What are the “Dangerous Dog Breeds“? Would you classify it by the dogs size? Would you classify it by the known stereotypes people have labeled certain breeds with? Maybe the answer lies in what your home owners insurance company will tell you. What if I told you the highest number of reported dog bites doesn’t come from a pit bull, or a Rottweiler, or a German Shepherd? What if I told you the highest number of reported dog bites last year was by the tiny Dachshund?

That’s right, the cute little wiener dog has a real nasty streak. Ok, not really, but they are tightly wound like the majority of toy breeds, but that doesn’t mean they should be labeled “aggressive”. I owned a Rottweiler for 11 years, and the thing that I learned about the breed is that they are all what you make of them. From the day I met her, rescuing her from a horrible puppy mill called “Puppy Love”, I saw how sweet her soul was. She was all about kisses and cuddles, and the illusion of my “BIG BAD Guard Dog” instantly melted away. Now don’t get me wrong, she was as imposing to look at as any dog I have ever seen, but inside she was made of the soft stuff you would expect to find in a teddy bear. I never taught her to be suspicious of strangers, I never taught her that others were her enemy, so she was much like myself, a gentle giant. On the other side of the coin, my significant other at the time owned a Min Pin which was a awesome toy dog, but was made by her “mommy” to be suspicious of strangers from the opening bell. She (play) bit me regularly, and didn’t have an issue taking a bite out of our vet. Is that to say every Miniature Pinscher is that way, of course not. What it says is that every dog breed, big or small, is likely a direct reflection of its training. Hence the view, there are no bad breeds, only bad owners.

There are hundreds of thousands of Pit Bulls and other large breeds that are euthanized not because they are bad dogs, but because they are not taken in because of their breed. there are sad examples of bad people turning a sweet dog into a dangerous animal by harming or training it to be a weapon, and many times these dogs can’t be saved. And it is difficult for an inexperienced owner or someone with small children or other pets to bring a grown dog into your home not knowing what to expect. But I again refer to the fact that the shelters would not be so populated if people would buy a dog for the right reasons and train it properly. You do not have to teach a puppy or dog to protect you by violent means, it will protect you no matter what because it loves its owner and its family. If you are the kind of person who want’s a dog only for security or some other out there idea, you should probably not own an animal anyway.

Now going back to my original topic of what dogs are dangerous. The answer to this is all of them, or none of them. The aggressiveness of a canine is based on the intentions and action of its owner. I have never seen a bad dog breed, but I have seen plenty of powerful animals turned into something that can cause a lot of harm. Use common sense in all things, if you have a 1 year old child, realize that a German Shepherd, because of its size, will have a much higher chance of accidentally hurting your child than a  Shih Tzu. If you hit your dog to discipline it, it may snap at one of your kids if they are playing around and petting it forcefully. Educate all members of your family on the way to properly treat your furry friend, and you will have a friendship filled with laughs and rewarding love.