Dog breeds pre-disposed to aggression?

[hughsurrey]

Your very lucky to never have been bitten if your constantly exposed to unknown dogs and there are a few reasons a dog might bite not all of them being the victims nervousness

I probably didn't make myself clear, when talking about the transmission of anxiety to the dog, I was speaking in relation to another dog owner approaching my dog where the approaching dog is reacting, and the owner explains it as the dog being scared of (in my case) GSDs. I have found that it is usually the dog owner who is nervous of a particular breed and they transfer that anxiety to their dog who reacts.

We had a situation with my partner for a while when she was walking a large male GSD we had. She didnt like walking him as she said he was too protective of her but, when we spoke about it, she was seeing people approaching, would start to worry how the dog would react, the dog would pick up on her anxiety and start reacting and she would get more anxious etc etc. The solution was for her to realise that the dog would only react to a percieved threat, and once she was comfortable with the idea, and relaxed the dog was less reactive, but he would still react correctly to an external threat.

 

[alberta boy]

Interesting thread . I've been around dogs all my life , mostly Staffs and American Pit Bull Terriers , never had a problem with them . They're calm and reliable animals . As Dodgey Knees pointed out though , the bitches will not tolerate any dominant behaviour from strange dogs . Unfortunately , these breeds tend to attract idiots at times . You'll get aggressive animals in any breed , but I've found it's usually down to meat heads who encourage this behaviour or people who simply don't know how to train a dog properly . I will say that some of the most profoundly aggressive dogs I've seen were in the Arctic belonging to our native people . Some of the Dene and Inuit people still use sled dogs , it did die off for a number of years , but has seen a resurgence lately . They are pure working animals and are known for considering anything they can subdue as food , including children . I was up North a number of years ago when two Dene children were killed and partially eaten by a team of sled dogs . It still happens occasionally . I've known a few people who've raised them as pets , they're actually a remarkable breed , but they are fighters and will constantly try to dominate their owners . Not a breed for the faint of heart . If you need to pull a sled with a few hundred pounds of gear across snow , frozen lakes or pack ice , they can't be beat . If you don't , there are many other , more tractable breeds to choose from .

AB

 

[hedge hunter]

Iv had bull breeds most of my life.grandfather used too show them. Personally iv never had any problems. I think the key is too socializ a dog as soon and as early as possible

 

[Twodogs]

Iv had bull breeds most of my life.grandfather used too show them. Personally iv never had any problems. I think the key is too socializ a dog as soon and as early as possible

You couldn't be more correct. In fact I would go as far as say that it is essential to socialise any dog preferably as a puppy. Older dogs can be socialised but it becomes a much harder task.
I would also opine that it is essential, for a well behaved dog, to teach it and show it strong leadership and control. The greater the control you have over any dog the greater it has its freedom.

 

[Twodogs]

Interesting thread . I've been around dogs all my life , mostly Staffs and American Pit Bull Terriers , never had a problem with them . They're calm and reliable animals . As Dodgey Knees pointed out though , the bitches will not tolerate any dominant behaviour from strange dogs . Unfortunately , these breeds tend to attract idiots at times . You'll get aggressive animals in any breed , but I've found it's usually down to meat heads who encourage this behaviour or people who simply don't know how to train a dog properly . I will say that some of the most profoundly aggressive dogs I've seen were in the Arctic belonging to our native people . Some of the Dene and Inuit people still use sled dogs , it did die off for a number of years , but has seen a resurgence lately . They are pure working animals and are known for considering anything they can subdue as food , including children . I was up North a number of years ago when two Dene children were killed and partially eaten by a team of sled dogs . It still happens occasionally . I've known a few people who've raised them as pets , they're actually a remarkable breed , but they are fighters and will constantly try to dominate their owners . Not a breed for the faint of heart . If you need to pull a sled with a few hundred pounds of gear across snow , frozen lakes or pack ice , they can't be beat . If you don't , there are many other , more tractable breeds to choose from .

AB

Interestingly most fatal dog attacks in the UK, though not all, happen by family pets on a member of the family and it is usually a child.

The Canadian fatal dog attack statistics bear out AB's comment on the sled type dog attacks. Some commentators think that the number may well be higher due to under reporting for various reasons.

Unfortunately certain breeds, especially the bull type, do seem to attract certain types of owners who have ulterior motives for their possession of those breeds.

 

[Acm]

I’ve been badly bitten by a chow chow which ended up with me in a&e and the dog being destroyed.
Paterdale terriers ive known to be problematic.
I haven’t read the entire thread but have also had issues with greyhounds, German shepherds, Pitt bulls and a Rottweiler.
I’ve literally never known a Labrador bite someone, and I’ve known a lot of labs. You have to be careful with collies but unlike the breeds mentioned above they tend to nip when your backs turned rather than full on attack.
i once hit a pit bull as hard as I actually could with a piece of 4x2 as it was attacking another dog, I swear it would of killed a lot of animals and this thing barely knew it’d been touched, I agree that the problem lies with the owner, but I think it’s the potential of those types of dogs that makes them dangerous.

 

[Bowland blades]

I probably didn't make myself clear, when talking about the transmission of anxiety to the dog, I was speaking in relation to another dog owner approaching my dog where the approaching dog is reacting, and the owner explains it as the dog being scared of (in my case) GSDs. I have found that it is usually the dog owner who is nervous of a particular breed and they transfer that anxiety to their dog who reacts.

We had a situation with my partner for a while when she was walking a large male GSD we had. She didnt like walking him as she said he was too protective of her but, when we spoke about it, she was seeing people approaching, would start to worry how the dog would react, the dog would pick up on her anxiety and start reacting and she would get more anxious etc etc. The solution was for her to realise that the dog would only react to a percieved threat, and once she was comfortable with the idea, and relaxed the dog was less reactive, but he would still react correctly to an external threat.

Owner transmitting thier thoughts and fears down the lead very common unfortunately! If the human is cool the dogs genrally cool about things . Masters of none verbal communication

 

[User00036]

Back in the day we always seemed to end up with some nasty dogs on the farm, Collies Alsatians & more recently Cattle dogs, it was an accepted fact that if you turned up at an isolated farm, there would be a dog there that was not socially acceptable. Suspicious, protective, not an out & out attack minded dog but folks would hoot their horns rather then get out of their cars. because of our location these dogs were simply unused to strange people & other dogs, they never left the farm. They were brilliant, working animals. We never had a theft from the farm in all those years. My first cattle dog was a bastard, you could leave a wallet & mobile phone on the dashboard of the truck, do some shopping, & when you got back you knew it would still be there. Same with the house, I could go away for the weekend & leave the door fully open, when I came home I knew he would be under the kitchen table. Times change, police started calling saying that cyclists were scared, even though the dogs never left the yard. I asked what the problem was, & they said dogs were looking at people in a menacing manner, I told them what do you want me to do train them to smile??? & where will you lot be at 3am when pikeys are emptying my diesel tanks. Jeez,I won't bother ringing, I'll just open the back door. End of problem.

 

[Redders]

My local dog warden once popped round for something he told me the dog he hates the most is a collie as they're so agile and nippy they always manage to latch on the back of your leg he said hed take a german Shepherd any day of the week

 

[Redders]

Back in the day we always seemed to end up with some nasty dogs on the farm, Collies Alsatians & more recently Cattle dogs, it was an accepted fact that if you turned up at an isolated farm, there would be a dog there that was not socially acceptable. Suspicious, protective, not an out & out attack minded dog but folks would hoot their horns rather then get out of their cars. because of our location these dogs were simply unused to strange people & other dogs, they never left the farm. They were brilliant, working animals. We never had a theft from the farm in all those years. My first cattle dog was a bastard, you could leave a wallet & mobile phone on the dashboard of the truck, do some shopping, & when you got back you knew it would still be there. Same with the house, I could go away for the weekend & leave the door fully open, when I came home I knew he would be under the kitchen table. Times change, police started calling saying that cyclists were scared, even though the dogs never left the yard. I asked what the problem was, & they said dogs were looking at people in a menacing manner, I told them what do you want me to do train them to smile??? & where will you lot be at 3am when pikeys are emptying my diesel tanks. Jeez,I won't bother ringing, I'll just open the back door. End of problem.

My farm collies are just the same only leave the farm to go round sheep up away from home they're excellent workers and like to protect the farm yard as its there home at the end of the day

 

[User00036]

My farm collies are just the same only leave the farm to go round sheep up away from home they're excellent workers and like to protect the farm yard as its there home at the end of the day

Our collies were what we called Drovers collies, they were taller than borders, a cattle collie a bit more nippy, rangey looking coyote types. & not so long haired. Only problem was, he would go Bitching last thing in the evening, & go miles after a bitch, come home completely knackered, if he couldn't get to the bitch he would take a welly boot away if it was left outside. Had a lot of insurance claims. Haven't seen one in ages, saw them in South west Ireland, outside farm doors, they looked at you like wall eyed wolves! I'd have bought one home in a flash. Great dogs.

 

[nun_hunter]

Whilst not directly related to the original question but the latest stats for dog on human fatality statistics from the USA. I am trying to collect similar results for the UK . UK results would almost certainly be different as the Pit Bull is a banned breed and not freely available, not to say they're not out there.
Pit bull - 72% (33)
Unreleased/unknown - 13% (6)
American Bulldog; GSD; Mastiff/Bull Mastiff; and mixed breed - 4% (2) each
Other breeds 2%, one per five different breeds.
When breed was known only 3 deaths did not involve bull breed or mastiff type dogs.

An 11 year report released by New York City Police dept in 2008 showed that when dangerous dogs are shot, by police, 72% were Pit Bulls followed by Rottweilers with 10%.

Probably too difficult to work out from the data available but it would be more revealing to work out the breeds in unprovoked or unexpected attacks.

A rottweiler, GOD or pit bull used as a guard dog or status attack dog that bites someone isn't really a shock as its doing what it was trained to do and generally the same breeds are used for that work. A Lab trained to attack intruders would also bite and not be a surprise, same way farm collies are defensive of their home to a stranger. Most family pet bull breeds are soft and gentle whereas we all know someone with a little yappy lap dog that although a family pet wouldn't trust is as far as we could kick it.

 

[Dan Newcombe]

Surely the answer to this question is surely a breed who was developed with a requirement for confrontation of some sort so your terriers, fighting dogs and guarding breeds but you could also include herding dogs (many of which developed into guards).
We have had labs that have ranged from soft as washing to absolute arseholes and I’ve seen terriers range from soft to perfectly happy to fight their own shadow but as a rule labs and breeds like thag

 

[Dan Newcombe]

My thought would be that any breed that was bred to deal with confrontation will be more aggressive than ones not bred for that so your terriers, fighting dogs, guard dogs and herding dogs are likely to be more aggressive than your spaniels and retrievers etc as a general rule.

 

[hogsnest]

I've owned a lot of pig dogs, duck and deer digs over the last 40 years, just about every breed or x breed you can name until I finally cracked it with my own breed 19 yrs ago, and in my humble opinion it's all comes down to the owner at the end of the day.I've had dogs that were killing machines on the hill but at home they were the most laid back, friendly child loving animals you could ever meet. The only dogs that ever
terrified me were 4 Dogo Argentino's at a rural property, they growled at me in a deep grumble like a bear in their steel cages but then again that's the way their owner wanted them.I also received a large number of dogs on death row from the local Council dog pound for a number of years, I trained and sold a lot of them but I also shot probably as many because the poor buggers had been mistreated before being impounded. So in my extensive experience would definitely say any dog is capable dependent on how they have been raised.