Everyone warns against chows and then says rotties and pit bulls are sweet, but look, this just isnt true. Although Rotties and Pit Bulls are sweet to their families, they are NOT sweet with strangers nor other animals like less dominant breeds. sure, asiatic breeds tend to be guard animals, this goes for Chows, Shar Pei's, Akitas, and most spitz-type dogs, including pomeranians. They naturally guard, but they dont naturally pick fights. Pit bulls pick fights, thats what they were bred to do. However, it should be noted that pit bulls are the most badly-bred puppy-milled dogs in existence it seems, and thus, they have many bad qualities. buy from a reputible breeder, and you'll have a better pit bull less likely to bite, the same for Chows and rotties, and any breed.
If I had to pick a kind of dog to stay away from, it'd be mini breeds and toy breeds, as well spaniels. Cocker and Springer Spaniels are known to have personality problems once they hit a certain age, Springers get whats called "Rage", where they just rip apart stuff at a moments notice for no reason. Toy breeds are yippy, high-strung and overly bred. Do not get a pomeranian for your child, little dogs hate kids, because kids can seriously hurt them.
Pitt Bulls are NOT great dogs, like their owners seem to agree on [any dog is 'harmless' to his owner, until he mauls a kid for no reason] because pitt bulls were bred to fight creatures their size. If you are their size and seem threatening, they will attack, and usually this is with kids. Chows are actually better with kids than pitt bulls and rotties, because they are much less energetic and rowdy. However, even though a pit bull will grow to love its own family, it will still attack a kid it doesnt know, as well as other dogs. Get a lab, or a lab mix, do not go getting a pitbull thinking that all the stories about them were wrong because a couple people want to flaunt their dogs off as harmless. Chow dogs are dangerous, as pitt bulls and rotties are, as well as many, MANY other breeds, if you do not socialize them. Thats why their called guard dogs, they guard. but what you have to understand is that the Chow is less a domestic dog and more a guard dog-bear hybrid with feline tendencies, so dont expect it to act like other dogs. A Pitt bull is like a Lab half the time energy-wise, a killer in a moment, but is all domestic dog.
Also, steer away from Spitz-type breeds. They are more primitive than other types, and thus can handle heavy work better, but NEED work in order to remain managable. Get a pitt bull before a malamute, because a pitt bull is much less efficient at killing than a malamute, who could live on his own quite easily. Chows are spitz-type and may have been the ancestors to all of the other spitz-types, but they arent like any other dogs around, so you'd have to know an individual before you could pass judgment. Shar-Pei's are dominant and also agressive, don't get a mastiff-shar pei mix if you don't have to. Or any shar-pei mix if possible. Shar Pei's are NOT Chows without the fur, they are not as bear-like nor as quiet and clean, although they are smaller. Chow mixes tend to be better behaved than many other kinds of mixes because chows have low energy levels in comparison to labs and such, but a purebred chow is not something I would recomend to a novice, nor would I a Pit Bull or Rott. Also, bully-breeds, such as boxers and bulldogs, have dominant personalities and need dominant owners. they do not make good family pets unless one of the people in the family is good with Bully Breeds.
Shepherd mixes are great, but tend to be shy. Lab/Shep mixes are what you really want.
the dogs most likely statistically to fatally wound from an attack are pitt bulls and rotties, but that doesnt mean that they are the ones that bite the most. It just means that they kill when they do, which may be even worse.
pure breds are actaully more likely to bite than mixed breeds, but purebreds almost always have better lives and are socialized more than mixed breeds because no one that will pay 400+ bucks for a dog is going to beat it and chain it to a tree. So, if you do treat a mixed breed like a dog SHOULD be treated, with love, it will usually make a better pet than a pure bred. And you could be saving a life.
any dog can bite, and any dog may choose not to. Its really an individual thing.
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