The Top Three Most Aggressive Dog Breeds- You’ll Be Surprised!

[DreamGypsy]

142. The study on which this article is based may be flawed...

...since the study does not appear to consider the characteristics of 'Dog Owners', or as I prefer to think of them, the incredibly fortunate humans who share their time, space, and responsibilities with one or more canine companions, whew.

Earlier I posted a link to the pdf of the study in Reply #13, if you want to look at it for reference.

One of my first observations when looking at the study was that it made no reference to the Great Pyrenees, or Pyrenean Mountain Dogs (as they are known outside of North America). I was drawn to make that observation because one of my current companions happens to identify as such. And he is a gentle giant:



However, many Pyrs are very protective, aggressive dogs, because their 'work' is to protect...sheep, llamas, people, etc...from threats - wolves, bears, assailants, home invaders, ... because they are trained to perform that way.

Many 'owners' of little dogs assume that, because of their size, a small canine companion will not be aggressive.

My experience, gained over the vast period of 20 years, is that dogs have absolutely, positively no knowledge of how 'big' they are. Dogs do NOT spend much time in front of a mirror assessing their volume, bulk, muscularity, buffness, or any other human measure of physical dominance. To a dog, a dog is a dog is a dog.

I think that little dogs get a bad rap for aggression because 'owners' of little dogs don't understand that they can be aggressive. Hence, the 'owners' don't attempt to anticipate, moderate, or mediate their small dogs behavior. The only injury that one of my dogs sustained from another dog is representative of this size ignorance: our 110 lb male Bernese Mountain Dog was confronted by an (I guess) 5 pound Chihuahua in a parking lot ... Clancy retreated from the attack and ripped out a claw on the pavement. Need I mention that our big Berner was on a leash, but the tiny, harmless Chihuahua was not.

So, in the next study we need to see the information about the breed's 'owners' - what they understand, expect, or fantasize about their breed's behavior, and how they, the human component, adapt to the expectations.

The human-canine bond is an amazing avenue for species growth...but it's a two-way street.