderer and say murder is wrong.
I don’t know what you think know about history that indicates I’m wrong, but I would like to know what you’re talking about.
Plenty more kids where they came from.
I’ve been bitten by a pit bull, was I scared? Yes, then the dog bit me. Pit bull owners would say, “That’s your fault, because you felt scared.”. No, that gives no excuse to the dog biting me. The owner raised the dog from a puppy in a very loving attentive home. What really urks me are the delusional pit bull owners who think it’s all the owners who raise these dogs’ fault, nothing to do with the Pit Bull. All dogs breeds have characteristics that are bred into them, these dogs happen to have the characteristics of being protective, on edge, afraid of many things (fear drives attacks) and they are also jealous. So, if a family Pit Bull gets jealous of all the attention the new baby is getting, what may happen? If the Pit Bull is triggered by something so minute… what will happen. Just a weak excuse for “responsible” pit bull owners to give to emotionally protect the breed they’ve chosen as their pet.
At first you were being reasonable, that you can’t trust any pitbull because you can’t be sure the owner raised them right. I want to point out however, that all dogs bite. And getting rid of all dogs that bite wont solve anything. Pit Bull is a blanket term, covering over 42 separate dog breeds. This is why the statistics for pit bulls are so high, because they don’t just count the American Pit Bull and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. They explain this in their pit bull facts article here on this site. 42 dog breeds, not 2. It doesn’t help that most people haven’t been educated about dog breeds either.
I feel like a good solution to both dog attacks and animal abuse is to only allow people who have taken the time to learn about these animals and go to classes to get a license. No one should be allowed an animal if they can’t treat it right.
Well, all dogs can bite. All dogs are not capable of killing my child within seconds. I’ve met plenty of mean Chihuahuas that were mean and aggressive.
It should not be anyone’s responsibility to gauge whether or not the breed of dog someone has is potentially dangerous. It is not regulated. It should be.
I wrote this a year ago. How many kids have died this year from a pit bull? Let me google it now. Per Wikipedia, it’s 10 or so. Is it 100% accurate? Nah. Is the number more than 0? Yes. 1 month-12-year-old kids on the list. Several under 2. Plenty of adults and old people too. You want to get to the nitty-gritty and see how accurately the identification of those dogs was? I don’t either. I’m trusting that somewhere somebody did it right. This has been a big issue for more than a decade now. The old “maybe they were misidentified” is no longer the issue. If a dog attacks anyone and that person dies or comes to the ER, we have to immediately report it. Someone from the county goes to identify the dog before it is usually put down or rehomed. Do they do a DNA test to see the exact breed of dog and if it’s mixed or anything? Not here. This really is pointless. They don’t really misidentify dogs. And since this stupid idea came out, we have been pretty good at accurately identifying the dogs before reporting it because of some die-hard pit fans trying to blame everyone else but the breed of the dog for the problem. They will continue to study this. And if this changes I will come back here and correct myself in a year or so.
spoken like a unedcated liberal. you dont like something so you want the govt to regulate. no one wants anyone killed by a dog or a drive by. buy you kids stand a better chance dying while you or someone else is texting and driving.
You are speaking like a willfully ignorant pit pusher. We NEED cars, but you don’t NEED the most dangerous domestic dog breed in the world. Stupid analogy. Out of over 300 breeds, and people choose the pit – that’s responsible (overwhelmingly) for almost all of the maims and killings of people, pets and livestock. It’s called GENETICS. LOOK IT UP. Now, it’s your choice to spread this propaganda but it’s dangerous and irresponsible. This has NOTHING to do with your political stance either! I’m Republican and I’ve learned to look up facts and open my eyes! I used to defend these mutants because I owned TWO, four years apart. BOTH were extremely dog aggressive and one of them was also people aggressive. No amount of training, exercise or love could train their DNA away. WAKE UP! People like YOU are why more people are getting pits/mixes, which results in more killings. Congratulations!
Thats real odd Marie because I own a pit bull and he’s never shown aggression to any person or animal except one chicken and he didn’t even bite through skin. We have 2 cats and they bully our dog. If he’s so vicious why is he running into the next room because a small cat is chasing him? Why has my dog been attacked by another dog and yet he never even barked or growled. What did YOU do wrong that both of your dogs were aggressive? I wonder if you can tell me why human beings, who are supposed to be the most intelligent species, have such a hard time not getting bitten my an animal? Can you tell me how many people kill other people/children every year? I guarantee you human beings are the most dangerous species on this planet, but there isn’t a plan to exterminate us. Very few states even use the death penalty anymore, but you want to kill off any dog that looks like a pit because 200 people die every year from an attack, really? Learn how to treat and socialize your animals properly and you probably won’t get bitten. Be smarter than the dog.
I want to point out that any dog breed can be dog aggressive. It’s all a matter of how they are raised and treated. 2,000 of them are put down every day purely because they are pit bulls. Please try to rethink what you say before saying it, and maybe do some more research.
“I’m Republican and I’ve learned to look up facts and open my eyes!”
Most ironic sentence ever.
Wonderfully stated. It makes me sad when I hear of these Pit related injuries and fatalities, to children and the elderly in particular. I’ve done a little research on this since someone close to me had a pitbull raised with children in a loving home since it was a pup. If the arguments are true, that it’s the owner and not the breed, then this dog wouldn’t have lost his mind and attack a person and kill this person’s dog while out for a walk. Plain and simple fact verifiable with your own research: Pitbulls rank number one in human fatalities year after year. Insurance companies will not provide home owners coverage if there is a Pitbull in the household. Some insurance companies will consider coverage if the owner/s and the dog attend and complete a training course. This seems responsible. I also feel that people need to start being held accountable. “Rescues” are passing off these dogs as “lab mix” for example which, in my opinion, gives potential adopters a false sense of security. Professionals and non argue that there is nothing to fear with Pitbulls. That is just plain nonsense. Dogs, cats, horses, cattle, poultry etc., are all bred according to characteristics and the breeding pairs are selected generation after generations for characteristics that the breeder wants to have. Perhaps outstanding coat in a Persian cat or egg laying capabilities in chickens. To say that genetics has little to do with a breeds abilities and that, “it’s all about how they’re raised,” then certainly there would be more triple crown winners than there are. This is just plain common sense.
Your point about triple crown winners is a good one. Despite decades of careful, deliberate breeding of race horses, the number of triple crown winners is very, very low. Why? The Guiding Eyes for the Blind in NY has had a careful, deliberate guide-dog breeding program in place for generations of dogs. According to their website 50% of their puppies per year are fit to become either guide dogs or “other service dogs”, meaning that more than 50% of the puppies bred through a careful program do not carry enough of the traits they were bred for. Why?
Significant part of the answer is “heritability”. Anyone involved in a breeding program for anything, “…dogs, cats, horses, cattle, poultry etc”, will tell you that heritability of many traits is very low: even with generations of strictly regulated breeding the offspring of champion race horses don’t all (or even most) become champion race horses, nor do most of a litter of master shepherd dogs become great shepherds.
Yet anyone with zero comprehension of science, breeding or genetics will think it’s “common sense” that since “pit bulls” (no idea which blood lines those are exactly or which of today’s “pit bulls” are genetically related to those blood lines) were bred over 100 years ago in a different continent to be aggressive towards bulls, and some here were “bred” for fighting (by backyard breeders apparently so much better at the science than those involved with horse racing or guide dogs), then today’s “pit bulls”, the majority of them mixed with whatever, whenever and the puppies sold or given to whoever, have been really, really great at keeping up that trait. This lack of reasoning is both laughable and sad at that same time. You yourself say “Dogs, cats, horses, cattle, poultry etc., are all bred according to characteristics and the breeding pairs are selected generation after generations for characteristics that the breeder wants to have” without it actually occurring to you that THIS HAS NOT HAPPENED WITH PIT BULLS. (sorry for the all caps, but this level of shoddy reasoning is frustrating)
Why don’t you apply your common sense to another question. A. How many pit bulls are in this country (notice I didn’t say “pit bulls” if you can find a definite answer to how many of these so called pit bulls bred for aggression exist in this country good on you) B: How many pit bull attacks occur per year (and I don’t ask for fatalities, I’m concerned with the number of attacks serious enough to be reported). C: Divide B by A and tell me what percentage of these pit bulls (bred to be aggressive, mind you) have ever attacked anyone?
You probably won’t be able to find these numbers – despite so much hoopla about pit bulls, even laws being proposed and passed (and then repealed), the public can’t get a simple risk assessment number about pit bulls. Maybe the reason is that the number of pit bull attacks is statistically insignificant given the number of pit bulls, which would raise a lot of questions for the “pit bulls are genetically dangerous” crowd. You’d really have to ask 1. If the danger is in their genes, how come the overwhelming percentage of them are fine family pets, and it’s the ones that attack that are an aberration, and 2. Is it common sense to kill 100% of millions of dogs when we have zero idea of what percentage of these dogs are likely to cause harm?
No one wants anyone harmed ever, but do we only care about people harmed by pit bulls? Or after the pit bulls are all dead, then we’ll worry about killing the Rottweilers? Then the GSDs and on down the line, until any breed that has ever produced a killer dog is gone? Instead, why not educate the public about the proper care, socialization, and treatment of ALL dogs, which is a much better way to reduce harm than by giving a false sense of security to owners of Huskies, Dobermans, Mastiffs, etc that their dog is completely safe, since it’s not a “pit bull”?
S. Walker the last few sentences made sense, but you don’t seem to understand your own statement. Have you done research on the history of pitbulls? They were bred to fight with Bulls, so they are usually aggressive to other animals by genetics. However they put down any dogs who were aggressive towards humans, for generation after generation. After owning pits for years, they are by FAR the most loyal breed to their owners that I have come across. Now let’s mix that loyalty with a bad owner, that fights the dog, or teaches it to be aggressive with anyone but the owner. Now you have a dog that thinks it’s protecting it’s owner, or it’s territory, and by nature these dogs can do some damage, even more so than a bigger dog because of it’s agility. So IMO much of the reason pits are #1 for fatalities, but chihuahuas are #1 for bites(Which far outweighs the fatalities in numbers), are definitely because of the owners. Let’s face it, the majority of Pits are housed in ghettos, poor neighborhoods with people with poor morals. They have been “backyard” bred to be aggressive towards other dogs and humans, this in no way means the breed itself is at fault, or needs to be removed.
And one of the things that makes the disgusting scum ise then for fighting is their unbelievable loyalty – they will literally do ANYTHING they are told to do. Again, humans suck – not dogs.
Unbelievable loyalty is true for most breeds. The concept that pits have an inherent loyalty gene unrivaled by other breeds is silly and reckless thinking by pit lovers.
Yep, that’s the elephant in the room that people like to pretend isn’t there.
THANK YOU Hound of the Baskervilles’! I don’t want a pit dog or related type. I’d rather own my Cavalier king Charles Spaniel. A dog specifically bred to be a people orientated lap dog for over two centuries plus..The only breed to 1). Have a Royal name 2).own the name of comforte dog(Victorian spelling) 3). Be prescribed by doctors in Victorian & Edwardian times for ” Melancholia” (Depression).Hence I’ll stick with the most placid, amiable and downright harmless pooches, I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. P.s he’s only been attacked three times so far – Staffordshire terrier -fox terrier and Staffordshire terrier..this despite the leash and harness my dog was on / controlled by.New Laws ? Bring them on !
I debated whether to leave a comment here because what I’m about to say is not popular among most dog enthusiasts; however, I think it is important enough to share despite whatever pushback it gets. It’s politically correct nowadays to ignore how breed relates to behavior and tote the phrase “doggy racism.” Many people who don’t really understand how closed genepools work or breed history chime in with that statement as if it is fact. For one thing, it’s kind of awful to compare humans to dogs and also it doesn’t make sense in the context of how modern purebred dogs “work.”
If you take a type of dog and breed it for a purpose so that you can maintain a pedigree database and so that certain traits “breed true” generation after generation, you have a purpose bred or purebred dog. That’s why you have pointers that point and retrievers that retrieve and border collies that herd sheep. Most dog people are “ok” admitting that those breeds are bred for specific traits and not a one of them calls it doggy racism.
The only dogs people use in the example of doggy racism are the pit bull types of dogs which far and away cause the most fatalities in children and adults in the United States partially because of how they are bred. They are not bred for a “soft mouth.” They are terriers which are bred to kill other animals and pit bulls in particular are a purpose bred dog as much as any border collie is. IT SHOULD BE NO SURPRISE TO ANYONE THAT THEIR BITES ARE WORSE. Shame on us as a hobby for making stupid excuses for pit bull type dogs at the expense of things we hold dear about our own breeds.
If we can’t acknowlege those breed traits, and if even the AKC and the AVMA are saying that breed doesn’t matter, that we should ignore statistics and that “any dog can bite” I want to know what the point is for continuing to breed “purebred” dogs. Because some of us work really hard to maintain our breeds and if it doesn’t matter and breed traits don’t matter, why am I paying so much for some judge to come and tell me my dog lacks type? Why am I trying to breed for a soft mouth if I’m being told “any dog” can bite?
Let’s all just “adopt don’t shop.” Let’s just let our breeds die out and own the pit bulls that overflow shelters because “breed doesn’t matter.” What? It wouldn’t fit your personal lifestyle to own a pit bull? Why ever not, since all dogs are the same and breed doesn’t matter. Since all dogs are individuals and there’s no way for us possibly to breed better dogs, what’s the difference between a pit bull and a Papillon? Is size the only difference?
Well. I would love to see someone reply to this article with some articulate thought on how this is supposed to work for “us” in the “fancy.”
It is a scientifically proven fact that there is no “genetic” in any living creature that determines aggression. There is scientifically proven impossibility. Genetics has nothing to do with the breeding and training components of behaviors, which are taught/learned behaviors. There is nothing in the genetic sequences that influences the brains of a dog typed as a “pit bull” that make them more aggressive or unpredictable relative to a range of other factors and other dogs. There are no dogs that are born naturally violent, there are always environmental factors that determine the eventual temperament and behavior of each dog of every breed. Scientists have proven this as accurate, if you would like more information or if you would like to fact check these statements please visit the University of Notre Dame, the University of Georgia, or Berkley University and request further information from their experts in this field.
“That’s why you have pointers that point and retrievers that retrieve and border collies that herd sheep. Most dog people are “ok” admitting that those breeds are bred for specific traits and not a one of them calls it doggy racism.”
I don’t think you know what “doggy racism” refers to. It has nothing to do dogs being bred for special traits. It has to do with dogs being discriminated against because of their breed, regardless of their behaviour.
You use the term “breed doesn’t matter” with zero context. If I say “breed doesn’t matter, ALL dogs need proper care and socialization” am I saying something untrue and/or controversial?
While pit bulls overrun dog shelters, it’s very easy to adopt a dog that’s not a pit bull. There are even pure breds in shelters. If you can’t imagine having any other type of dog than a Papillon, good for them – someone’s gotta want those things.
Yes, any dog can bite. The damage can range from death and mutilation to a scratch, depending on the size and temperament of the dog.
As you mention, most of the dogs in shelters are pit bulls. If pits are the dogs most likely to be abandoned, abused, trained for protection or aggression, is it any surprise they’re also the ones most often not well socialized and easy to come by for people who want a dog but don’t really know how to care for them?
Do you imagine that there are the same number of Papillons as “pit bulls” in this country? Do you suppose there are the same number of Papillons abused, abandoned, trained for aggression and used for puppy mills in this country as there are pit bulls? And yet you suppose that the difference between pit bulls and Papillons isn’t in their treatment, but in their genes?
It can never be proven of course, but it would not surprise me if Papillon face the same conditions as pit bulls face in this country, they’d be in shelters as often as chihuahua and chihuahua mixes are.
You say “If you take a type of dog and breed it for a purpose so that you can maintain a pedigree database and so that certain traits “breed true” generation after generation, you have a purpose bred or purebred dog.”
Then you say “They are terriers which are bred to kill other animals and pit bulls in particular are a purpose bred dog as much as any border collie is”. Which dog breed do you mean by “they”? If you mean “pit bulls” which of the many different breeds of dogs labelled “pit bull” do you mean? You actually believe the so called “pit bulls” that have harmed people are the result of a pedigree database that have have “bred true” for certain traits generation after generation for the purpose of killing other animals? Do you actually believe that there are many pit bulls in this country that fit that description?? Do your own arguments make sense even to you??
The term “pit bull” does not refer to one specific breed “bred true” for any trait whatsoever. That should be obvious to anyone who knows anything at all about this topic. There are a bunch of different dogs considered “pit bulls”, and in true racist “one drop” fashion, any dog mixed with those breed is considered a “pit bull mix” and added to the list of dangerous “pit bull” or “pit bull type” dogs. That’s millions of dogs! If all the “backyard breeders” with their pedigree databases have produced these to “breed true” for killing anything they’ve done a piss poor job of it, since the average cat kills more animals than these dogs do. If they’d been successful with this purpose bred dog there would be blood baths in the streets, rather than a statistically insignificant percentage of dogs of indeterminate breed harming people, compared to the number of “pit bulls” out there.
Hey someone with a brain. Tired of the stupid comment “it’s all how you raise them” genetics as you just illustrated have a bearing on behavior. The same old nature vs nurture argument in a different form. The answer it’s both and for all those it’s all how you raise them idiots I feel sorry for you. When we start considering the genetic component of behavior we can start a real conversation. We can start admitting how much time and knowledge we have for our pets. This is why no one on these forums answers me when I propose a owner responsibility law. I won’t even consider Breed Specific Legislation. But none of the its all how you raise them answer me when I propose that owners take the punishment for their dogs. Your dog kills maims bites you the owner take the penalty just like you did it. So in the case of killing or maiming you would go to prison like you did it. Somehow all the its all how you raise them people (mostly the tough guy owner who thinks their genitals will grow by having a tough dog) never speak in favor for this. Why? because most (not all ) of these serious injuries and killings are done by male unneutered dogs of about 10 breeds. Come on if your really doing your job no matter what the breed this shouldn’t scare you. But every year about 10-15 pitt owners would be getting a life sentence.
I believe the reason no one answers you may be due to your arrogant shitty attitude toward the reader. You don’t waste any time, you jump right out there by implying , no one yet that has written has a brain, and their comments are STUPID. You go on to call people Idiots, and how you feel sorry for them. All that and more, just in your introduction. NEWS FLASH:P Regardless of what you may think Michael Dennis, you are no better than anyone else, no smarter no more wisdom than any one . You are the same as us, so get down off that high horse of yours, step down from your self awarded pedestal , and join the human race. we all have opinions, and we all have facts, and we all have favorites facts. When you stop implying that we are in NOT REAL CONVERSATION, and recognize that it may be you personally they don’t want to respond to because they are not in the mood for being insulted, MAYBE THEN A GOOD FACT BEARING WITH OPINION CONVERSATION ON A FRIENDLIER PLAIN CAN GET STARTED. JUST AN OBSERVATION WITH OPINION
National Animal Control Association Guideline Statement: “Dangerous and/or vicious animals should be labeled as such as a result of their actions or behavior and not because of their breed.”
“Since 2012, an increasing number of cities are repealing breed-discriminatory laws and replacing them with comprehensive breed-neutral laws that focus on problematic pet owners and individual dog behavior, rather than a dog’s breed. As of 2017, a total of 21 states have provisions prohibiting breed-discriminatory laws and policies by municipalities.
Negligent and reckless pet owners create unsafe environments that put people and pets at risk. Effective laws address the behavior of dog owners and the resulting behavior of their individual dogs, and put regulations in place to restrict and restrain any dangerous dog.”
https://resources.bestfriends.org/article/dog-breed-neutral-laws-safe-communities
You may not like Mr. Dennis’s presentation: however, he is spot on.
Blaming “dangerous dog” attacks totally on the environment is ridiculously incompetent. There is no doubt that a bad owner has a strong influence on its dog’s behavior. I cannot deny such reasoning. But to think that is the “explanation” for such a high percentage of “pitbull” fatal attacks is shallow reasoning. 3 houses away (8 years ago) a 5-year-old face was ripped by a dog he played with daily. The 2 families were close. Yet this happened to law-abiding responsible people.
If you want to state that irresponsible owners are a significant part of the “pit” fatal attack statistics, I will concur. There is more, much more.
I really wish the human population would watch and listen to Cesar Millan and learn about DOG behavior! All dogs are predictable and simple, not dangerous and complex like us humans try to believe. Also, there are NO aggressive BREEDS, aggression is a side effect behavior that ANY dog can display. There are powerful breeds, not aggressive ones. But to be honest; I am much more afraid of and have been charged by the small dogs than ANY large dog. Simply because the small dog owners I’ve ever come in contact with REFUSE to discipline the small dog because ‘they are small’. Bologna! They need exercise, discipline, then affection; not all just affection! If a large dog behaved like most small dogs, people would have no issues disciplining them or pass blame on the breed instead of the owner. And the great thing about dogs is that they don’t care where they came from, they only live in the moment; which we could all take a page out of that book! Education from the right places is key and it’s human ignorance that is dangerous! And always remember when in the presence of a dog, No touch, No talk, No eye contact until the dog has become calm and submissive by giving you space. And just because the tail is a wag’n doesn’t mean the dog is happy; the position of the tail is key and that is the dog TELLING you something! The ears, tail, and body language are all parts of their communication – pay attention! And humanizing their behavior is almost always guaranteed dangerous!
That’s some truth. Most cases of aggression i’ve come across have been from small dogs and delusional, ignorant owners. And wouldn’t you know it, they usually have bratty kids too.
I’m afraid of getting bit every time I go walking to the store or to the bus stop people’s will not stop these dogs from biting you and I do not want to get bit by a mosquito or a dog so I always have Dog Guard in my pockets.
First let me start by saying I’m an animal lover in general regardless of breed,species, etc. That being said I’m partial to dogs specifically dog breeds that most uninformed/uneducated individual call or label as “pitbulls”. I’m 40 years old and was raised around, grew up and have been exposed to pretty much every type of dog you could possibly think of big, small, “pure breeds” to your common run of the mill “mutt”. Throughout my life between dogs belonging to myself, family, friends, associates and strays it’s safe to say I’ve been around, exposed and interacted with easily well over one thousand different dogs. I’ve been bitten three times, snapped at countless times and on two occasions out right viciously attacked twice and had countless acts of aggression directed towards me. All but one of these incidents were committed by smaller dogs weighing less than 15 pounds, the lone occurrence of a dog over 15 pounds was a bite I received to my face by my own bull terrier pup when he was about 4 months old. Now before anyone jumps to conclusions this bite happened while I was laying on the floor bouncing his ball, he would chase, retrieve, and then return the ball. As he was returning the ball to me it fell out of his mouth, bounced, then took a bad hop towards my face. He reacted by lunging for the ball to grab it and missed as it passed my face and accidentally bit me, he immiediately realized his mistake and before I could even cry out from the pain he had pissed and shit himself. After my initial scream he was in shock torn between getting close to me to inspect my injury and (even though I had never struck him) keeping his distance out of fear of reprisal I’m sure. I tell this story so people understand I’ve had a bad experience, although it was my fault it happened and a complete accident, with a breed deemed dangerous. All my other negative experiences with dogs boil down to one factor a complete lack of control on the part of the owner. The average dog owner doesn’t know the first thing about how to correctly house break their dog let alone proper socialization and being a responsible owner. Now that everyone reading this knows where I stand lets get down to brass tax. The reason the bite and attack numbers are so skewed against bull breeds is because of their media portrayal and there look in general. Lets put things in perspective. A man who weighs 110 pounds soaking wet beats the hell out of someone and everyones first reaction is what did the person who got beat up do to him to make him react in such a violent manner. A very muscular body builder type man does the same thing and the initial response is the exact opposite. People apply this way of thinking to dogs thats why bites by Labradors are rarely if ever reported because they’re not viewed as a dangerous breed but bites by “pitbulls” are almost always reported because they’re seen in the opposite light. I see alot of people citing statistics and numbers in favor of the eradication of the breed because “they are bred for violence” or people who own them be held to a higher standard of responsibility than someone who owns a breed not deemed dangerous. Lets apply that same way of thinking to another species lets say….humans. Just looking at the numbers there are more minorities in our prison systems than white people. So using that way of thinking me being a minority (I’m hispanic) means that being a criminal is in my blood, it’s part of my breeding. Lets take it a step further. Should my parents have been required to obtain a license to have even conceived me and held to a higher level of parental responsibility than say the parents of white children? I know those are extreme examples but it all boils down to logic and like math logic is a universal constant. When emotional attachment is removed and logic is applied to a given situation if it doesn’t work accross the board for slightly different yet similar situations than said proposal cannot be the correct solution.
So again not for BSL but dog responsibility. So owners go to jail if their dog maims or kills or serious injury. Not disagreeing that small dogs prob. bite more but damage wise most serious injuries including deaths occur by “pitt bull” type dogs. But irrelevant since penalty would be by injury not breed. So all those people killed by whatever breed each year would go to prison for murder. I’m for it but hardly ever are those owners of Pitts, rotties, GS, Dob. for it. I wonder why not? Wouldn’t this solve it? NO breed hate just out and out responsibility. And yes those small bites would be assault if pursued. For the record I have met plenty of sweet pitts, rotties etc. but big dogs more damage more responsibility.
Rizzo, your response made me laugh, seriously laugh. You claim you have been around 1,000 different dogs and have been bitten three times and “viciously attacked” twice by dogs under 15 lbs. Seriously? Viciously attacked by a 15 lb. dog, twice? Good grief man, I could punt a 15 lb. dog about 30 yards. You must be joking…I’ve been “viciously attacked” by those dogs also, the 15 pounders, and they couldn’t even bite through my jeans. It felt like a pinch, not like flesh being ripped away from your body.
Michael Dennis, I think you are on to something. Hold the owners accountable for vicious attacks to the fullest extent of the law. I am not sure that falls under the domain of murder but it certainly could be manslaughter. The only other thing I would add is that the dog gets put down or held in a shelter immediately until the case is resolved. Why are “pitty” owners not on board with this? Very simple…they do not want to be held responsible for what their dogs do, which is “pittyful!”
I have had a “pitty” owner tell me that their dog charged my GSP puppy because I was afraid of their pitbull. Great logic, especially when it comes to kids which are by far the #1 target of pitbulls. Of course a kid is going to be afraid of a pitbull, especially if it is coming at them. That comment and those like it are pure ignorance…just plain stupid.
Oh and let’s just say that pitbull that I was so “afraid of” had a really bad day because I for one am done with them. If your “pitty” gets close to me or my dogs when I ask you nicely to keep them away or if you let your dog roam unleashed or if you are too weak to control it, you are playing with your dog’s life along with those of people and animals around you and/or your dog.
“Since 2012, an increasing number of cities are repealing breed-discriminatory laws and replacing them with comprehensive breed-neutral laws that focus on problematic pet owners and individual dog behavior, rather than a dog’s breed. As of 2017, a total of 21 states have provisions prohibiting breed-discriminatory laws and policies by municipalities.
Negligent and reckless pet owners create unsafe environments that put people and pets at risk. Effective laws address the behavior of dog owners and the resulting behavior of their individual dogs, and put regulations in place to restrict and restrain any dangerous dog.”
https://resources.bestfriends.org/article/dog-breed-neutral-laws-safe-communities
That’s advocated by organizations like the American Veterinary Medical Association, the CDC, American Bar Association, Humane Society of the United States, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, StateFarm, the National Canine Research Council and MANY more
Which breed is most likely to bite is really only half of the equation. What you should be concerned about is which breeds are most likely to kill or maim you. Fact is, pit bulls (and to appease all the semantic warriors out there, “bully” breeds) do that at a higher rate than all other breeds combined. COMBINED! There is no arguing this fact. Is some of that statistical discrepancy due to owner negligence? Sure. All of it? Listen, if you believe that I have some beachfront property in Arizona to sell you.
Pit bull apologists will throw out all the excuses in the world. They blame anything but the dog. Lack of training, abuse, failure to nueter, on and on the excuse train goes. My personal favorite is when the baby is killed by the family pit bull and they blame the parents for leaving the dog alone with the kid. Oh but I thought it was supposed to be the “Nanny dog?!” Lol that’s another fabricated myth by the way, but I digress. It’s as if they believe other breeds are never left alone with kids, never abused, never trained. And yet, only the pit bulls continuously kill and maim humans at such a rate.
You can make all the pit bulls and parolees shows you want. You can tell me about how you and all your cousins have owned pit bulls and never had a problem but your stories are nothing more than anecdotal evidence. In case you dont know what that means, it means your personal experience means nothing in the face of statistics.
Every dog is a good dog until the day they arent. For pit bulls, that day seems to come around a lot more often.
What is the first thing EVERY bully breed owner says when their dog attacks? I don’t understand, It never ever acted aggressive before. Morons! These dogs were bred to fight and sadly enough the damage that they do to other animals is most likely way, way worse than what they do to humans, statistically. Nobody ever talks about that.
“Bully Breeds” are actually a large list of distinct and different breeds of dog. So,the few agreed upon statistics on “pit bulls” is erroneous as they fail to differentiate. And anyone who cares to do the research, Chows hold the, overall, maim stat. Death by dog is held by a group of breeds: pit bulls (the consortium of differing breeds.), Rottweilers, German Shepards, “large mixed breed”, and “two or more small or medium sized dogs”.
Even here the statistics are based on differing criteria on reporting.
But, really, the commonality in all statistics is abuse/neglect/disease leading to negative human-canine interactions.
Wow! Just wow! I’ve heard some whoppers before but yours, made me laugh out loud! Haha Thank you! It’s truly amazing how Pitbull haters like yourself think everything you say is fact, that you know all there is to know about Pitbulls and dogs in general. Yet, none of you have actually done the research on both sides of the issue. You look for the information that’s gonna prove you right and that’s it. Well we were all taught how to properly research a topic and that’s not how.
Dumb is dangerous!
Really? Why don’t you post links to your research Rose.
While pit bulls can be more inherently dangerous dogs, the breed itself is not exceedingly more aggressive than some other large dogs such as boxers or German shepherds. Larger dogs in general need more training, time, and care. Any dog of any breed can be aggressive.
The difference between a pit bull biting and a chihuahua is that the pit bull is stronger. Chihuahua attacks aren’t publicized nearly as often because people don’t usually report them due to receiving no major injuries. Pit bulls are much more likely to be reported for an attack, having the stereotype that they’re very aggressive and dangerous dogs.
I’m not saying they’re all sweet and nice “love bugs” who have never hurt anyone or pulling out the “Oh I have three, and they’re just sweetie pies! Stop hating on pitties” card. Just saying that pit bulls have an increasingly higher tendency to be reported for attacks than any other breee at this point.
It’s similar to news channels and social media stories in the US. In order for a white American male to get the same coverage as a Muslim, he’d have to kill 7 times more people. Because of it, all Muslims are stereotyped as evil when they aren’t the only root of the problem.
Until people learn to face facts, stereotypes on neither pit bulls nor Muslims will ever change in the face of Americans.
Dogs breeds are the very definition of a stereotype. Selectively bred for hundreds of years to a standard of UNIFORMITY in appearance and behavior and the ability to breed true (pass those qualities along to their offspring). Anyone believing that dog breeds are not stereotypical doesn’t understand genetics or the whole purpose behind dog breeds. Pit Bulls were bred for bloodsport, Dog-on-Dog combat for the perverted entertainment of humans. They are still the dog of choice for dogfighters today.
There is no breed called pit bull.
The American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) is often referred to as a Pit Bull. But for purposes of general discussion, Pit Bull is an umbrella term used for the APBT, the American Staffordshire Terrier, the Bull Terrier and the American Bulldog. These dogs all share similar or identical ancestry.
Thank you!
Agree!
Exactly why are all pit breeds pooled together to garner a single statistic while shepards are split by actual breed? To push this false narrative.
It’s not a “false narrative”. Attacks happen and these attacks are far more prevalent with particular dog breeds. Argue semantics all you like.
People are maimed and/or killed because selfish incompetent a$$hats want to own dangerous dogs.
50 something white female here, owner of “bully breed” type dogs, one an American Bulldog, one a pittie/hound mix and over 45 have passed thru my doors after being vetted and adopted into loving homes. Yes larger breed dogs inflict more injury on humans, than small breed dogs with Napoleon Complexes..however, over 80% of bites don’t inflict serious injury, and the 20% that require bandaids, stitches, antibiotics or coffin for human is minuscule to bee deaths, or maybe wasp, or maybe something with wings, cause I suck at knowing for sure what that flying painful sting that’s going to close my airway was..similar to most people who by looking at an Asian, aren’t sure if they are Japanese, Laus, Chinese, Korean, Mongolian… I don’t disagree dogs bite humans, again compared to heart attacks, bee like stings, dog bite death are low on the totem pole..One common higher stat aggression tendency is children who wonder up to chained/tethered/ dogs…stop humans from this practice, and dog inflicted injuries and death of humans, statistically children are by isolated dogs….but you, nor I can truly discern a dog from its facial/ body features, NO you will not be Accurate…
HAHAHA Yeah ok.
“the most comprehensive research suggests that dog demographics are not relevant to DBRFs, but rather preventable human decisions regarding care, husbandry, and control of their canine charges may be the most important variables.”
–source
Do alittle more research! Dumb is dangerous
66% Of the mortal attacks are done by pitbulls
What breed is that…?
Does anyone know of a more recent study done by the CDC? the one cited is from 1995- over 20 years ago.
Thanks
Mak
The CDC study stopped reporting breed along with dog bites. But the list of dogs LIKELY to bite above is NOT from the CDC. IT’s from Puppy Lover News
All of the following are great resources. The CDC stopped collecting breed data in dog-attack fatalities after 1998 because “identifying a dog’s breed accurately is difficult, even for professionals, and visual recognition is known to not always be reliable.”
Sources: AVMA, AVMA, National Canine Research Council, National Canine Research Council
And this article was obviously written by a Pit owner and supporter. Just full of all the ridiculous Pit propaganda that promotes these dogs who
Kill a human EVERY TWO WEEKS! About 30 per year. I’d like to see some actual bite numbers for the dogs you list that bite the most. Surely, you have them. Or was listing the Chihuahua as #1 just for sensationalism. How about listing the breed(s) responsible for killing the most humans. For Chihuahuas btw that’s ZERO. This article is a joke!!!
Having a number of dogs and actually worked with a non breed specific rescue for years, the main problem is upbringing and backyard breeding. I’ve never owned, not would I own a Staffie… Pitbull isn’t a breed. But I’ve had big and small dogs. The most aggressive have always been small, particularly Chihuahuas the worst. And most likely to kill. You may want to stay indoors, because you’re more likely to be killed by some random event than a dog. The article has its flaws and there are clearly the stereotypical “Pit” owners, but the nieve little dog owners are just as bad. Have been bitten 3 times, each by a dog under 15 lbs. It, like the truth to many of you, hurts!
Point of fact Chihuahuas have ZERO human fatalities attributed to them. That’s ZERO!
NO DUH!!! What a ridiculous comment!! Of course a Chihuahua hasn’t fatally attacked someone, they are too small to cause any damage. In fact most bites from Chihuahuas go unreported because they are so minor. However, many studies have proven that Chihuahuas show agression towards other dogs AND humans. According to the American Temperament Test Society, “Pit Bull” type dogs have a temperament passing rate of 86.7%. That’s lower than dogs such as the Beagle, Border Collie, and Chihuahua.
So uneducated. You really should do more research before commenting.
Chihuahuas are the worst and most likely to kill … I suppose you have statistics to back that up?
Where are you getting this information?
From the list of the DEAD. There have been 87 people who have lost their lives to Pits in the last 3+ years. I have the list which includes names and dates.
May 2019, St. Lucie County, FL – Christine Liquori, 52
May 2019, Jefferson County, KY – Isaiah Geiling, 2
March 2019, Dallas County, TX – Johana Villafane, 33
March 2019, Alachua County, FL – Tanner Kinnamon, 2
March 2019, Rowan County, NC – Jacari Long, < 1
February 2019, Lubbock County, TX – Johnnie Garner, 88
February 2019, Riverside County, CA – Angela Johnson, 54
February 2019, Todd County, KY – Ashton McGhee, 1
January 2019, Potter County, TX – Ed Stanley, 85
January 2019, San Bernardino County, CA – Lana Bergman, 70
November 2018, Newaygo County, MI – Sharon Daniels, 77
November 2018, Citrus County, FL – Cecileigh Garris, < 1
November 2018, Clark County, KY – April Collins, 45
October 2018, Edgecombe County, NC – Triniti Harrell, 1
October 2018, District of Columbia – Angela Smith, 55
September 2018, Baker County, OR – Mitchelle Segerdahl, 53
September 2018, Howard County, MD – Robin Conway, 64
September 2018, Siskiyou County, CA – Teena Mawhorter, 74
August 2018, Hamilton County, OH – Della Riley, 42
August 2018, Edgecombe County, NC – Gurney Walker, 75
August 2018, Montgomery County, NC – Olga Rekhson, 64
August 2018, Cook County, IL – Karen Brown, 57
August 2018, Philadelphia County, PA – Jaevon Torres, 2
July 2018, Duval County, FL – Jaelah Smith, 6
June 2018, Humboldt County, CA – Donald Steele, 91
May 2018, Broward County, FL – Liana Valino, < 1
May 2018, Clark County, NV – Bradley Cline, 62
May 2018, Blair County, PA – Gauge Eckenrode, 6
May 2018, Harrison County, MS – Georgia Morgan, 75
May 2018, Carter County, OK – Tracy Garcia, 52
March 2018, Milwaukee County, WI – Hong Saengsamly, 49
March 2018, Cape Girardeau County, MO – Loxli Chavez, 1
March 2018, Bexar County, TX – Noah Trevino, 4
February 2018, Daviess County, KY – David Brown, 46
January 2018, Stephens County, OK – Rylee Marie Dodge, 3
January 2018, Ouachita Parish, LA – Laura Ray, 53
December 2017, Stanislaus County, CA – Deborah Onsurez, 56
December 2017, Bell County, KY – Lorraine Saylor, 66
December 2017, Goochland County, VA – Bethany Stephens, 22
December 2017, Cook County, IL – Dorothy Ford, 77
December 2017, Jackson County, AL – Emily Mae Colvin, 24
November 2017, Marshall County, AL – Tracy Cornelius, 46
November 2017, Richmond County, NC – David Baber, 65
October 2017, Johnson County, AR – Sharon Lindemann, 75
October 2017, Middlesex County, MA – Javien Candelario, 7
September 2017, Gilmer County, GA – Kathy Sue Nichelson, 61
September 2017, Knox County, OH – Barrett Hagans, < 1
September 2017, Neshoba County, MS – Connie Storey, 61
August 2017, Palm Beach County, FL – Grace Walks, 41-years old
August 2017, Calhound County, FL – Alicia Malagon, 76
August 2017, Hart County, GA – Paris Adams, 1
July 2017, El Paso County, TX – Jacob Brooks, 4
July 2017, Seneca County, OH – Michael Parks, 60
July 2017, McCreary County, KY – Vinson Tucker, 79
June 2017, Gallatin County, MT – Melissa Barnes, 65
June 2017, Virginia Beach, VA – Margaret Colvin, 90
May 2017, Kent County, MI – Susannah Murray, < 1
May 2017, Clark County, NV – Kamiko Dao Tsuda-Saelee, < 1
April 2017, Lehigh County, PA – Lisa Green, 32
April 2017, Montgomery County, OH – Maurice Brown, 60
April 2017, Oklahoma County, OK – Cecille Short, 82
March 2017, Calvert County, MD – Jase Patrick Fohs, < 1
February 2017, Los Angeles County, CA – Valentine Herrera, 76
February 2017, Adams County, IL – Jamie Owsley, 21
January 2017, Fulton County, GA – Logan Braatz, 6
December 2016, Cabell County, WV – Isaiah Franklin, 6
October 2016, Staten Island, NY – Daisie Bradshaw, 68
September 2016, Shawnee County, KS – Piper Dunbar, 2
August 2016, Jefferson County, CO – Susan Shawl, 60
August 2016, Clark County, NV – Derion Stevenson, 9
August 2016, Screven County, GA – Michelle Wilcox, 30
July 2016, Honolulu County, HI – Crisencio Aliado, 52
July 2016, Navajo County, AZ – Kayden Begay, 3
July 2016, Wayne County, MI – Elizabeth Rivera, 71
June 2016, Fresno County, CA – Susie Kirby, < 1
June 2016, Penobscot County, ME – Hunter Bragg, 7
June 2016, San Joaquin County, CA – Earl Stephens Jr., 43
May 2016, Dallas County, TX – Antoinette Brown, 52
May 2016, St. Louis County, MO – Adonis Reddick, 45
April 2016, San Diego County, CA – Sebastian Caban, < 1
March 2016, Lake County, FL – Sonda Tyson, 66
March 2016, Mecklenburg County, NC – Bessie Flowers, 86
March 2016, Thurston County, WA – Gladys Alexander, 92
Februrary 2016, Perquimans County, NC – Suzanne Story, 36
January 2016, Robeson County, NC – Talan West, 7
January 2016, Grayson County, VA – Payton Sawyers, 1
January 2016, Yuba County, CA – Tyler Trammell-Huston, 9
So what i saw was name’s and date’s of people that are the same basically, young and old, whome both need supervision, that where attacked and killed because they where not being supervised, and tried to touch a dog that didn’t want to be touched and somehow this is the breeds falt! No! And before you try it i counted about maby 6 or 7 people between the ages of 20 to 45 that where attacked and killed by this ooo so viscous breed. So because of your numbers could we deduce that these 6 to 7 people may have been mentally handicapped e.g. making them the same age’s mentally as those 1yr olds and the elderly that even if you said don’t pet that dog world do it anyway. Your stats are flawed my friend. Just except the fact that you don’t like the Pitt bull breed, and don’t get one for yourself and get over it. Oh by the way if your friend has one just invite them to your house and you’ll never have to worry about being bitten by that breed. Problem solved.
Congratulations, you know how to use Google but that list doesn’t answer my question. It’s pretty clear though that the source of your “research” is media reports and probably dogsbite.org, which uses the media as well. However, it’s been proven time and time again that media based statistics are inaccurate and unreliable. If you had really done your research you’d know that already. You’d also know that studies done by the American Temperament Test Society found pit bulls have a temperament passing rate of 86.7%. This is lower than dogs such as the Beagle, Border Collie, and Chihuahua.There’s a reason why the American Veterinary Medical Association and CDC, along with the American Bar Association, Humane Society of the United States, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, StateFarm, the National Canine Research Council and MANY more have expressed their opposition to breed bans. There’s a reason why so many states are reversing their BSL or removed “Pit Bulls” from said list.
“The most comprehensive research suggests that dog demographics are not relevant to DBRFs (Dog Bite Related Fatalities), but rather preventable human decisions regarding care, husbandry, and control of their canine charges may be the most important variables.” – source
National Animal Control Association Guideline Statement: “Dangerous and/or vicious animals should be labeled as such as a result of their actions or behavior and not because of their breed.”
AVMA
AVMA Journals
I HIGHLY suggest you do some actual research before opening your mouth. If you find any studies that support your view I’d love to know cause currently there is NO reliable evidence to back you up.
I wish that you didn’t list the dogs most likely to bite in the order you did. Last I checked into dog bite statistics (it’s been a few years) pit bulls were #13 I believe? AFTER golden retrievers. And chihuahuas first, like you have on your list. I think the way they’re listed is a bit misinformative as it makes it seem like that’s the order of dogs most likely to bite which I don’t believe it is. Suggest adding “this list does not like breeds most likely to bite by frequency” or something.
Quote me the last fatal Chihuahua attack.
Hello I am writing a research paper on this topic and I was wondering what the source is for “why dogs bite” thank you.
You’re probably done with your paper but I HIGHLY suggest you check out the following.
Can you be more specific? The sources for this article are listed here. If you reference any of our content please source CanineJournal.com. Thanks and good luck with your paper!
Hello, I am a Pet Specialist with over 41 years experience. I specialize in hard to handle and difficult dogs, what is said in this article is exactly what the American Veterinarian Medical Association has found in studies they have performed over the last several decades. Honestly do some serious research yourselves. While you are at it study every breed charitoristics and behaviors, and what the breeds were originally intended use were. You would find HUMANS created this aggressive dog problem, and HUMANS are responsible for the actions of said dog! All dogs will bite! Have none of you watched the You Tubes of children provoking said bites by poking and teasing? O bred, raised, trained, and showed German Shepherds for 25 years, in those 25 years, I never walked away without being responsible for my dogs, all the down to having a personal protection dog put down for attacking the neighbor child for crossing yards at the corner. I was not ordered, we chosen to have him put down, it was an unjustified bite!
I currently own a Perro de Presa Canario, pit bulls worse nightmare! But she wouldn’t hurt one dog, shares food, bever growls at dogs, never been attacked by a dog. She sleeps with a smile on her face….
My fear? Some dumb human allowing their dog to be unsupervised or them getting out of control and attacking her. I still let her meet, but under my order of process. Dogs meet laying down. I clip large dog nails laying down. I raise my dogs to submit to the slightest pressure, all my dogs! I have altered and unaltered, a total of 10 dogs with me, not one is allowed to grumble at each other…they know to submit to voice. They know how to LEAVE IT! Why? Because this leader is the only leader and it is ok to let me handle their problems. No one is separated, no one is locked up in a crate. We all live on harmony in my home.
Understand what you all are commenting about and research current findings…oh, and dogbite.org is ran by a anti-pit bull organization working on eliminating dogs by look…not by a breed. Go DNA what you think is a pit bull and I will bet you they are not a pit bull. I just proved several examples at our city hall meeting in Yakima, WA. What is thought to be pit bull were often Boxer/lab mix, Dalmation Boxer mix, contained less than 12.5% Staffordshire with Boxer and Great Dane, and the best one was 12.5% Great Dane 12.5% Hound and 12.5% pug. These DNA samples were tested using Wisdom panel. Unless you DNA an adopted dog you are playing Russian roulette without knowing what breed characteristics you may have to deal with. Just because it looked like a pit, does not mean it was, and until owners are educated on what they have as a dog, the will continue to be doing bite and misunderstanding!
DeEtte Wood, Yet for all your “knowledge” and “caution” one of your dogs bit a kid. Yup, nope, not gonna listen to you. The blue nose pitbull terrier that tried to kill my dog and bit me while we were walking on the opposite side of the road on leash, did not growl, did not bark but trotted up to us with a smile and grabbed her by the neck. Now I admit, if I and 2 others hadn’t fought him off to save her life, I probably wouldn’t have gotten bit but my dog would be dead. In the end it was another dog that saved my dogs life, an Australian Shepard, by drawing the attacking dog that would not stop trying to get past me sheltering her on the ground and my husband hitting the attacking pitbull with a posthole digger spinning him around multiple times and each time he was right back on her. Ozzy the Shepard gave my 1 year old medium dog and I enough time to escape before he jumped back in his own yard. One year later the same pit tried to attack my husband in our front yard. At the same time 3 pitbulls tore a neighbors big gentle mixed breed to pieces in his own yard and last year, same neighnorhood within 6 blocks 3 different pitbulls attacked a neighbors elderly mother and dog while on a walk almost killing the dog and severely injuring her Mother. I’ve owned German Shepards and Rottweillers and even ACD, aka blue heelers…. yet not one human or dog ever bit or attacked by my dogs.
Awesome! Well educated, experienced and factual! Dogs respond well to love, discipline and respect. Thank you for being a wonderful advocate for all canines.
What you’re saying is exactly what my research says. So glad you responded!
I’m glad you’re doing ACTUAL research on the subject, not believing all the inaccurate media reports and thinking for yourself based on the evidence!!! Unlike alot of the people commenting on here.
Try being the one whose dog is being attacked by a pitbull while you’re minding your own business obeying the law and walking your dog on leash on a public road on the opposite side of the road because one of the neighbors other pits, the mother dog had already attacked a few months earlier. The mother dog (being polite, not sure if people would be offended by the proper term for a female dog),the mother dog should never have been bred, the owners knew she was aggressive, but they were ignorant and it all comes down to genetics just like my brother’s green eyes…. genetics. Worse part is, there’s no way to get to my house without passing theirs, so no more walks, it’s not worth my dog being maimed or killed. And they aren’t the worst offenders in my middle class neighborhood. I did tons of research after that attack, pitbulls are dangerous, don’t think so, call your insurance agent or landlord and tell them you have a pitbull.
Well said
DeEtte Wood, thank you soooo much for your comment. I just now ran across this. I agree with you 100%. And just reading dogbite.org you can definitely tell they are run by anti-pitbull individuals. Sick when they spread incorrect information. DNA testing should be free on pit bull {type} dogs. This way everyone would be able to get their dog tested. Not just people that can afford a small fee of $100. (No, I did not look up the price) Even a price of $45 would be tough for some people. I support what you are doing and hope you keep up the good work. 🙂
dogsbite.org is an absolute joke!! The woman who started it uses information from the website of Merritt Clifton started and his list illustrates perfectly what the AVMA Task Force on Canine Aggression calls “media-driven portrayals of a specific breed as ‘dangerous.’” Both ONLY use the media to get their data so if the media doesn’t cover an attack it’s not in their statistics. Not good sources AT ALL!
Here’s something for all you Pitbull haters:
“Maulings by dogs can cause terrible injuries and death—and it is natural for those dealing with the victims to seek to address the immediate causes. However as Duffy et al (2008) wrote of their survey based data: “The substantial within-breed variation…suggests that it is inappropriate to make predictions about a given dog’s propensity for aggressive behavior based solely on its breed.” While breed is a factor, the impact of other factors relating to the individual animal (such as training method, sex and neutering status), the target (e.g. owner versus stranger), and the context in which the dog is kept (e.g. urban versus rural) prevent breed from having significant predictive value in its own right. Also the nature of a breed has been shown to vary across time, geographically, and according to breed subtypes such as those raised for conformation showing versus field trials.” –AVMA
People need to learn how to research something probably and think for themselves. Dumb is dangerous people!
Where are you getting this information from?? You are totally incorrect to put Papillons on a list of dog biters. This is Not correct AT ALL. Do you own a Papillon? Wherever you got this information from it is not right. Papillons are one of the Smartest and Sweetest Breed around. Please fix your information or make sure you know what you’re talking about before you write things that are TOTALLY INACCURATE!
Just because you own the breed doesn’t make the data incorrect. Subjective information is not fact
Hello, I am a Pet Specialist in Eashington Dtate, I have been snapped at by a Papillon, this was an environmental issue. Please dont say they won’t, all dogs can and will.
You can see our source for Papillons being one of the most common biters here.
That is another website that is totally inaccurate
My question to you is do you own a Papillon, do you actually know anything about the Breed so you just copy information from another inaccurate site to yours. In that article its claiming rage syndrome which is a joke. Not once does it mention BITERS. THE ONLY WAY A PAPILLON WOULD EXPERIENCE THAT IS FROM READING GARBAGE LIKE THIS. !!!!!!!
So how long have you been studying dogs? What qualifications do you have to backup your claim that the website is “totally inaccurate”? How could you possibly know? Please enlighten us all
This article was written by a Pit Bull owner and advocate. As we know, their favorite pastime is trying to convince people that small breed dogs are more dangerous and bite more than Pits. It’s all B/S. You didn’t see a single number of bites for any dog in that made up list. Why? Because that lust is the opinion of a Pit bull advocate. Alleging that small dogs bite more is their attempt to sensationalize the article. Further her opinion is based in the ranking of the ATTS which further proves she has no idea what that test was designed to demonstrate. They even state that other dogs scored lower. They just cherry picked the toy breeds (again) to sensationalize the article. Even the source they direct you to for their “findings” says nothing of the sort about Papillons. Every legit list of bites, maulings and fatalities lists the Pit Bull as Number one. Been that way for more than three decades.
Do some research! You don’t know what you’re talking about. Educate yourself! Dumb is dangerous!
The writer of this article does not own a pit bull. And our site advocates for all dogs, including pit bulls and papillions. As mentioned previously in this comment thread, papillions are listed here. We sited our sources and stand by the content in this article. I’m sorry you find the article to be inadequate to your beliefs.
I do agree with you about the smaller dogs being more aggressive than larger dogs. I have owned Chi’s and yes, they are aggressive. I’ve owned and fostered pits. The Chi was more aggressive than the all the pits I’ve owned. I have no personal information on the pap but I have always believed in the saying “the smaller the dog the bigger the attitude”. This is my experience with dogs. I’ve owned GSD, PB, Aussies, Beagles, poodles, Shih Tzu’s, min schnauzers. I know there are others but this is what comes to mind right now. I’ve found the larger dogs are less aggressive then the smaller ones. Some people may be blind due to their resistance to look past their own prejudices.
No, I don’t own a Papillon. We don’t own every breed we write about. We sourced the website in our article. It is up to each reader to decide if that source is reliable or not. We respect your opinion and appreciate you sharing it with us.