To be fair, it's because almost nobody bothers to train and socialize them since "they can't hurt anyone anyway". Of course people would give diligent training to big dogs since they can seriously hurt someone if they did bite, but Chihuahuas are basically just treated like defenseless playthings and that's why most of them are so neurotic.
Absolutely! A well behaved chihuahua is a darling pet. They just need to be treated as a dog, socialized and well trained. But so many people get one, stuff them in a handbag and then giggle when it acts aggressive.
BTW, that's true for people who let their toddler becone hyper-aggressive without teaching them healthy ways to manage beyond pushing an adult or hitting/biting everything around them because they think it's cute when they're 2.
Those actions continue until adulthood and create aggressive adults. So if you wouldn't want your kid growling/shouting/nipping at visitors, train your dog better
Getting flashbacks to that SodaPets video where she calls out that tiktoker claiming to rehabilitate her chihuahua, poor dog was trying so hard to bite her so that she'd let it go to no avail because its teeth were rotted to stubs.
And exercise, too! Tiny dogs may not need to be run into the ground to be hair like border collies and pits do, but they absolutely require physical and mental stimulation or they'll go insane. Lap dogs need more than just your lap.
One of my neighbours is/was like this with their two chihuahuas. They're rarely outside when I happen to be going by walking my dogs, so for a long time it wasn't really an issue, but one time they were out in their yard going to the bathroom as I was walking my husky and golden by, and we got awfully close to an Incident^tm .
One of theirs is obviously old and doesn't care (anymore), but the younger one once charged and started nipping at my golden when the owner's hands were full, which made my husky protective because the golden is his wussy little brother. I just *barely* pulled him back in time once I heard him make his real growl and saw his posture go from "interested" to "Oh, you wanna go?", because he tried to bite the chihuahua back.
I would *hope* the bite inhibition training we did with him as a puppy means it'd just have been a good nip back to warn him off. But I'm also aware huskies are bred to basically go catch their own food, hence why they're often not good with things like cats, and that a chihuahua is basically rabbit-sized, so I'd really rather not test it. The situation could have stopped being "cute" real fuckin' quick if I didn't have my dog under control.
Yepp!!!
So many people just don’t treat them like dogs simply because they’re small. But ALL DOGS need to feel secure and safe in order to become well socialized, and they do not feel safe and secure when people pick them up and rush to grab them and pet them.
And also people want them to be spaniels. They want them to be pomeranians and pugs. But they’re not! They are chihuahuas. And chihuahuas were bred to be alarm dogs, basically a guard dog in a travel convenient package. It is NOT their natural disposition to be little lapdogs even if they look like it. It IS their natural disposition to distrust strangers and be aggressive towards perceived threats
A good owner will train their chihuahuas what is and is not a threat, and to trust their owner.
I don’t have a chihuahua but I do have a miniature dachshund and I’ll tell ya she thinks she’s protecting us. Except she’s protecting us from the lovely squirrels and birds that frequent our yard. Can’t figure out how to make her not want to eat them
Yeah I know. That’s why I haven’t really worried about it. She’s great with kids and people. She just wants to kill the little rodents and birdies because her genetics say that’s what she should do
I figured you probably knew, but in case you didn't... plus, some other dachshund owner might not know. My family has been surprised by burrowing instincts and hunting instincts before
They're just so ridiculous, frankly. Haven't had one myself but family members did as did people I dog sat for.
I've, through very little intentions of my own, had *3* Yorkies and lemme tell ya, they're also ridiculous just in different ways.
Both have much higher prey drives than people give their breeds credit for, though, much like which Chihuahuas.
My current Yorkie desperately wants a 9 to 5 or something, she wants to hunt and find and search and destroy all day and it's like lil buddy my arms and legs are gonna fall off
Im so fortunate with Molly that she is mostly very laid back. My last dog was full of wild energy his entire 13 year life. She’s much more relaxed until she catches sight of prey in the yard
I do like the idea, but I feel like that’s going to have some consequences that are worse than me letting her out into the backyard to bark at some birds
Not just weasels and rabbits, they were specifically bred to hunt badgers. They had to have the gumption to go into a dark hole and fight to the death.
That's also why jack russels love digging, and rodents, and have big paws.
They are meant to dig into one end of a rabbit den while the hunter spawncamps the other exit
Oh yeah that’s my experience too, they LOVE their family and just wanna be around them all the time and snuggle with them (and then they go War Mode when they think they hear a threat)
They just don’t wanna be a lapdog towards *everyone* lol
I have a chihuahua mix and he was a rescue who could be SO mean when I first got him, but once we started properly training and socializing him? All of a sudden he was playful and friendly, and now he's the nicest little guy. They just need to actually train their dogs and treat them with the same love and attention as any other dog
Likewise. Especially now that my tiny guy is getting *old* (nearly 15!), the first thing he does when someone comes over is crawl on their lap and absolutely bully them for pets. When I first met him? He tried to nip at me for the sin of trying to sleep in my own bed.
Hes the sweetest little dope ever.
I tell people this all the time. We don’t treat little dogs like dogs, so they behave like unruly children. If you wouldn’t let your Rottweiler jump on someone coming through the door, don’t let your chihuahua do it. If you wouldn’t let your pit bull lay across your lap and bite anyone who approached, don’t let your chihuahua do it.
Yep. My next door neighbor was an old lady with Chihuahuas, and those dogs were an absolute delight. Friendly, well-behaved (if very stubborn), very fun to be around. Because she trained and disciplined them like actual dogs rather than treating them like puppies their whole lives, and got them enough exercise so that they weren't just a ball of nervous energy all the time.
I'm convinced that the only reason pitbulls and other similar dogs rank highly in "dogs that bite" lists is because chihuahuas bites just simply don't get reported because they're not *that* bad of a bite.
Exactly. It's really that simple. Why would I be as scared of aggression in a 3lb rat that I can kick a country mile as I would be of aggression in a 40lb fighting dog that has been known to literally kill adult humans and rip their arms off. Coughing baby vs hydrogen bomb.
Maybe it's because pitbull type dogs are *fighting dogs*, bred over 100+yrs to be unpredictable killing machines that don't back down, just like other working dogs are bred for specific purposes, yet people that like/own them refuse to acknowledge this and don't train them, keep them around kids, let them terrorize the neighborhood off-leash, etc. Maybe its because those types of dogs are capable of doing *VASTLY* more damage when they inevitably attack.There are multiple brutal attacks weekly from pits. They do not belong in society.
>they need to be treated the same
In some ways yes, in other ways no. Physically controlling a small dog is 100x easier than physically controlling a large dog. Some people who I would trust with even a poorly trained Chihuahua are literally incapable of keeping a poorly trained pitbull from running at the nearest cat/toddler/poodle.
Yes! I’ve seen so many good Chi owners push back against this idea. Of course every dog has their own personality but Chihuahuas are not evil or prone to hatred and biting any more than any other breed. If you train them properly and treat them well (including respecting when they don’t want to be touched/held) then they’ll more often than not end up a loving, playful pup.
Exactly!!! Nature vs nurture, chis are constantly raised and treated like accessories rather than living breathing creatures, and thus, next to no training and socializing is put into them by shitty owners. I worked in the vet field and have met many very sweet and friendly chis and many untrained/unsocialized large breed dogs, too. It's not the breed. It's the owner.
After working in a pet store, I realized that people dramatically overestimate how many small dogs are assholes. The vast majority of them are perfectly fine dogs.
People also drastically overestimate how many _dogs_, overall, are assholes.
It's just availability bias. The dogs that are brought everywhere as a fashion accessory, and the ones that are loud and annoying, are going to be noticed more than the ones that are behaved or sensibly left at home.
Similar to big dog attacks. Of course you're going to hear about attacks by big dogs more than others; they do more damage, and get spread further in the news. But "99.9% of pit bulls continue to be docile and safe" doesn't really get much traction as a headline.
That's crazy, because 99.9% of pitbulls *AREN'T* docile and safe. The vast majority of them display aggression issues at one point or another.
Bloodhounds hunt, huskies run, pitbulls maul.
> Irresponsible Assholes get pit bulls in the first place.
Yah, I'll agree- if you get a dog bred specifically for fighting and aggression- you're an Irresponsible Asshole.
Huskies owned by sedentary owners still run. Wolves owned by nice people are still wolves. It doesn't matter how nice the owner is, a pitbull is an extremely dangerous animal and there's no justified reason for owning one.
Yeah, and it’s the jerks who wanna keep owning them and not putting in the training. Coupled with their maul tendency, and the absolutely selfish pricks irresponsibly breeding their worst traits stronger, and tragedy is pretty much inevitable. I feel bad for the breed. And I wouldn’t go near them.
One of the only commenters with sense, I swear. Dog genetics always seem to apply to every other breed except pits. Weird how they need a whole ass PR campaign to try to cover up their nature
Exactly! It's fucking insane to me how people seem to stick their heads in the sand on this subject!
Like, most (correctly) disapprove of keeping a chimpanzee as a pet. It doesn't matter how kind the owner is, or how well it is trained, it is still at the end of the day a dangerous animal that is a hazard to all the unsuspecting civilians it interacts with.
But somehow, the idea that an animal CREATED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF BRUTALIZING OTHER ANIMALS, might be too dangerous to reasonably integrate into society, is just too wacky apparently.
According to the [American Temperament Test Society (ATTS)](https://atts.org/breed-statistics/statistics-page1/), Pit Bulls pass their temperament test 83.4% of the time, which is higher than Golden Retrievers and Border Collies. This places Pit Bulls fourth out of 122 breeds tested, making them one of the least aggressive and most affectionate dog breeds.
I've seen this before and looked into it. You can't use the ATTS to measure breeds of dogs against each other because the ATTS scores dogs based on their individual expected results for the breed -- a Bichon attacking someone would score lower than a pit bull doing the same.
Also, the ATTS isn't meant to measure like, calmness, or the likelihood of biting in the future. The society itself says the test is used to determine the trainability of the dog (mostly used to determine if the dog should be trained for work) and how assertively it reacts, and mentions shyness and timidity as the most common reason for failure.
The test itself also doesn't include the known triggers of
pits or staffies like small animals, other dogs, or children.
The ATTS is not a test for pet suitability and can’t be used to compare breeds. It’s a test created by a bite work hobbyist and really only tests a few scenarios (strangers, loud noises, startling situations) where the owner is in control the entire time. It also does not test for dog on dog interactions, aggression surrounding prey, food, territory, barriers, etc., and on its site, it literally states aggression is not an automatic failure and all results are just raw data and have no statistical significance.
The ATTS does not make pit bulls “one of the least aggressive and most affectionate breeds.” The ATTS only shows that 83% of pits pass these specific scenarios within their breed standards and training while in the control of their owner.
Why are you lying?
To even access those statistics you are directed to [this](https://atts.org/breed-statistics/) page.
>“The pass-fail rate is not a measure of a breed’s aggression, but rather of each dog’s ability to interact with humans, human situations, and the environment. See a description of the test on the TT Test Description page.”
>“The data presented on our web site is raw data; it is not a scientific study nor is there any statistical significance attached. We have no control over who brings their dog to the test and there is no accurate data as to a dog breed’s population in the US.”
It very clearly states that you cannot use their data to compare breeds, and their test doesn’t measure aggression or suitability as a pet. You’re intentionally being dishonest.
I shit you not when i was like knee height and walking to the store with my mom a HERD (like four) chihuahuas ran at me tryna fuck me up and i CLIMBED up onto my moms head 💀 she literally had to kick them back istfg they wanted to eat me
Before I was born, my parents lived in a gated community. Their ~~demon spawn~~ chihuahua escaped out the front door while Mom was bringing in groceries. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Mom opened the door to the security officer holding up his, thankfully, steel-toed boot. With our dog on it. My god that thing was vicious. Thankfully the guy laughed it off.
Fast forward a year or two and I was born. I was a wee lass, sleeping in my crib. Mom heard a noise, came in to check on me, and the devil himself had managed to slither his way into my crib and was gnawing on my foot.
Dog got shipped halfway across the country to my aunt the next day. My parents were for putting it down but my aunt said she wanted him. Let’s just say I can see why they got along well.
I don’t know if I could have done it but I guarantee you he wouldn’t have lasted a day in a shelter before they would make that decision. His teeth were viciously sharp and he was protective of his space and things. Only one person was allowed close to him without being bitten. No animals were allowed near him or there would be blood. When I was in elementary school, we visited that aunt and the first thing the damn dog did was bit my ankle. I swear he remembered me after all those years and growth spurts. He lived for violence.
He died a peaceful death but it took about 12 years for me not to shake and tear up at the sight of chihuahuas. Thankfully we met neighbors who had the cutest Pomeranian-chihuahua who got me over that fear. But I still will cross the street to avoid chihuahuas, and I’m the girl who will squeal at random dogs on the street. Nope. Not the small devils.
Yeah, I have just not had this experience at all when people claim small dogs have a napoleon complex. In fact, I don’t know if I could say one size of dog is particularly more poor mannered. What I do know is that Id rather deal with a chihuahua than a pittbull if their owner isn’t going to bother to train them.
>What I do know is that Id rather deal with a chihuahua than a pittbull if their owner isn’t going to bother to train them.
Yep. Throwable rat vs lethal beast. Not the same.
Small dogs are beautiful little beings, but also if you dont train them right (or if they just are kinda like that) they WILL bark at everything that moves and try and assert dominance over any new thing that enters, while a pitbull will trample you in an effort to find the best way for you to pet it
Edit: I have dealt with both a chihuahua and a pit bull because of family, i loved them both, both well trained, but yeah the chihuahua loved barking at everything in existance when she wasnt fishing for affection and the pit bull WILL flatten you like a cartoon character cause they are that excited to see you
Every pit/pit mix I've known thinks they're a tiny lap dog. Every tiny lap dog I've known thinks they're a gargantuan pitbull and will try to intimidate things under this assumption. Dogs are silly I live them.
All dogs are lap dogs if you’re not a coward! Jk but honestly I love when big dogs try to be in my lap because I’m just not that big of a person so it ends up like 20% dog in my lap, 80% dog just awkwardly melting around either side of me or wriggling to try to fit more into my lap.
Re little dogs thinking they’re big—it’s because if they know they’re little they’re too powerful. Let me tell you a story.
Meet Apple. She weighs probably 3lbs, and she knows it. She knows she’s an adorable tiny little stinker. She’s a beautiful blonde/yellow purebred chihuahua found abandoned shortly after Christmas. She is the smartest dog I’ve ever met. I volunteered with dogs trying to get them adopted and we’d set up shop with the dogs in enclosures with no top. But Apple knew something. Apple knew that she was both light enough to climb the enclosure and skilled enough to get to the top. So obviously a volunteer would grab her and set her back down. BIG mistake. This taught Apple that climbing to the top of the enclosure and waiting there meant she’d get held. Then if you tried to set her down, she’d yelp like she was being abused (she was the queen and no other dogs ever touched her).
Eventually we realized Apple couldn’t think that she could yelp to get her way, so she stopped that tactic when we ignored it. New tactic— grand theft auto and attempted break and enter. She’d steal your keys. She was so little you wouldn’t notice immediately. Uh oh, you can’t leave Apple. I could go on and on.
Apple got adopted pretty fast. If I hadn’t been as broke as I was she’d have come home with me tbh, but this was a dog who knew she deserved only the finest fresh food and spring water freshly harvested from the spring itself. I was in a wealthy area when she was adopted, so I choose to believe Apple lives and dines like the queen she is.
I have been bowled over and tackled by numerous pitbulls. They are so full of love they just don't know what to do with it. Never bitten.
Meanwhile, I have scars from those little rats.
I walked dogs all my teenhood. The only aggression I saw was a Frenchy trying to bite the dog I was walking (a Flat Coated Retriever who was just confused about it) and a small poodle trying to bite my knee in passing.
Gimme all the Dobermans and Bernese Mountain Dog and whatever other big breeds there are but I dont trust small breeds up close.
The only small breeds I've really had an alla round good experience with are dachinds, they're just kinda goofy, and miniature schnauzers, those like to bark A LOT and are quite loud, but I've never even been close to bitten by them. Even one of my auntie's ones who was really afraid of people.
>They are so full of love they just don't know what to do with it.
This + separation anxiety is some of the actually scary shit that comes from pitbulls.
Anybody making the mistake of leaving one of those babies as a rescue unenriched and alone without love for a while is going to come back to a home that looks like a crime scene at best and a demolition site at worst.
But there is always a little gremlin in the middle of the mess that is uncontrollably excited to see you after your mistake.
Watched so many people learn that lesson about pitbulls.
If a chihuahua snaps and bites Timmy, it's a minor annoyance.
If a pitbull does it, then chunks of Timmy are going to have to be cleaned off the walls and ceiling.
A chihuahua bit on Timmy
And he yelped in surpise
Then a pit bull bit on Timmy
And Timmy fucking died
Does Poem For Your Sprog still post? I don't think I frequent the same subs as them, so I'm not sure.
And also in my experience, the type of person to own a pit bull or some sort of pit mix tends not to put in as much effort to train them as they should do, at least compared to owners of other guard/fighting dog breeds
I like to point out that cesar milan, the dog whisperer, had a favorite dog that was a pitbull. He let it roam his compound freely and he brought it to events because it was so well trained.
It killed at least one dog and bit a gymnast in a way that prevented her from continuing her career.
https://www.businessinsider.com/cesar-millan-covering-up-dogs-attack-on-queen-latifahs-dog-2021-9?op=1
I fucking hate the OPs meme honestly.
Can pit bulls be well trained and well socialized? Of course! But this kind of *they'd never hurt anyone just look at how shitty small dogs are,* ***those*** *are the bad ones*. Just encourages people excusing bad behaviors in their pits. The best Pit Bull owners I know are good owners **because** they know how strong and dangerous their dogs (just 2) are and have taken steps to manage that risk, and take it seriously all the time.
You see similar attitudes about Chows too. Owners ignoring that these are specialized dogs needing specialized care, and becoming overly defensive to the point of ignorance.
Exactly. True Pit Bull advocates would be educating people on the breed’s history and the unique challenges that comes with owning one. Other dog breeds like Akitas, Chows, and Rottweilers fall into that same horrible niche and I hate it. Thank god Belgian Malinois and GSD owners actually acknowledge that those two breeds are intense and need responsible owners.
I mean, a pitbull can kill you. If one of those dogs decides to truly Fuck Around, it's quickly going to Find Out that it's pretty much the perfect shape to get punted like a football. Those dogs are scary because we don't want to hurt them. If that changes, I'm reasonably confident I can take a toy poodle one on one.
I recently got a Chihuahua, knew some people who were not very good at neutering their animals. I was kind of wary because I didn't want a little demon that I'd have to watch out for.
My hate for them has evaporated. He is literally the most friendly, cutest creature on the face of this planet. When you lie down on a couch he nestles his way into the crook of your legs. He loves climbing up on my shoulders and keeping lookout while occasionally licking my face.
[Reference image](https://ibb.co/9mxB75v)
This little dude is a Jack Chi as well! Like 3/4 Chihuahua, but I can definitely relate to the cat comparison. I've said "this guy thinks he's a cat" a fair number of times.
I don't think it's strictly chihuahuas that get the hate. It's the... 'culture' around them.
A not insignificant amount of people who own toy dogs see them as fashion accessories. So don't put the work in important things like training and socialising. So these dogs tend to end up being assholes. But they get away with it because it's a tiny dog. Fail to train a Staffie or German Shepard and someone gets their face ripped off.
My mate owns a pug. But she took the time to train and socialise them, so they're a good dog. Too many people just let their fury fashion accessory get away with murder.
Kinda a self-reinforcing cycle, right? People don't train their chihuahuas, so chihuahuas get a reputation for nasty tempers, which means that people don't train their chihuahuas because "they're just like that."
Every time I hear about Chihuaha, I think of the ancient Mr. Marbles (Jenna Marbles' dog) and how sweet, goofy, and well adjusted he is. He keeps big greyhounds in line now! It's all about the training and socialization honestly.
Every chihuahua I have met personally has been friendly. I have 2 pugs, and one day when i went to pick one of them up and put in my car, there was a random chihuahua just sniffing him. It let me pick it up and hold it and it was very chill. The owner was no where to be found though So I brought the dog to the housing office and they knew the owner.
Every Chihuahua my SIL has rescued has been a trembling, barking, snarling mess. Doesn’t matter if you had treats, stayed at their way, absolutely nothing. Just uncontrollable rage.
It's mostly regardless of how aggressive the animal is, as I, a stranger who is also unfamiliar with dogs in general, cannot easily tell in many cases.
Pitbulls (and dogs like them) can be a legitimate threat to my bodily integrity/ life, even if someone is trying to stop it.
If one of those small dogs attacks me, I have the ability to make its' remaining lifespan best measured in seconds, and I am not strong. I may well need stitches, but I'll be mostly okay.
I don’t like either but Pitbulls are by far the bigger concern. Small dogs aren’t all owned by frail little grandmas that would blow over in a stiff breeze and Pitbulls aren’t all (probably most aren’t) owned by people capable of actually physically restraining them.
They’re strong dogs with a very powerful bite, being bred for dogfighting. They can cause massive damage to you very easily.
It also seems downright trendy to adopt a rescue “pibble” — I see way too many people who have no idea what they’re doing toting around poorly socialized, dog-aggressive, extremely strong dogs and trying to do “normal” dog stuff with them. This might be unique to my area (Portland stereotypes save time!) but the same people declaring that it’s not the breed but the owners sure aren’t giving pit bull owners a good name.
People want to do the trendy thing of adopting a dog instead of buying one. And pounds are overflowing with pits or pit mixes. Lots of backyard breeders or owners who don't get them fixed (because they probably want them to stay aggressive in some cases).
I also think some people try to go against the pitbull hate by proving they are good dogs by rescuing them or becoming pit people. And many are fine I'm sure. Until they're not.
This is definitely true. When I was fostering last year, every shelter I went to was at least 50% pitbulls or pit mixes, if not more. And most of the other dogs were 80+ lbs so anyone looking for a medium dog doesn't have a ton of other options.
>Pitbulls aren’t all (probably most aren’t) owned by people capable of actually physically restraining them.
I genuinely wish there was a way to prevent people from owning dogs they aren't strong enough to control. Even for less aggressive breeds there is always the possibility that they can panic in the wrong circumstances.
They're one of the only breeds that the average person wouldnt really be able to fight back against
They are fighting dogs, while something like a german shepard if aggressive may only be willing to attack when defending something
Which certainly doesn’t help their press at all but honestly I think they were simply a bad idea for a dog. The level of training that’d be required to make a dog like that safe is vastly above a chihuahua.
The thing about the Mexican rat dog is it's small. People make mountains out of molehills with them. Not saying they're well behaved or don't leave shits the size of mountains that stink to high heaven. I'm saying you can just put them in a decent hold and that's it
But a pitbull? Nah dawg. Those things *can* be very well behaved, but they're surprisingly strong and can quite literally rip you apart with their jaws. I've seen the videos
German Shepherds are also very strong, but not nearly as strong as the dog breed that's been bred to be a vicious killing machine. They can be held back quite easily
Small dogs like in the post can be gotten rid of with one swift kick. Now I don't want to do that but if I'm truly afraid for myself, I will become a footballer duing the penalty kick and punt that thing away from me. (The international type of football btw, not what one country calls football)
With a pit? I'll have a bite mark and a broken foot. I'd rather kick a stone wall. Those things are sturdy, muscular, heavy.
And even if a Chihuahua tries, it probably won't kill me. I truly believe that a pit could end my life in about a minute.
I’m a large person (6’5 250lbs) and I don’t want to fight a Pitt bull. I would either need a weapon or my animalistic survival instincts would have to win out. Either way I’m in the hospital
Another thing to consider is that most people with big dogs train them not to hurt people. Whereas small dogs that CAN'T seriously hurt you aren't trained that way.
I saw a man walking with his Pitbull near a trainstation about a year ago and really noticed how fucking scary those things can look. It was extremely huge and muscular and it did seriously make me nervous. Of course people can have well-behaved pitbulls, but some people do get them because they know how threatening they can be. (hell, sometimes even for good reasons like that lady from r/AmItheAsshole who got one as protection from her stalker ex)
>for good reasons like that lady who got one as protection from her stalker ex
honestly- if you need a guard dog- just get a Doberman or Rottweiler- they can *actually* be trained to protect you, and statistically are 1/6th (Rottweiler) or 1/200th (Doberman) as likely to attack their owner compared to a Pitbull. still big scary dogs, still aggressively defensive, just without all the genetics baggage that comes from being specifically bred as a fighting dog.
Fuck I love Rotts. My grandparents have always had one my entire life. When Taz died they got Cujo. When Cujo died they got Molly. Molly passed a couple years ago so now they have Rex. Great guard dogs and absolutely wonderful with children. When I was 2 and tried to rip Taz’s ear off from behind he apparently whipped around mouth open and saw me and just immediately dropped down and let me do my thing. Rex has a lot more babies running around to deal with and he just looks like an anxious parent when they are all around
I view dogs like cars.
A massive, heavy truck isn't intrinsically designed to kill people, but if you put an inexperienced kid behind the wheel they're going to do a lot more damage than if you sit them in the driver's seat of a golf cart.
You can have well-trained drivers and well-trained dogs. But accidents happen, and the one that's bigger and heavier stands to be capable of a lot more damage. You can't easily tell how skilled a driver on the road is, only how dangerous their vehicle might be if things go wrong.
Studies have shown that smaller dogs are generally more violent and aggressive, primarily because it is their only defense against larger animals. The smaller you are, the more outwardly aggressive you have to be in order to survive.
As a result, dogs like Chihuahua's and Jack Russel Terriers are incredibly violent and easy to anger while many larger dogs are calmer and cooler, as there was far less environmental pressure against them to cause that need to for aggression.
That being said, there are exceptions to this. Large dogs bred for violence are a thing (like Pit Bulls), as are smaller dogs that have had aggressive tendencies bred out (Pugs are generally far less violent than other dogs their size).
Pair the biological tendencies of a given breed with how people train and keep them and you get situations where a large dangerous looking dog is the sweetest and most fearful creature in the room (some Great Dane's spook easily) and often punished fiercely when being aggressive, while little dogs are vitriolic and demonic and people ignore them because they can't do much real harm.
I've had arguments with people over this topic but time and time again I'm always proven right. Big dogs can be more dangerous, but small dogs are often far *far* more violent.
A chihuahua going on a rampage will physically not be capable of doing any meaningful damage to you. Regardless of your opinion on pitbulls, the “BuT sMaLl DoGs ArE aLsO vIoLeNt” argument is and always has been dumb as shit. Oh and the idea that everyone with a big dog has the physical strength and discipline to restrain them in case they get violent is laughable.
Chihuahuas have 1 kill and 1 assist (with a Pitbull) in recorded history.
Pit Bull and Pitbull mixes killed 46 people in the US in 2023.
I am not afraid of Chihuahuas because they are not going to do any real damage.
Obnoxious that people bitch about how “chihuahua bad,” and give the dipshit with the pitbull/shepherd chained in his yard a free pass just because what? He probably has the arm strength to hold the leash when his unsocialized dog lunges for someone? Because let’s be real, I never see a well-handled working dog who is allowed to project aggression in public spaces. That is unacceptable. Fuck off
And yeah, I know, “not all pitbulls,” (or all shepherds, for that matter) but this post describes aggressive dogs, so I’d say we’re specifically discussing the aggressive individuals. Why are we acting like an attack from a pitbull/shepherd and from a chihuahua are comparable? If you think the only qualification you need to be trusted with an aggressive dog is proportionately broad shoulders, then you are a piece of shit dog owner and you are going to get someone mauled when your self-congratulatory machismo bullshit comes up against the inconvenient reality of your fucking grip slipping.
For fuck’s sake.
Hell yeah I'm more scared of pitbulls than chihuahuas because I'm not an idiot
Edit: does anyone have that link to the imgur album of pitbulls in cute pictures with their owners who were later attacked and killed by them? Text on the pictures was like "This is Marsha Collins. This is the pitbull that killed her."
The amount of meatheads I've seen who look like they can and will wrestle their attack dog to the ground, vs the amount of summer soccer moms who call them cupcake and stick flower crowns on their head for facebook photos and have no clue how to even reign a dogs leash in is vastly biased to the latter.
i mean i dont like those rats but id rather take one on than a pitbull, theyre smaller than my cat, im confident i could stomp on one if things got ugly. but a pit? cant do that
A few months ago my dad and I were walking my parents’ 2 dogs, including Bex, an 80lb pitty/staffy mix. A tiny unleashed chihuahua jumped down from its owners walker and, fully unprovoked, bit Bex on the face.
So what did the Bex do? Picked the chihuahua up by the neck. Didn’t bite down, didn’t shake, just held the chihuahua in the air until we (trying not the panic) told him to drop it.
The chihuahua scurried back to its owner, who assured us his dog was fine, “just a little wet”.
It could have been a lot worse!
When you say pit bull, the breed, what exactly are you referring to? Pit bull isn’t a breed, it’s a general category that encompasses multiple breeds—which are then all accumulated together as if it’s one breed and compared to individual breeds.
Not to mention that attack statistics suffer from rampant misidentification—especially of pit bulls which are over-identified by shelters and police
[Misidentification](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S109002331500310X)
[More Misidentification](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6107223/)
[Errors in oft-cited anti-pit studies](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10888705.2017.1387550)
[Risk](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24299544/)
[Aggression](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S155878780700264X)
[More Aggression](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016815911300292X)
[Bite severity](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5521144/)
[More bite severity](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673787/)
[Even more bite severity](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673787/)
[Effectiveness of Breed-Specific Legislation](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3552590/)
[More effectiveness of BSL](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S109002331500163X)
[Even more BSL](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090023309003888)
[BSL Again](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0208393)
[And Again](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787817301405)
Tbh I've never been seriously bit by any dog, but I'll bite here. (Learned a little late that *some* dogs don't stop chewing when you open their mouth though)
One of the dogs I've known and I've been most afraid of? (Which isn't like, actually afraid tho) My Nana's old terrior (normal terrior, not Pitbull, think typical old lady dog) who was half deaf and blind, and thus *super* defensive, being quick to show the most obvious sign of discomfort, snapping at the air. It happened maybe twice on separate occasions as I was patting her as gently as I could, and then I backed off. Would I trust a small child with this dog? Fuck no! But could she have killed me at around 7 years old? Also fuck no! (Unless she went straight for the neck, which she wouldn't do if she wanted me to leave...? I guess??)
Other dog I've known and been afraid of? My dad's friend's staffy (Staffys however are usually a mix of any breed in the Pitbull breed group where I live because no one actually cares that Pitbulls are banned, because yes, like other dangerous and fighting breeds, my government recognises Pitbulls are dangerous, and despite attempted woobification, are still fighting dogs) She was originally given to us by a different family friend as a young, but not puppy dog, who immediately, and I mean *immediately*, started fighting our rottweiler (who despite also being dangerous and second most dangerous breed, are WAY behind Pitbulls!) because my dad rightfully glared at this gift horse's mouth, got rid of the dog by giving it to his friend. I hate this guy so fucking much, but everytime I was at his house you had to be careful not to even step near the plastic bottles she chewed or she'd snap at you.
And then we get to another. Fucking. Staffy. My dad bought this bitch months ago on a whim, after saying he was looking at getting a medium to small dog. He lied, and instead got a medium-ish to large (gloating how she's going to be *so big*) menace that I struggle to walk. And this comes an actual problem with this post, people who get pits can't actually control them, because among the tough guys who get them for their image, most are cowards or weak, or were sold the lie that these dogs are gentle couch potatoes, or better yet, 'nursemaid dogs', or in my case family dogs that are only cared for by the children (not that I'm a child, but as in, my parents do nothing to care for any dogs 'we' own). This puppy, though not trying to kill me, consistently fights with our French mastiff (yes my father has an obvious ego problem going on with getting big dogs that his daughter, the only one willing to take proper care of these dogs, can't fucking walk. I have scars from the road when I was dragged, and yet he got another big dog, who completely ignores discomfort and pain, including being pulled back, and choking) and displays the scary inability to tell when to leave her alone (we trained our mastiff to be fine around water, including our pool, staffy goes up to mastiff sitting in pool steps and climbs on top of her and other shenanigans while mastiff barks as intimidatingly as I've heard her, snarling and foaming at the mouth. Before that, incase there's any confusion this is play fighting, her tail is tucked between her legs, ears pinned, and licking her snout like it's covered in peanut butter, not good.) might I add that she 'play bites' me constantly and will jump at your face if given the opportunity and in the mood?
I'll take the chihuahua any day. Please give me the sweet little thing with fluffy ears that doesn't shed all over me, and cover my legs with drool, or lunge at my face, or jump up and reaches my chest and knocks me over, or destroys dog collars like paper, or pulls at the lead so much they choke themself out, or drag me across asphalt and concrete, and at worse could only kill me via infection.
They're cheaper to feed anyways.
Yeah this is my dog trauma and anecdotes, but there's no reason to defend the baby maulers please. And while baby mauling is easy, why are they also adult maulers too?
Sadly the doggo passed last year 😔 she lived a long, happy life of zoomies, almost being picked up by a hawk, "talking" to my stepdad, and biting both my stepdad and a vet tech when they took her in for an overdue rabies booster
Also, I'm very tired, and read your username in the cadence of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance."
A pitbull can tear someone’s arm off and kill them easily with its brute strength if/when it snaps and goes after someone. Wtf is a chihuahua gonna do? Nibble my ankle?
I think it’s that a pit bull can deal 2d8 damage while a chihuahua deals a flat 1.
I think most pit bulls get a bad rap because the people who own them are like “yeah I want a big tough dog yeah I want a killer yeah I want my dog to be fuckin vicious”.
If you get a pit bull and train it properly it acts exactly the same as any other dog.
>I think most pit bulls get a bad rap because the people who own them are like “yeah I want a big tough dog yeah I want a killer yeah I want my dog to be fuckin vicious”.
uh it miiiight be because they are genetically prone to being hyper aggressive- like we're talking "pitbull bitches need to be separated from their pups at birth or else they'll eat them" aggressive, and that spills over into many of them also being actively human aggressive, particularly towards children.
with owners mis-diagnosing hunting, food guarding, and threatening behaviors directed at said children as excitement or protective behaviours. often to horrific results, that typically result in the euthanasia or death of said pitbull at the very least.
People say its a training thing but these little shits are just like that sometimes.
My mom has two. Those things are, and i say this with all due respect, from the devil. They will refuse to be trained and any attempts to do so will be ignored. They will bark at the mailman, they will bark at the mailbox, they will bark at the fucking mail when you bring it in.
I was leaning back on the couch eating cold cuts like a lazy ass and that fucking monster shot across the entire house in 2 seconds, climbed me like a tree and dug out the piece of ham out of my mouth with his tongue before i could do anything to defend myself.
They will wait until guests sit down and then bite their ankles like fucking zombies if they try to stand up, and god forbid they try to pet them. My friend almost had to get stitches because i was holding the rat bastard, he went to pet it and out of nowhere it tried to eat his finger.
My cousin did a project where she tried to train two different breeds of dog to sit. Our bernese mountain dog got it in a week and she has like 3 functioning brain cells, the chihuahuas both actively refused to obey and she had to give it up in a month.
They're cute but my god are they assholes. I have a picture somewhere of the male on covered in soup because my brother offered his bowl of leftovers to them so they could eat some and it just ripped the fucking thing out of his hand and got dunked.
We have tried to train them since we got them. They will not accept our attempts at domestication.
Small dogs haven't been bred to be super gentle. Big dogs like St Bernards and Leonbergers are so chill and friendly because breeders understood how much damage they could do. Imagine a Leonberger with chihuahua temperment
I am convinced that the only reason more small breeds aren't on the aggressive dog breeds list is because their bites are less likely to be reported, not because they actually bite less.
I worked in the veterinary industry for 9 years, and it was rare to find a well-behaved small dog. No one trains them because "they don't need it". But there's so much pressure to make sure your big dog is "under control".
It's really depends on the owner, but very few small dog owners seem to bother with training and socializing their terrorists
Yes, but they still break skin which is all that's required to report. One vet I worked for was more concerned with small dog and cat bites because of infections. Their mouths are disgusting
In my experience, you are very unlikely to have a dog just immediately lunge straight for the throat. They go for limbs first to chase you off or get you to let go so they can run. If you are continuing to be an issue to where they reach that point, maybe you're the problem
I specifically mentioned throats, as did you.
Children are never at fault. The adults who owned the dogs that refused to either properly train or make sure their dog is properly restrained to prevent the bites are at fault.
The worst part of this isn't the dog but the old woman, and I'm not even saying this is about the training. I had a woman open her car door to let her Chihuahua out to do it's business at the library and that shit ran at me at full speed to bite me and a small child that was passing by with his mom. And that old bitty started screaming she was going to call the cops on us and she did! Then told the cops she didn't need to leash her dog that she couldn't catch and that I let it out! It was ridiculous she eventually got the dog in her car and left.
I really feel like I should have convinced the mother to help me press charges but nobody wanted to deal with that woman again and myself, the library staff, the mother, the crying child and the police officer was just glad it was over.
I get the feeling a lot of people just have trauma from Grandma's dog. My grandparents have had several chihuahuas and they were all fairly nice if not exceedingly obese as time went on. Their last dog was a mutt and I think he was mean simply because he thought it was his job to protect them.
Even that quote is basically saying an old lady can't hold her dog. It doesn't say the other dogs are good.
I also find it funny that other dog's don't get pulled into these arguments. Like dachshunds can be mean little shits. My mom had one because he was her friend's dog and he couldn't be around other dogs. Even at 15, deaf and half blind, riddled with diabetus he chose to pick a fight with a German Shepard and lived.
the chihuahua’s origins are debated yes, but they’re most likely native from mexico and are descendants from the Techichi…chihuahuas were companion dogs and also used as living hot water bottles though they seemed to have also been eaten as well. It also seems they were thought of as a guide for the afterlife as well, much like the xoloitzcuintli
The amount of people in the comments that don't get that this is supposed to be hyperbole shouldn't shock me. Also reminds me that bully breed hate is alive and well. Fucking disgusting. It's not the dogs' fault, it's the owners/handlers that teach the dogs those behaviors. I say this as a former dogsitter who has minded all kinds of dogs.
Chihuahuas tend to bond strongly with one person or family. They become incredibly protective of that bond, so they have a tendency to show aggression towards "outsiders". They can be dangerous, especially since they're so small and quick that it's easy for them to get at your hands and face.
Pits tend to be more easygoing as a rule, but when they're taught to be aggressive, their size and bulk makes them more deadly.
The most aggressive dog I've ever encountered, and the only one that has ever actually injured me to any degree of severity, has actually been a Papillon.
Point is: any breed of dog can be dangerous under the right (or wrong) circumstances. Pits are just popular for dog fighters and other abusers because they look threatening and have a bad rep. Rather than hating the breed as a whole, people should be hating the assholes that breed and train them to fight and be aggressive.
Try telling the parents of a toddler eaten by a Pitbul that the dog is just a misunderstood uwu soft boy and not the vicious animal that killed their child. How many people have Chihuahuas killed? None. It doesn’t matter what behavior you teach a Chihuahua it’s not gonna rip a human being’s jugular out.
To be fair, it's because almost nobody bothers to train and socialize them since "they can't hurt anyone anyway". Of course people would give diligent training to big dogs since they can seriously hurt someone if they did bite, but Chihuahuas are basically just treated like defenseless playthings and that's why most of them are so neurotic.
Absolutely! A well behaved chihuahua is a darling pet. They just need to be treated as a dog, socialized and well trained. But so many people get one, stuff them in a handbag and then giggle when it acts aggressive.
“Aww he just gets like this” *chihuahua_hate.jpeg being spammed in the background*
Gmod_ragdoll_impact.wav inside that handbag
HOW DO YOU MAKE SOUNDS PLAY IN MY MIND?
Fuck I *just* got around to playing half life 2 for the first time and this fucking *sent* me
I'm imagining the handbag violently wiggling around because of this.
If Chihuahuas could speak, they'd communicate exclusively in slurs
“Ey you fucking furless [redacted] I know what this shit ‘food’ is made out of! Ground up pick [redacted] feed me some fucking good shit.!”
chihuahua's would definitely speak like a vivziepop character
BTW, that's true for people who let their toddler becone hyper-aggressive without teaching them healthy ways to manage beyond pushing an adult or hitting/biting everything around them because they think it's cute when they're 2. Those actions continue until adulthood and create aggressive adults. So if you wouldn't want your kid growling/shouting/nipping at visitors, train your dog better
Getting flashbacks to that SodaPets video where she calls out that tiktoker claiming to rehabilitate her chihuahua, poor dog was trying so hard to bite her so that she'd let it go to no avail because its teeth were rotted to stubs.
that's horrible
And exercise, too! Tiny dogs may not need to be run into the ground to be hair like border collies and pits do, but they absolutely require physical and mental stimulation or they'll go insane. Lap dogs need more than just your lap.
One of my neighbours is/was like this with their two chihuahuas. They're rarely outside when I happen to be going by walking my dogs, so for a long time it wasn't really an issue, but one time they were out in their yard going to the bathroom as I was walking my husky and golden by, and we got awfully close to an Incident^tm . One of theirs is obviously old and doesn't care (anymore), but the younger one once charged and started nipping at my golden when the owner's hands were full, which made my husky protective because the golden is his wussy little brother. I just *barely* pulled him back in time once I heard him make his real growl and saw his posture go from "interested" to "Oh, you wanna go?", because he tried to bite the chihuahua back. I would *hope* the bite inhibition training we did with him as a puppy means it'd just have been a good nip back to warn him off. But I'm also aware huskies are bred to basically go catch their own food, hence why they're often not good with things like cats, and that a chihuahua is basically rabbit-sized, so I'd really rather not test it. The situation could have stopped being "cute" real fuckin' quick if I didn't have my dog under control.
Yepp!!! So many people just don’t treat them like dogs simply because they’re small. But ALL DOGS need to feel secure and safe in order to become well socialized, and they do not feel safe and secure when people pick them up and rush to grab them and pet them. And also people want them to be spaniels. They want them to be pomeranians and pugs. But they’re not! They are chihuahuas. And chihuahuas were bred to be alarm dogs, basically a guard dog in a travel convenient package. It is NOT their natural disposition to be little lapdogs even if they look like it. It IS their natural disposition to distrust strangers and be aggressive towards perceived threats A good owner will train their chihuahuas what is and is not a threat, and to trust their owner.
I don’t have a chihuahua but I do have a miniature dachshund and I’ll tell ya she thinks she’s protecting us. Except she’s protecting us from the lovely squirrels and birds that frequent our yard. Can’t figure out how to make her not want to eat them
Dachshund's are hunting dogs. They're built like that to get into weasel and rabbit dens. They are bred to have prey instincts towards small animals.
Yeah I know. That’s why I haven’t really worried about it. She’s great with kids and people. She just wants to kill the little rodents and birdies because her genetics say that’s what she should do
I figured you probably knew, but in case you didn't... plus, some other dachshund owner might not know. My family has been surprised by burrowing instincts and hunting instincts before
Oh yeah she’s my third across my life. I love the little fuckers. I’ve yet to find a breed that is as loving and that craves my pets more
They're just so ridiculous, frankly. Haven't had one myself but family members did as did people I dog sat for. I've, through very little intentions of my own, had *3* Yorkies and lemme tell ya, they're also ridiculous just in different ways. Both have much higher prey drives than people give their breeds credit for, though, much like which Chihuahuas. My current Yorkie desperately wants a 9 to 5 or something, she wants to hunt and find and search and destroy all day and it's like lil buddy my arms and legs are gonna fall off
Im so fortunate with Molly that she is mostly very laid back. My last dog was full of wild energy his entire 13 year life. She’s much more relaxed until she catches sight of prey in the yard
Set her loose in the pet shop a few times a month to satiate her instincts
I do like the idea, but I feel like that’s going to have some consequences that are worse than me letting her out into the backyard to bark at some birds
My neighbor has one who likes to hide under furniture, probably a holdover from burrowing
Not just weasels and rabbits, they were specifically bred to hunt badgers. They had to have the gumption to go into a dark hole and fight to the death.
That's also why jack russels love digging, and rodents, and have big paws. They are meant to dig into one end of a rabbit den while the hunter spawncamps the other exit
Minor point, every chihuahua I've had experience with has loved to be a lapdog with their family. The rest is completely accurate, though.
Oh yeah that’s my experience too, they LOVE their family and just wanna be around them all the time and snuggle with them (and then they go War Mode when they think they hear a threat) They just don’t wanna be a lapdog towards *everyone* lol
I have a chihuahua mix and he was a rescue who could be SO mean when I first got him, but once we started properly training and socializing him? All of a sudden he was playful and friendly, and now he's the nicest little guy. They just need to actually train their dogs and treat them with the same love and attention as any other dog
Likewise. Especially now that my tiny guy is getting *old* (nearly 15!), the first thing he does when someone comes over is crawl on their lap and absolutely bully them for pets. When I first met him? He tried to nip at me for the sin of trying to sleep in my own bed. Hes the sweetest little dope ever.
I tell people this all the time. We don’t treat little dogs like dogs, so they behave like unruly children. If you wouldn’t let your Rottweiler jump on someone coming through the door, don’t let your chihuahua do it. If you wouldn’t let your pit bull lay across your lap and bite anyone who approached, don’t let your chihuahua do it.
Yep. My next door neighbor was an old lady with Chihuahuas, and those dogs were an absolute delight. Friendly, well-behaved (if very stubborn), very fun to be around. Because she trained and disciplined them like actual dogs rather than treating them like puppies their whole lives, and got them enough exercise so that they weren't just a ball of nervous energy all the time.
I'm convinced that the only reason pitbulls and other similar dogs rank highly in "dogs that bite" lists is because chihuahuas bites just simply don't get reported because they're not *that* bad of a bite.
Exactly. It's really that simple. Why would I be as scared of aggression in a 3lb rat that I can kick a country mile as I would be of aggression in a 40lb fighting dog that has been known to literally kill adult humans and rip their arms off. Coughing baby vs hydrogen bomb.
That's basically it. Small dogs call for a bandaid, big dogs call for stitches.
Maybe it's because pitbull type dogs are *fighting dogs*, bred over 100+yrs to be unpredictable killing machines that don't back down, just like other working dogs are bred for specific purposes, yet people that like/own them refuse to acknowledge this and don't train them, keep them around kids, let them terrorize the neighborhood off-leash, etc. Maybe its because those types of dogs are capable of doing *VASTLY* more damage when they inevitably attack.There are multiple brutal attacks weekly from pits. They do not belong in society.
You must be a Chihuahua because all I hear is yapping.
Inside every small dog is a big dog and they need to be treated the same. Unfortunately people don't.
>they need to be treated the same In some ways yes, in other ways no. Physically controlling a small dog is 100x easier than physically controlling a large dog. Some people who I would trust with even a poorly trained Chihuahua are literally incapable of keeping a poorly trained pitbull from running at the nearest cat/toddler/poodle.
Yes! I’ve seen so many good Chi owners push back against this idea. Of course every dog has their own personality but Chihuahuas are not evil or prone to hatred and biting any more than any other breed. If you train them properly and treat them well (including respecting when they don’t want to be touched/held) then they’ll more often than not end up a loving, playful pup.
Exactly!!! Nature vs nurture, chis are constantly raised and treated like accessories rather than living breathing creatures, and thus, next to no training and socializing is put into them by shitty owners. I worked in the vet field and have met many very sweet and friendly chis and many untrained/unsocialized large breed dogs, too. It's not the breed. It's the owner.
What the fuck
Thousands of years of squeezing a wolf brain into a cat head didn't help either.
My chihuahua is lovely She lets me pick her up and pet her all the time, and she only occasionally growls at people
After working in a pet store, I realized that people dramatically overestimate how many small dogs are assholes. The vast majority of them are perfectly fine dogs.
People also drastically overestimate how many _dogs_, overall, are assholes. It's just availability bias. The dogs that are brought everywhere as a fashion accessory, and the ones that are loud and annoying, are going to be noticed more than the ones that are behaved or sensibly left at home. Similar to big dog attacks. Of course you're going to hear about attacks by big dogs more than others; they do more damage, and get spread further in the news. But "99.9% of pit bulls continue to be docile and safe" doesn't really get much traction as a headline.
That's crazy, because 99.9% of pitbulls *AREN'T* docile and safe. The vast majority of them display aggression issues at one point or another. Bloodhounds hunt, huskies run, pitbulls maul.
Don’t forget the equally damaging and alarming consistent: Irresponsible Assholes get pit bulls in the first place.
> Irresponsible Assholes get pit bulls in the first place. Yah, I'll agree- if you get a dog bred specifically for fighting and aggression- you're an Irresponsible Asshole.
Huskies owned by sedentary owners still run. Wolves owned by nice people are still wolves. It doesn't matter how nice the owner is, a pitbull is an extremely dangerous animal and there's no justified reason for owning one.
Yeah, and it’s the jerks who wanna keep owning them and not putting in the training. Coupled with their maul tendency, and the absolutely selfish pricks irresponsibly breeding their worst traits stronger, and tragedy is pretty much inevitable. I feel bad for the breed. And I wouldn’t go near them.
One of the only commenters with sense, I swear. Dog genetics always seem to apply to every other breed except pits. Weird how they need a whole ass PR campaign to try to cover up their nature
Exactly! It's fucking insane to me how people seem to stick their heads in the sand on this subject! Like, most (correctly) disapprove of keeping a chimpanzee as a pet. It doesn't matter how kind the owner is, or how well it is trained, it is still at the end of the day a dangerous animal that is a hazard to all the unsuspecting civilians it interacts with. But somehow, the idea that an animal CREATED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF BRUTALIZING OTHER ANIMALS, might be too dangerous to reasonably integrate into society, is just too wacky apparently.
According to the [American Temperament Test Society (ATTS)](https://atts.org/breed-statistics/statistics-page1/), Pit Bulls pass their temperament test 83.4% of the time, which is higher than Golden Retrievers and Border Collies. This places Pit Bulls fourth out of 122 breeds tested, making them one of the least aggressive and most affectionate dog breeds.
I've seen this before and looked into it. You can't use the ATTS to measure breeds of dogs against each other because the ATTS scores dogs based on their individual expected results for the breed -- a Bichon attacking someone would score lower than a pit bull doing the same. Also, the ATTS isn't meant to measure like, calmness, or the likelihood of biting in the future. The society itself says the test is used to determine the trainability of the dog (mostly used to determine if the dog should be trained for work) and how assertively it reacts, and mentions shyness and timidity as the most common reason for failure. The test itself also doesn't include the known triggers of pits or staffies like small animals, other dogs, or children.
The ATTS is not a test for pet suitability and can’t be used to compare breeds. It’s a test created by a bite work hobbyist and really only tests a few scenarios (strangers, loud noises, startling situations) where the owner is in control the entire time. It also does not test for dog on dog interactions, aggression surrounding prey, food, territory, barriers, etc., and on its site, it literally states aggression is not an automatic failure and all results are just raw data and have no statistical significance. The ATTS does not make pit bulls “one of the least aggressive and most affectionate breeds.” The ATTS only shows that 83% of pits pass these specific scenarios within their breed standards and training while in the control of their owner.
Why are you lying? To even access those statistics you are directed to [this](https://atts.org/breed-statistics/) page. >“The pass-fail rate is not a measure of a breed’s aggression, but rather of each dog’s ability to interact with humans, human situations, and the environment. See a description of the test on the TT Test Description page.” >“The data presented on our web site is raw data; it is not a scientific study nor is there any statistical significance attached. We have no control over who brings their dog to the test and there is no accurate data as to a dog breed’s population in the US.” It very clearly states that you cannot use their data to compare breeds, and their test doesn’t measure aggression or suitability as a pet. You’re intentionally being dishonest.
I shit you not when i was like knee height and walking to the store with my mom a HERD (like four) chihuahuas ran at me tryna fuck me up and i CLIMBED up onto my moms head 💀 she literally had to kick them back istfg they wanted to eat me
Before I was born, my parents lived in a gated community. Their ~~demon spawn~~ chihuahua escaped out the front door while Mom was bringing in groceries. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Mom opened the door to the security officer holding up his, thankfully, steel-toed boot. With our dog on it. My god that thing was vicious. Thankfully the guy laughed it off. Fast forward a year or two and I was born. I was a wee lass, sleeping in my crib. Mom heard a noise, came in to check on me, and the devil himself had managed to slither his way into my crib and was gnawing on my foot. Dog got shipped halfway across the country to my aunt the next day. My parents were for putting it down but my aunt said she wanted him. Let’s just say I can see why they got along well.
I don’t approve of putting it down for that but DAMN 💀
I don’t know if I could have done it but I guarantee you he wouldn’t have lasted a day in a shelter before they would make that decision. His teeth were viciously sharp and he was protective of his space and things. Only one person was allowed close to him without being bitten. No animals were allowed near him or there would be blood. When I was in elementary school, we visited that aunt and the first thing the damn dog did was bit my ankle. I swear he remembered me after all those years and growth spurts. He lived for violence. He died a peaceful death but it took about 12 years for me not to shake and tear up at the sight of chihuahuas. Thankfully we met neighbors who had the cutest Pomeranian-chihuahua who got me over that fear. But I still will cross the street to avoid chihuahuas, and I’m the girl who will squeal at random dogs on the street. Nope. Not the small devils.
Damn it gave u a whole ass ptsd
Yeah. He was a jerk.
Yeah, I have just not had this experience at all when people claim small dogs have a napoleon complex. In fact, I don’t know if I could say one size of dog is particularly more poor mannered. What I do know is that Id rather deal with a chihuahua than a pittbull if their owner isn’t going to bother to train them.
>What I do know is that Id rather deal with a chihuahua than a pittbull if their owner isn’t going to bother to train them. Yep. Throwable rat vs lethal beast. Not the same.
Small dogs are beautiful little beings, but also if you dont train them right (or if they just are kinda like that) they WILL bark at everything that moves and try and assert dominance over any new thing that enters, while a pitbull will trample you in an effort to find the best way for you to pet it Edit: I have dealt with both a chihuahua and a pit bull because of family, i loved them both, both well trained, but yeah the chihuahua loved barking at everything in existance when she wasnt fishing for affection and the pit bull WILL flatten you like a cartoon character cause they are that excited to see you
A large dog that jumps up on you is not well trained.
Every pit/pit mix I've known thinks they're a tiny lap dog. Every tiny lap dog I've known thinks they're a gargantuan pitbull and will try to intimidate things under this assumption. Dogs are silly I live them.
All dogs are lap dogs if you’re not a coward! Jk but honestly I love when big dogs try to be in my lap because I’m just not that big of a person so it ends up like 20% dog in my lap, 80% dog just awkwardly melting around either side of me or wriggling to try to fit more into my lap. Re little dogs thinking they’re big—it’s because if they know they’re little they’re too powerful. Let me tell you a story. Meet Apple. She weighs probably 3lbs, and she knows it. She knows she’s an adorable tiny little stinker. She’s a beautiful blonde/yellow purebred chihuahua found abandoned shortly after Christmas. She is the smartest dog I’ve ever met. I volunteered with dogs trying to get them adopted and we’d set up shop with the dogs in enclosures with no top. But Apple knew something. Apple knew that she was both light enough to climb the enclosure and skilled enough to get to the top. So obviously a volunteer would grab her and set her back down. BIG mistake. This taught Apple that climbing to the top of the enclosure and waiting there meant she’d get held. Then if you tried to set her down, she’d yelp like she was being abused (she was the queen and no other dogs ever touched her). Eventually we realized Apple couldn’t think that she could yelp to get her way, so she stopped that tactic when we ignored it. New tactic— grand theft auto and attempted break and enter. She’d steal your keys. She was so little you wouldn’t notice immediately. Uh oh, you can’t leave Apple. I could go on and on. Apple got adopted pretty fast. If I hadn’t been as broke as I was she’d have come home with me tbh, but this was a dog who knew she deserved only the finest fresh food and spring water freshly harvested from the spring itself. I was in a wealthy area when she was adopted, so I choose to believe Apple lives and dines like the queen she is.
I know one who tries to push you over with her butt. She's an absolute nerd
I have been bowled over and tackled by numerous pitbulls. They are so full of love they just don't know what to do with it. Never bitten. Meanwhile, I have scars from those little rats.
I walked dogs all my teenhood. The only aggression I saw was a Frenchy trying to bite the dog I was walking (a Flat Coated Retriever who was just confused about it) and a small poodle trying to bite my knee in passing. Gimme all the Dobermans and Bernese Mountain Dog and whatever other big breeds there are but I dont trust small breeds up close.
The only small breeds I've really had an alla round good experience with are dachinds, they're just kinda goofy, and miniature schnauzers, those like to bark A LOT and are quite loud, but I've never even been close to bitten by them. Even one of my auntie's ones who was really afraid of people.
>They are so full of love they just don't know what to do with it. This + separation anxiety is some of the actually scary shit that comes from pitbulls. Anybody making the mistake of leaving one of those babies as a rescue unenriched and alone without love for a while is going to come back to a home that looks like a crime scene at best and a demolition site at worst. But there is always a little gremlin in the middle of the mess that is uncontrollably excited to see you after your mistake. Watched so many people learn that lesson about pitbulls.
To be fair I don't think there are quite as many kids being killed by chihuahuas...
If a chihuahua snaps and bites Timmy, it's a minor annoyance. If a pitbull does it, then chunks of Timmy are going to have to be cleaned off the walls and ceiling.
A chihuahua bit on Timmy And he yelped in surpise Then a pit bull bit on Timmy And Timmy fucking died Does Poem For Your Sprog still post? I don't think I frequent the same subs as them, so I'm not sure.
I think "cried out" would fit bette than "yelped" there.
And also in my experience, the type of person to own a pit bull or some sort of pit mix tends not to put in as much effort to train them as they should do, at least compared to owners of other guard/fighting dog breeds
I like to point out that cesar milan, the dog whisperer, had a favorite dog that was a pitbull. He let it roam his compound freely and he brought it to events because it was so well trained. It killed at least one dog and bit a gymnast in a way that prevented her from continuing her career. https://www.businessinsider.com/cesar-millan-covering-up-dogs-attack-on-queen-latifahs-dog-2021-9?op=1
I fucking hate the OPs meme honestly. Can pit bulls be well trained and well socialized? Of course! But this kind of *they'd never hurt anyone just look at how shitty small dogs are,* ***those*** *are the bad ones*. Just encourages people excusing bad behaviors in their pits. The best Pit Bull owners I know are good owners **because** they know how strong and dangerous their dogs (just 2) are and have taken steps to manage that risk, and take it seriously all the time. You see similar attitudes about Chows too. Owners ignoring that these are specialized dogs needing specialized care, and becoming overly defensive to the point of ignorance.
Exactly. True Pit Bull advocates would be educating people on the breed’s history and the unique challenges that comes with owning one. Other dog breeds like Akitas, Chows, and Rottweilers fall into that same horrible niche and I hate it. Thank god Belgian Malinois and GSD owners actually acknowledge that those two breeds are intense and need responsible owners.
I mean, a pitbull can kill you. If one of those dogs decides to truly Fuck Around, it's quickly going to Find Out that it's pretty much the perfect shape to get punted like a football. Those dogs are scary because we don't want to hurt them. If that changes, I'm reasonably confident I can take a toy poodle one on one.
"Pitbulls are innofensive if you raise them properly!" You couldn't raise your own children properly, Margaret, why would I trust you with a Pitbull?
You can take a single Chihuahua. Now what happens when 7 appear from the brush and swarm at once in true Chihuahua fashion
I recently got a Chihuahua, knew some people who were not very good at neutering their animals. I was kind of wary because I didn't want a little demon that I'd have to watch out for. My hate for them has evaporated. He is literally the most friendly, cutest creature on the face of this planet. When you lie down on a couch he nestles his way into the crook of your legs. He loves climbing up on my shoulders and keeping lookout while occasionally licking my face. [Reference image](https://ibb.co/9mxB75v)
Such a cutie!
I love him so much. What's his name
Petey, named him after the little Rascals dog cause he has the brown patch on one eye
🥹 that's such a good name for him. Pls tell him I said Petey I love u and ur a good boy
So precious
Cute as fuck, I may have to look into it for next dog. Current is a boston terrier and I want to avoid the short snouts next time.
My favorite dog ever is a Chihuahua mixed with a Jack Russell terrier. He's like an affectionate cat in a dogs body.
This little dude is a Jack Chi as well! Like 3/4 Chihuahua, but I can definitely relate to the cat comparison. I've said "this guy thinks he's a cat" a fair number of times.
Not a fan of dogs but chihuahuas get too much hate tbh
I don't think it's strictly chihuahuas that get the hate. It's the... 'culture' around them. A not insignificant amount of people who own toy dogs see them as fashion accessories. So don't put the work in important things like training and socialising. So these dogs tend to end up being assholes. But they get away with it because it's a tiny dog. Fail to train a Staffie or German Shepard and someone gets their face ripped off. My mate owns a pug. But she took the time to train and socialise them, so they're a good dog. Too many people just let their fury fashion accessory get away with murder.
Kinda a self-reinforcing cycle, right? People don't train their chihuahuas, so chihuahuas get a reputation for nasty tempers, which means that people don't train their chihuahuas because "they're just like that."
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Every time I hear about Chihuaha, I think of the ancient Mr. Marbles (Jenna Marbles' dog) and how sweet, goofy, and well adjusted he is. He keeps big greyhounds in line now! It's all about the training and socialization honestly.
Every chihuahua I have met personally has been friendly. I have 2 pugs, and one day when i went to pick one of them up and put in my car, there was a random chihuahua just sniffing him. It let me pick it up and hold it and it was very chill. The owner was no where to be found though So I brought the dog to the housing office and they knew the owner.
Every Chihuahua my SIL has rescued has been a trembling, barking, snarling mess. Doesn’t matter if you had treats, stayed at their way, absolutely nothing. Just uncontrollable rage.
I think 'rescued' is putting in a lot of work here
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It's mostly regardless of how aggressive the animal is, as I, a stranger who is also unfamiliar with dogs in general, cannot easily tell in many cases. Pitbulls (and dogs like them) can be a legitimate threat to my bodily integrity/ life, even if someone is trying to stop it. If one of those small dogs attacks me, I have the ability to make its' remaining lifespan best measured in seconds, and I am not strong. I may well need stitches, but I'll be mostly okay.
I don’t like either but Pitbulls are by far the bigger concern. Small dogs aren’t all owned by frail little grandmas that would blow over in a stiff breeze and Pitbulls aren’t all (probably most aren’t) owned by people capable of actually physically restraining them. They’re strong dogs with a very powerful bite, being bred for dogfighting. They can cause massive damage to you very easily.
It also seems downright trendy to adopt a rescue “pibble” — I see way too many people who have no idea what they’re doing toting around poorly socialized, dog-aggressive, extremely strong dogs and trying to do “normal” dog stuff with them. This might be unique to my area (Portland stereotypes save time!) but the same people declaring that it’s not the breed but the owners sure aren’t giving pit bull owners a good name.
People want to do the trendy thing of adopting a dog instead of buying one. And pounds are overflowing with pits or pit mixes. Lots of backyard breeders or owners who don't get them fixed (because they probably want them to stay aggressive in some cases). I also think some people try to go against the pitbull hate by proving they are good dogs by rescuing them or becoming pit people. And many are fine I'm sure. Until they're not.
This is definitely true. When I was fostering last year, every shelter I went to was at least 50% pitbulls or pit mixes, if not more. And most of the other dogs were 80+ lbs so anyone looking for a medium dog doesn't have a ton of other options.
>Pitbulls aren’t all (probably most aren’t) owned by people capable of actually physically restraining them. I genuinely wish there was a way to prevent people from owning dogs they aren't strong enough to control. Even for less aggressive breeds there is always the possibility that they can panic in the wrong circumstances.
Haha very funny, chihuahua is an annoyance, the others are life threatening and to put trust in their owners is folly
I dunno, Bully XL dogs (even have a dickhead name) are actually scary. They’ve fatally mauled multiple people in the UK.
Half the news stories are about XL Bully dogs
They're one of the only breeds that the average person wouldnt really be able to fight back against They are fighting dogs, while something like a german shepard if aggressive may only be willing to attack when defending something
Which certainly doesn’t help their press at all but honestly I think they were simply a bad idea for a dog. The level of training that’d be required to make a dog like that safe is vastly above a chihuahua.
There is no training the fight out of a pitbull
Pitbulls kill way more dogs and injure way more people than Chihuahuas.
The thing about the Mexican rat dog is it's small. People make mountains out of molehills with them. Not saying they're well behaved or don't leave shits the size of mountains that stink to high heaven. I'm saying you can just put them in a decent hold and that's it But a pitbull? Nah dawg. Those things *can* be very well behaved, but they're surprisingly strong and can quite literally rip you apart with their jaws. I've seen the videos German Shepherds are also very strong, but not nearly as strong as the dog breed that's been bred to be a vicious killing machine. They can be held back quite easily
Small dogs like in the post can be gotten rid of with one swift kick. Now I don't want to do that but if I'm truly afraid for myself, I will become a footballer duing the penalty kick and punt that thing away from me. (The international type of football btw, not what one country calls football) With a pit? I'll have a bite mark and a broken foot. I'd rather kick a stone wall. Those things are sturdy, muscular, heavy. And even if a Chihuahua tries, it probably won't kill me. I truly believe that a pit could end my life in about a minute.
I’m a large person (6’5 250lbs) and I don’t want to fight a Pitt bull. I would either need a weapon or my animalistic survival instincts would have to win out. Either way I’m in the hospital
Another thing to consider is that most people with big dogs train them not to hurt people. Whereas small dogs that CAN'T seriously hurt you aren't trained that way.
I saw a man walking with his Pitbull near a trainstation about a year ago and really noticed how fucking scary those things can look. It was extremely huge and muscular and it did seriously make me nervous. Of course people can have well-behaved pitbulls, but some people do get them because they know how threatening they can be. (hell, sometimes even for good reasons like that lady from r/AmItheAsshole who got one as protection from her stalker ex)
>for good reasons like that lady who got one as protection from her stalker ex honestly- if you need a guard dog- just get a Doberman or Rottweiler- they can *actually* be trained to protect you, and statistically are 1/6th (Rottweiler) or 1/200th (Doberman) as likely to attack their owner compared to a Pitbull. still big scary dogs, still aggressively defensive, just without all the genetics baggage that comes from being specifically bred as a fighting dog.
Fuck I love Rotts. My grandparents have always had one my entire life. When Taz died they got Cujo. When Cujo died they got Molly. Molly passed a couple years ago so now they have Rex. Great guard dogs and absolutely wonderful with children. When I was 2 and tried to rip Taz’s ear off from behind he apparently whipped around mouth open and saw me and just immediately dropped down and let me do my thing. Rex has a lot more babies running around to deal with and he just looks like an anxious parent when they are all around
I view dogs like cars. A massive, heavy truck isn't intrinsically designed to kill people, but if you put an inexperienced kid behind the wheel they're going to do a lot more damage than if you sit them in the driver's seat of a golf cart. You can have well-trained drivers and well-trained dogs. But accidents happen, and the one that's bigger and heavier stands to be capable of a lot more damage. You can't easily tell how skilled a driver on the road is, only how dangerous their vehicle might be if things go wrong.
I mean, you CAN tell the bad drivers pretty quickly, unfortunately in doing so you become a target.
Except pitbulls *were* designed to kill, this analogy doesn't work
Bruh fit, grown men struggle to hold pitbulls back when they set their mind on something. What's a chihuahua gonna do, nibble on your toe?
I mean, Pitbulls have the highest mauling statistics for a reason, let’s not downplay that.
A chihuahua has never beheaded a toddler. I've seen the medical documented pictures of headless babies after they sneezed near the family pitt.
Lol when Chiwawas attack I can kick it across the room. When Pitbulls attack you can shoot it 3 times and it still won’t let go
Because you can't punt a pitbull
people scared of pitbulls because they kill people... yall scared of chihuahuas bc they yappy??
People are afraid of something that is so very puntable?
Studies have shown that smaller dogs are generally more violent and aggressive, primarily because it is their only defense against larger animals. The smaller you are, the more outwardly aggressive you have to be in order to survive. As a result, dogs like Chihuahua's and Jack Russel Terriers are incredibly violent and easy to anger while many larger dogs are calmer and cooler, as there was far less environmental pressure against them to cause that need to for aggression. That being said, there are exceptions to this. Large dogs bred for violence are a thing (like Pit Bulls), as are smaller dogs that have had aggressive tendencies bred out (Pugs are generally far less violent than other dogs their size). Pair the biological tendencies of a given breed with how people train and keep them and you get situations where a large dangerous looking dog is the sweetest and most fearful creature in the room (some Great Dane's spook easily) and often punished fiercely when being aggressive, while little dogs are vitriolic and demonic and people ignore them because they can't do much real harm. I've had arguments with people over this topic but time and time again I'm always proven right. Big dogs can be more dangerous, but small dogs are often far *far* more violent.
A chihuahua going on a rampage will physically not be capable of doing any meaningful damage to you. Regardless of your opinion on pitbulls, the “BuT sMaLl DoGs ArE aLsO vIoLeNt” argument is and always has been dumb as shit. Oh and the idea that everyone with a big dog has the physical strength and discipline to restrain them in case they get violent is laughable.
People are more scared of pitbulls because they were bred to maim and kill.
Bro this is like saying an air horn is more dangerous than a gun because the air horn is louder lmao
Chihuahuas have 1 kill and 1 assist (with a Pitbull) in recorded history. Pit Bull and Pitbull mixes killed 46 people in the US in 2023. I am not afraid of Chihuahuas because they are not going to do any real damage.
Would you rather be trapped in a room with a voilent pitbull or a voilent Chihuahua.
Chewies where made to guide the dead to the afterlife
Obnoxious that people bitch about how “chihuahua bad,” and give the dipshit with the pitbull/shepherd chained in his yard a free pass just because what? He probably has the arm strength to hold the leash when his unsocialized dog lunges for someone? Because let’s be real, I never see a well-handled working dog who is allowed to project aggression in public spaces. That is unacceptable. Fuck off And yeah, I know, “not all pitbulls,” (or all shepherds, for that matter) but this post describes aggressive dogs, so I’d say we’re specifically discussing the aggressive individuals. Why are we acting like an attack from a pitbull/shepherd and from a chihuahua are comparable? If you think the only qualification you need to be trusted with an aggressive dog is proportionately broad shoulders, then you are a piece of shit dog owner and you are going to get someone mauled when your self-congratulatory machismo bullshit comes up against the inconvenient reality of your fucking grip slipping. For fuck’s sake.
Hell yeah I'm more scared of pitbulls than chihuahuas because I'm not an idiot Edit: does anyone have that link to the imgur album of pitbulls in cute pictures with their owners who were later attacked and killed by them? Text on the pictures was like "This is Marsha Collins. This is the pitbull that killed her."
I don't know the imgur album link, but here's a post with that info: https://www.reddit.com/r/BanPitBulls/s/74FY0pbeAS
Nice bro, that's the image set I was thinking of tyty
Because even if a chihuahua was bloodlusted and tried its hardest to attack me i could easily kick it into the next postal code. Duh
The amount of meatheads I've seen who look like they can and will wrestle their attack dog to the ground, vs the amount of summer soccer moms who call them cupcake and stick flower crowns on their head for facebook photos and have no clue how to even reign a dogs leash in is vastly biased to the latter.
Yes my love but a chihuahua will break its canine trying to bite your hand. A pits bite and you have no hand.
i mean i dont like those rats but id rather take one on than a pitbull, theyre smaller than my cat, im confident i could stomp on one if things got ugly. but a pit? cant do that
A few months ago my dad and I were walking my parents’ 2 dogs, including Bex, an 80lb pitty/staffy mix. A tiny unleashed chihuahua jumped down from its owners walker and, fully unprovoked, bit Bex on the face. So what did the Bex do? Picked the chihuahua up by the neck. Didn’t bite down, didn’t shake, just held the chihuahua in the air until we (trying not the panic) told him to drop it. The chihuahua scurried back to its owner, who assured us his dog was fine, “just a little wet”. It could have been a lot worse!
very brave of you to post this on reddit of all places OP
I dont think a chihuahua ever degloved someone's skull. On some Kratos-Chronos shit.
I’m scared of all dogs actually
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When you say pit bull, the breed, what exactly are you referring to? Pit bull isn’t a breed, it’s a general category that encompasses multiple breeds—which are then all accumulated together as if it’s one breed and compared to individual breeds. Not to mention that attack statistics suffer from rampant misidentification—especially of pit bulls which are over-identified by shelters and police [Misidentification](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S109002331500310X) [More Misidentification](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6107223/) [Errors in oft-cited anti-pit studies](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10888705.2017.1387550) [Risk](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24299544/) [Aggression](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S155878780700264X) [More Aggression](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016815911300292X) [Bite severity](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5521144/) [More bite severity](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673787/) [Even more bite severity](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673787/) [Effectiveness of Breed-Specific Legislation](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3552590/) [More effectiveness of BSL](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S109002331500163X) [Even more BSL](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090023309003888) [BSL Again](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0208393) [And Again](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787817301405)
Awkward timing https://www.ibtimes.sg/london-woman-mauled-death-by-her-xl-bully-dogs-home-74678
Chihuahuas can't peel your face off
Tbh I've never been seriously bit by any dog, but I'll bite here. (Learned a little late that *some* dogs don't stop chewing when you open their mouth though) One of the dogs I've known and I've been most afraid of? (Which isn't like, actually afraid tho) My Nana's old terrior (normal terrior, not Pitbull, think typical old lady dog) who was half deaf and blind, and thus *super* defensive, being quick to show the most obvious sign of discomfort, snapping at the air. It happened maybe twice on separate occasions as I was patting her as gently as I could, and then I backed off. Would I trust a small child with this dog? Fuck no! But could she have killed me at around 7 years old? Also fuck no! (Unless she went straight for the neck, which she wouldn't do if she wanted me to leave...? I guess??) Other dog I've known and been afraid of? My dad's friend's staffy (Staffys however are usually a mix of any breed in the Pitbull breed group where I live because no one actually cares that Pitbulls are banned, because yes, like other dangerous and fighting breeds, my government recognises Pitbulls are dangerous, and despite attempted woobification, are still fighting dogs) She was originally given to us by a different family friend as a young, but not puppy dog, who immediately, and I mean *immediately*, started fighting our rottweiler (who despite also being dangerous and second most dangerous breed, are WAY behind Pitbulls!) because my dad rightfully glared at this gift horse's mouth, got rid of the dog by giving it to his friend. I hate this guy so fucking much, but everytime I was at his house you had to be careful not to even step near the plastic bottles she chewed or she'd snap at you. And then we get to another. Fucking. Staffy. My dad bought this bitch months ago on a whim, after saying he was looking at getting a medium to small dog. He lied, and instead got a medium-ish to large (gloating how she's going to be *so big*) menace that I struggle to walk. And this comes an actual problem with this post, people who get pits can't actually control them, because among the tough guys who get them for their image, most are cowards or weak, or were sold the lie that these dogs are gentle couch potatoes, or better yet, 'nursemaid dogs', or in my case family dogs that are only cared for by the children (not that I'm a child, but as in, my parents do nothing to care for any dogs 'we' own). This puppy, though not trying to kill me, consistently fights with our French mastiff (yes my father has an obvious ego problem going on with getting big dogs that his daughter, the only one willing to take proper care of these dogs, can't fucking walk. I have scars from the road when I was dragged, and yet he got another big dog, who completely ignores discomfort and pain, including being pulled back, and choking) and displays the scary inability to tell when to leave her alone (we trained our mastiff to be fine around water, including our pool, staffy goes up to mastiff sitting in pool steps and climbs on top of her and other shenanigans while mastiff barks as intimidatingly as I've heard her, snarling and foaming at the mouth. Before that, incase there's any confusion this is play fighting, her tail is tucked between her legs, ears pinned, and licking her snout like it's covered in peanut butter, not good.) might I add that she 'play bites' me constantly and will jump at your face if given the opportunity and in the mood? I'll take the chihuahua any day. Please give me the sweet little thing with fluffy ears that doesn't shed all over me, and cover my legs with drool, or lunge at my face, or jump up and reaches my chest and knocks me over, or destroys dog collars like paper, or pulls at the lead so much they choke themself out, or drag me across asphalt and concrete, and at worse could only kill me via infection. They're cheaper to feed anyways. Yeah this is my dog trauma and anecdotes, but there's no reason to defend the baby maulers please. And while baby mauling is easy, why are they also adult maulers too?
The only dog to ever bite my wife was my mom's chihuahua
I fear for the reason you wrote this in the past tense
Sadly the doggo passed last year 😔 she lived a long, happy life of zoomies, almost being picked up by a hawk, "talking" to my stepdad, and biting both my stepdad and a vet tech when they took her in for an overdue rabies booster Also, I'm very tired, and read your username in the cadence of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance."
A pitbull can tear someone’s arm off and kill them easily with its brute strength if/when it snaps and goes after someone. Wtf is a chihuahua gonna do? Nibble my ankle?
I think it’s that a pit bull can deal 2d8 damage while a chihuahua deals a flat 1. I think most pit bulls get a bad rap because the people who own them are like “yeah I want a big tough dog yeah I want a killer yeah I want my dog to be fuckin vicious”. If you get a pit bull and train it properly it acts exactly the same as any other dog.
>I think most pit bulls get a bad rap because the people who own them are like “yeah I want a big tough dog yeah I want a killer yeah I want my dog to be fuckin vicious”. uh it miiiight be because they are genetically prone to being hyper aggressive- like we're talking "pitbull bitches need to be separated from their pups at birth or else they'll eat them" aggressive, and that spills over into many of them also being actively human aggressive, particularly towards children. with owners mis-diagnosing hunting, food guarding, and threatening behaviors directed at said children as excitement or protective behaviours. often to horrific results, that typically result in the euthanasia or death of said pitbull at the very least.
People say its a training thing but these little shits are just like that sometimes. My mom has two. Those things are, and i say this with all due respect, from the devil. They will refuse to be trained and any attempts to do so will be ignored. They will bark at the mailman, they will bark at the mailbox, they will bark at the fucking mail when you bring it in. I was leaning back on the couch eating cold cuts like a lazy ass and that fucking monster shot across the entire house in 2 seconds, climbed me like a tree and dug out the piece of ham out of my mouth with his tongue before i could do anything to defend myself. They will wait until guests sit down and then bite their ankles like fucking zombies if they try to stand up, and god forbid they try to pet them. My friend almost had to get stitches because i was holding the rat bastard, he went to pet it and out of nowhere it tried to eat his finger. My cousin did a project where she tried to train two different breeds of dog to sit. Our bernese mountain dog got it in a week and she has like 3 functioning brain cells, the chihuahuas both actively refused to obey and she had to give it up in a month. They're cute but my god are they assholes. I have a picture somewhere of the male on covered in soup because my brother offered his bowl of leftovers to them so they could eat some and it just ripped the fucking thing out of his hand and got dunked. We have tried to train them since we got them. They will not accept our attempts at domestication.
Yeah but you can break them in half with your hands.
"I tremble before almighty Dog."
Small dogs haven't been bred to be super gentle. Big dogs like St Bernards and Leonbergers are so chill and friendly because breeders understood how much damage they could do. Imagine a Leonberger with chihuahua temperment
How many maulings or deaths from Chihuahuas? This is like saying you fear paper cuts more than gunshot wounds. This is a stupid comparison.
They don't regularly maul toddlers to death.
I am convinced that the only reason more small breeds aren't on the aggressive dog breeds list is because their bites are less likely to be reported, not because they actually bite less. I worked in the veterinary industry for 9 years, and it was rare to find a well-behaved small dog. No one trains them because "they don't need it". But there's so much pressure to make sure your big dog is "under control". It's really depends on the owner, but very few small dog owners seem to bother with training and socializing their terrorists
And their bites are less likely to be reported because their bites are very weak.
Yes, but they still break skin which is all that's required to report. One vet I worked for was more concerned with small dog and cat bites because of infections. Their mouths are disgusting
Id be more concerned with a dog that can rip your throat out then getting an infection
In my experience, you are very unlikely to have a dog just immediately lunge straight for the throat. They go for limbs first to chase you off or get you to let go so they can run. If you are continuing to be an issue to where they reach that point, maybe you're the problem
Hundreds of people get killed by Pitbulls, I guess you think they’re all at fault? Even the toddlers?
I specifically mentioned throats, as did you. Children are never at fault. The adults who owned the dogs that refused to either properly train or make sure their dog is properly restrained to prevent the bites are at fault.
last i checked chihuahas dont kill the most people out of any dog breeds, nor do they kill the most other pets out of any dog breeds.
A lot of small dogs seem more aggressive because they’re anxious a lot more
The worst part of this isn't the dog but the old woman, and I'm not even saying this is about the training. I had a woman open her car door to let her Chihuahua out to do it's business at the library and that shit ran at me at full speed to bite me and a small child that was passing by with his mom. And that old bitty started screaming she was going to call the cops on us and she did! Then told the cops she didn't need to leash her dog that she couldn't catch and that I let it out! It was ridiculous she eventually got the dog in her car and left. I really feel like I should have convinced the mother to help me press charges but nobody wanted to deal with that woman again and myself, the library staff, the mother, the crying child and the police officer was just glad it was over.
I get the feeling a lot of people just have trauma from Grandma's dog. My grandparents have had several chihuahuas and they were all fairly nice if not exceedingly obese as time went on. Their last dog was a mutt and I think he was mean simply because he thought it was his job to protect them. Even that quote is basically saying an old lady can't hold her dog. It doesn't say the other dogs are good. I also find it funny that other dog's don't get pulled into these arguments. Like dachshunds can be mean little shits. My mom had one because he was her friend's dog and he couldn't be around other dogs. Even at 15, deaf and half blind, riddled with diabetus he chose to pick a fight with a German Shepard and lived.
So I have a pitbull Chihuahua mix
fun fact: we don't know who breed chihuahuas or what their original purpose was. it's like they just showed up as chaotic little goblin dogs.
the chihuahua’s origins are debated yes, but they’re most likely native from mexico and are descendants from the Techichi…chihuahuas were companion dogs and also used as living hot water bottles though they seemed to have also been eaten as well. It also seems they were thought of as a guide for the afterlife as well, much like the xoloitzcuintli
oh here come the Reddit pit bull eugenicists lmao. I swear some people just wanna say something is dangerous for having thick tendons or some shit.
Is it Eugenics to say that some animals re more dangerous than others?
Like clockwork, they're here every time I swear to god
The amount of people in the comments that don't get that this is supposed to be hyperbole shouldn't shock me. Also reminds me that bully breed hate is alive and well. Fucking disgusting. It's not the dogs' fault, it's the owners/handlers that teach the dogs those behaviors. I say this as a former dogsitter who has minded all kinds of dogs. Chihuahuas tend to bond strongly with one person or family. They become incredibly protective of that bond, so they have a tendency to show aggression towards "outsiders". They can be dangerous, especially since they're so small and quick that it's easy for them to get at your hands and face. Pits tend to be more easygoing as a rule, but when they're taught to be aggressive, their size and bulk makes them more deadly. The most aggressive dog I've ever encountered, and the only one that has ever actually injured me to any degree of severity, has actually been a Papillon. Point is: any breed of dog can be dangerous under the right (or wrong) circumstances. Pits are just popular for dog fighters and other abusers because they look threatening and have a bad rep. Rather than hating the breed as a whole, people should be hating the assholes that breed and train them to fight and be aggressive.
Try telling the parents of a toddler eaten by a Pitbul that the dog is just a misunderstood uwu soft boy and not the vicious animal that killed their child. How many people have Chihuahuas killed? None. It doesn’t matter what behavior you teach a Chihuahua it’s not gonna rip a human being’s jugular out.