Agressive dogs
3 Followers“Dangerous” and “aggressive” are not always comparable — at least in the statistics. Several small dogs often display more aggressive tendencies than larger breeds, yet it’s the larger breeds that always make the “dangerous dogs” lists and have their bites tracked, sometimes skewing the statistics regarding what type of breed has the most attacks. “Damage potential” is a term that comes up with insurance companies when these companies are deciding which dogs to place on their “dangerous dogs” list: Several breeds such as wolf hybrids, Rottweilers, Dobermans, pit bulls and pit bull mixes, German Shepherds, and Akitas often make the list. Yet Chihuahuas, dogs who can and do bite often, are nowhere to be found. The reason for this disparity? Damage potential. ADVERTISEMENT Damage potential is what an insurance company will use to evaluate a dog breed. They ask: How much damage will this dog cause to a person or property should they attack? Obviously, a Doberman can do a lot more damage than a Chihuahua, so the Doberman makes the list. Although this may seem unfair to Doberman fans and other large-breed lovers, it makes sense. Your Doberman may be the most sweet-tempered dog on earth, but other Dobermans may not — and they can cause massive damage. The result of all this is that the larger breeds often get unfairly labeled as being the most aggressive dogs out there, when — in many cases — it’s dogs who barely reach their kneecaps who deserve the title of most aggressive dogs. Any dog can become aggressive under the right conditions. Photo: skeeze Why Dogs Display Aggression The dogs who cause damage most likely do so because of their ancestry. These dogs were bred to be workers, hunters and baiters. Aggression was deliberately encouraged to get these dogs to perform their specific task better. Centuries later, those traits are still coded into our dogs’ DNA.