Quote:
Originally Posted by KZoppa
there was a study done a while back that was about dog bite stats and how accurate they are. When they dug deeper they concluded that Chihuahua's and pomerenians were the most likely to bite. Our dogs only get targeted because they're big. Little yip yaps dont get faulted because most people have this mentality of how the dog is so much smaller than everything around, its just scared blah blah blah. Most little dogs bite because they werent socialized properly and/or were allowed to get away with it without correction. If i know one of my dogs will bite, they dont leave my side when we're out and about and in some situations, they're muzzled as well. Zena will bite but only to protect. As long as i'm not being threatened and my kids arent being threatened you're okay in her book but the minute there is something off about a person, hackles up, growling. They get too close after she's given very clear warning, she's lunging and snapping. And because she's willing to protect my family, she'd be considered aggressive whereas the neighbors yorkie could rip someones face off literally and it would be excused as "he's small and scared."
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Exactly. My parents are those people, sadly. My parents and I were hanging out on a porch one evening and a guy from the neighborhood walks up to say "Hey." Lupa, being a wonderful guard dog, starts barking and my mom tells him not to worry, she doesn't bite, not paying any attention to her small dog, who is also barking. The guy says, "Aw, naw, she's just a Germany Shepherd Dog, it's the small one I'm worried about!" He then specifically mentioned chihuahuas as biters. I could have hugged the man. Of course, when we're in bad neighborhoods, my mom notes what a good thing a barking GSD is.
Zena sounds like a great dog and even if she were aggressive, dogs are our creation and we should take responsibility for that. But who would give you any credit for taking responsibility if the dog you have on a tight leash and muzzled were to go after someone?
I could have hugged my potential landlady today too! Yesterday, I saw on the application for a rental property a space asking for the breed and size of the applicant's dog. I called and left a message asking about breed restrictions (may they die a quick and horrible death) and explained that my dog is 7 years old and tiny-
60 pounds on a fat day (oh yes, she's full grown in that picture and I'm 5'4''). Today, I got a message from her saying that GSDs are on the list of aggressive breeds but I know my dog and if she's aggressive and bites someone, that's my responsibility.