Science The most aggressive dog breeds named in new study

The most aggressive dog breeds named in new study

Anyone who has had a small dog snapping at their feet will declare that the most dinky of pooches often are the most inclined to start a fight. Now, a new study has found that smaller dogs are almost always more aggressive than their larger counterparts. Miniature Poodles and Miniature...

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Anyone who has had a small dog snapping at their feet will declare that the most dinky of pooches often are the most inclined to start a fight.

Now, a new study has found that smaller dogs are almost always more aggressive than their larger counterparts.

Miniature Poodles and Miniature Schnauzers top the list of most aggressive dogs in a new study, published in Scientific Reports.

Larger dogs including Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and Lapponian Herders were found to be the most docile.

Researchers from the University of Helsinki studied over 9,000 dogs to analyse aggressive behaviour, including growling, snapping and biting.

As well as breed, other factors which impacted aggression include fearfulness, age, the company of other members of the same species and the owner's previous experience of dogs.


Older dogs were more likely to be aggressive than younger, with scientists saying this could be because of the pain caused by health conditions, and male dogs were more likely to be aggressive than female. Smaller dogs within breeds were also found to be more ready to snap than larger counterparts.

"Understanding the factors underlying aggressive behaviour is important. In what kinds of circumstances does aggressive behaviour occur and what is the dog's motive for such behaviour? In normal family dogs, aggressive behaviour is often unwanted, while some dogs with official duties are expected to have the capacity for aggressiveness. At the same time, aggressiveness can be caused by welfare issues, such as chronic pain," explained doctoral researcher Salla Mikkola from the University of Helsinki.

The study investigated aggressiveness towards both dog owners and unfamiliar human beings. Dogs were classified as aggressive if they growled often and/or had attempted to snap at or bite a human at least occasionally in the situations described in the survey.

Although small dogs are more likely to be aggressive, the study found that the behaviour was less likely to be addressed by owners as they are not seen as a threat.

"Aggressive behaviour is a serious and common behaviour problem in domestic dogs," the study said.

"Aggressively behaving dogs can cause public concern by biting people and other pets, with medical or even lethal consequences for the victim."

They add: "The severity of aggressive behaviour varies from biting and snapping attacks that can even lead to the death of a victim to less severe, but more common growling and barking."

Prof Hannes Loi from the University of Helsinki added: "People who are considering getting a dog should familiarise themselves with the background and needs of the breed. As for breeders, they should also pay attention to the character of dam candidates, since both fearfulness and aggressive behaviour are inherited".

Spoiler: The most to least aggressive dogs

Rough collie

Miniature poodle

Miniature schnauzer

German shepherd

Spanish water dog

Lagotto

Chinese crested

German spitz mittel

Coton de Tulear

Wheaten Terrier

Pembroke Welsh Corgi

Cairn Terrier

Border Collie

Finnish Lapphund

Chihuahua

Smooth Collie

Jack Russell Terrier

Staffordshire Bull Terrier

Shetland Sheepdog

Lapponian Herder

Golden Retriever

Labrador Retriever

 

[The Lizard Queen]

Rough collies are on the top of the list? That's goddamn Lassie, bitch. I call bullshit.

I've seen two year olds fall asleep using a rough collie as a bed, and the dog won't get up until the child does.

 

[KelpieSelkie]

The similarities are not because staffs have pit in them, but because they both came from the same mix of other breeds initially (ie a terrier crossed with a bull breed)

Probably worth me pointing out that an American Staffordshire Bull Terrier is different to a standard Staffordshire Bull Terrier so in a conversation like this two people could be correct in their own countries but still in disagreement with each other.

Yes, you're correct actually. Sorry for my mistake. However, back when the Staffordshire Terrier name was first coined, they were one and the same dog, as per Dogsbite.org :

"As identified in the Tufts study, pit bull owners frequently pass their dogs off as other breeds to diminish a perceived stigma. They also lie about their dog's breed to confuse the public about the pit bull breed and to evade breed-specific laws. For instance, a pit bull owner might claim his dog as a "boxer-mix" or "labrador-mix" after a pit bull law goes into effect. Animal groups, however, are the guiltiest in creating confusion about the breed. This began in earnest in the mid 1930s.

• In 1936, the American Kennel Club (AKC) formally recognized the pit bull breed, but only under the name Staffordshire terrier. This was done to distance the breed from its continued use in dogfighting. Thus, the dog breed that descended from bull-baiting and dogfighting, the pit bull terrier, began being registered under two names.2
• By 1936, the United Kennel Club (UKC) had already recognized the American pit bull terrier for nearly 40-years. Hence, the original AKC registered Staffordshire terriers all came from UKC stock including champion fighting bloodlines.3 Cross-registering pit bulls at both registries under different names continues today.4
• Prior to the UKC's formal recognition of the breed in 1898,5 and in some regions until decades after, the pit bull breed was called a variety names including: bull terriers, bull and terriers, pit dogs, pit terriers, simply "bulldogs," and according to historical dogfighting documentation, American bull terriers and Yankee terriers as well.6,7
• In 1972, the AKC renamed the breed to American Staffordshire terrier to distinguish it from the Staffordshire bull terrier -- a dog breed also included in the pit bull class of dogs. Today, shelters often use the American Staffordshire name when adopting out pit bulls to the public to mask the breed's less palatable name, pit bull terrier.8
• In 1996, the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals renamed pit bulls to St. Francis terriers. Again, the hope was to make the pit bull breed more palatable to the public. After much screening, about 60 pit bulls were placed. The program was suspended after several of the re-dubbed pit bulls killed cats.9
• In 2004, while serving as the director of New York City Animal Care and Control, Ed Boks attempted to rename pit bulls to New Yorkies, also in hopes of making the breed more adoptable to members of the public. Boks' renaming attempt was unsuccessful, as was his tenure in New York, which only lasted from 2003-2005.10
• The latest camouflage attempt is the American bully, which is a pit bull "designer" breed that includes pocket pit bulls, extreme and XXL pit bulls. In 2013, the UKC recognized the American bully, yet "UKC registered American pit bull terriers are eligible to transfer to the American bully breed," states their breed transfer form.
• Meanwhile, dogfighters and pit bull "experts" historically and presently refer to pit bulls simply as "bulldogs." The American bulldog, derived from the same gene pool as the pit bull, is still unrecognized by the AKC and was only recognized by the UKC in 1999.11 The breed was also called the American pit bulldog up until the 1970s.12

The many names of the pit bull over the course of history is why breed-specific legislation defines the pit bull as a "class of dogs" that includes the following breeds and their mixes: American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier and American bulldog.13 Despite attempts by kennel clubs, animal welfare groups and dogfighters to obscure the name of the pit bull breed, well-written breed-specific laws always encapsulate the multiple names of the breed."

The history of these maulers is filled with lobbying efforts.

 

[ChaChaHeels:BlackOnes]

Wow. No wonder so much confusion about what a pit bull actually is, people have been obfuscating their origins for almost a hundred years.
If you have to work that hard at hiding the ingredients, it doesn’t give a person much confidence re: what you’ll find when you open the tin!

It’s kinda weird/ironic that the American bred dogs who descended from the exported British Bull and terrier crosses of the late 1800s are now barred from coming back into Britain. There’s probably some kind of proverb in that.

 

[Toolbox]

Would be interested in how they differentiated aggressive behavior from defensive behavior. Dogs are pretty limited in how they can communicate with us and growls and barks are like, 70% of how most of them do it. If they were measuring it as "dog hunts someone down and snarls at them with teeth bared" then yeah but if they're counting simple instances of a dog barking or growling if they go near its toy/food/etc that's more a defensive "get the fuck out of here you dumb ape" thing that I personally wouldn't consider aggressiveness.

We should really be encouraging the teaching of dogs to use buttons with soundbytes for communication. Some dogs, at least, can get impressively intelligent and communicating fairly clearly with this method.

Of course, training the association of a concept with a labeled button takes time and effort, which most dog owners would never want to do. I wonder what it would look like if you tried to teach a pit bull how to use these.

 

[Jan_Hus]

My late grandfather had a pomeranian named Rambo. Fucker was the meanest, most aggressive asshole cunt of a dog I've ever met.

You couldn't even look at the thing without the little bastard trying to tear chunks out of your ankle.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Most aggressive dog I've ever met was a little dog originally from a swamp. She was the ugliest yet cutest thing. This extended to her personality, which was snappy to most and loveable to her owners. Most of her snapping was due to pain. Couldn't pet that dog until she died.

No, the dog wasn't named Shrek. Shrek wasn't a thing at the time.

 

[ChaChaHeels:BlackOnes]

We should really be encouraging the teaching of dogs to use buttons with soundbytes for communication. Some dogs, at least, can get impressively intelligent and communicating fairly clearly with this method.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NJYpXDMPlKA
Of course, training the association of a concept with a labeled button takes time and effort, which most dog owners would never want to do. I wonder what it would look like if you tried to teach a pit bull how to use these.

Damn, I was kinda hoping the dog would reject mom’s offer and press a laughing sound button.

 

[cactus]

The chocolate ones can be a fucking nightmare though! Probably due to being bred from a shallower gene pool.

That's not how Labs work. They can come out in different colors in the same litter, the brown color is less likely though and the genes for it might just happen to link to aggressiveness.

 

[Mariposa Electrique]

Purebreds are all asshole breeds due to genetic bottlenecking.

It's probably elitism too, TBPH. I told my chihuahua I probably had some Dutch ancestors, and he looked at me like I was Rosa Parks.

 

[TFT-A9]

Rough collies are on the top of the list? That's goddamn Lassie, bitch. I call bullshit.

I've seen two year olds fall asleep using a rough collie as a bed, and the dog won't get up until the child does.

Rough collies have been ruined in many ways as a breed by Lassie crazes prompting sloppy breeding/puppymilling without any concern for animal health or temperament. That said, I'm still surprised to see them TOP the aggression list. Surprised enough to also call bullshit.

 

[ChaChaHeels:BlackOnes]

That's not how Labs work. They can come out in different colors in the same litter, the brown color is less likely though and the genes for it might just happen to link to aggressiveness.

You get mixed colour litters, sure, but if you want chocolate puppies (which can command high prices due to their relative rarity) then your best chance at getting them is by breeding two chocs (this combo can only ever result in brown or yellow puppies, never black puppies, it’s a phenotype/genotype thing).
Chocs are rarer, so options for creating a breeding pair are more limited. As with other dog types, any problems are most likely the result of irresponsible/grabby breeding,

Wing-N-Wave Labradors Genetics

 

[Least Concern]

We should really be encouraging the teaching of dogs to use buttons with soundbytes for communication. Some dogs, at least, can get impressively intelligent and communicating fairly clearly with this method.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NJYpXDMPlKA
Of course, training the association of a concept with a labeled button takes time and effort, which most dog owners would never want to do. I wonder what it would look like if you tried to teach a pit bull how to use these.

I've seen videos of people training cats to use buttons like these too. In both these cases I can't help but wonder if it's largely just a sort of pareidolia (seeing "communication" in randomness) and/or for every video where Whiskers manages to successfully press "treat, now, please" there's ten where he just randomly steps and/or pees on the buttons that don't make it to YouTube. At any rate, Amazon knows I have cats and it keeps recommending those buttons to me, so I think they're becoming something of a trend.

Adopt mutts from the pound. Cheap dogs with hybrid vigor. Purebreds are for suckers.

 

[Underestimated Nutria]

So of course a bunch of dogs literally bred to gently nip at the heels & round up "cattle" (which may include children, etc) is at the top of the list ...

Whereas you don't want a "nip at the heels" from a pitbull, which will likely be wagging its tail three microseconds before eating your jugular.

 

[Devyn]

So of course a bunch of dogs literally bred to gently nip at the heels & round up "cattle" (which may include children, etc) is at the top of the list ...

Whereas you don't want a "nip at the heels" from a pitbull, which will likely be wagging its tail three microseconds before eating your jugular.

Decades of selective breeding and genetics mean nothing, it's all how you raise them! These are pit puppies but I'm sure they could just as easily have been any other breed:

Typical behaviour of nanny dogs at that age

 

[NyQuilninja]

I agree with the least aggressive dogs being Goldens and Labs, I don't think I've ever met a mean one in my life, unless they were abused horribly and even then they were basically fully withdrawn and terrified of everything around them and only snapped and bit when their personal space was entered.

My family owned a yellow lab, as a puppy he bonded with my younger brother who was 2 at the time. He was the most gentle, loyal, and protective dog I have ever known.

when they got older my brother and I would rough house and the lab would throw himself between us as a doggy shield, and lean up against me to push me away.

Now if he felt that a non pack (family) member was a threat he would bark and snarl, but even then he would do his shield and push move instead of biting or charging head on.

I own a black lab and she's smarter then half the lolcows on this site. if your not a member of the family or on her approved list of humans. She will immediately let you and everyone esle know. Labs are wonderful Guard dogs and companions. One of best breeds of dog

 

[Slimy Time]

Miniature poodles and mini chihuahuas are little more than overgrown rats. I don't think I have had a nice encounter with one.

Strangely enough, did know someone who owned a toy poodle, and he was a joy to be around. Maybe not exactly the same breed, or maybe she got lucky, that one was a fun dog to be around.

 

[Shield Breaker]

These are aggressive all right. Aggressively loveable. Good luck getting one off your case when it wants petted. Busy? Too bad, pet time now!

My mother-in-law used to have a miniature schnauzer she adopted from a rescue shelter who was classified as aggressive. Poor thing would just growl when it wanted to be petted, so most people were scared of him.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

My mother-in-law used to have a miniature schnauzer she adopted from a rescue shelter who was classified as aggressive. Poor thing would just growl when it wanted to be petted, so most people were scared of him.

Aw. I want to go back in time and give it all the hugs.

 

[Snekposter]

I own a black lab and she's smarter then half the lolcows on this site. if your not a member of the family or on her approved list of humans. She will immediately let you and everyone esle know. Labs are wonderful Guard dogs and companions. One of best breeds of dog

Have both a black lab and a German Shep. The former is a very good boy and the latter a very good girl. Very excellent breeds, and quite protective of their owners. Which yes, translates into "aggression" as they remind potential threats to stay away. Article writer is a fag.

 

[TFT-A9]

Have both a black lab and a German Shep. The former is a very good boy and the latter a very good girl. Very excellent breeds, and quite protective of their owners. Which yes, translates into "aggression" as they remind potential threats to stay away. Article writer is a fag.

"noooooo why is your heckin' cute pupper growling at me your heckin' cute pupper is a dangerous dog"

Fuck off or I'll feed you to him

Used to have an Aussie shepherd that really, REALLY didn't like black people, and it turns out the reason why she didn't like them was because the black kids from down the street were tormenting her because she had "spooky eyes" or some shit