Why is a Chihuahua more likely to bite than a Pit?

Answer 1

Chihuahuas are NOT more prone to bites than Siberian Huskies, Malamutes, German Shepherds, Pit Bulls, etc. It's called Small Dog Syndrome and it's not necessarily the Chihuahua breed's nature. You see, most small dogs are prone to getting away with certain behaviours that many would never tolerate in a larger breed because of their size. Unfortunately, this is how trouble spreads around the house or possibly the whole neighbourhood.

The main problem is not exactly the dog, in fact 95% of the problem is to be blamed on the owner! As you probably already know, the human brain is functioned to adore many living things that are tiny such as the Chihuahua or other toy Dog Breeds. The thing about dogs is, all dogs start out as adorable innocent looking pups and while larger breeds like the Tamaskan or the Malamute would later on lose their "cute" face by 9 months, many like the Chihuahua and the Pomeranians maintain that look all the way to adulthood. It is this size that causes most bad owners to continue to look at their dog as if it was still a pup instead of as an adult and many tend to forget that their dog has fully grown and need to be treated the way they're supposed to be, an adult dog!

These problems contribute to the majority of the dog showing dominant behaviours. In humans, went a child is lonely, we want to make them comfortable by picking them up and hugging them to make them feel secured. However, this type of human psychology should not be applied on any dog, not even the cute types! When you pick up a dog and cuddle them in your arms, what you're actually telling them in canine language is "I'm weak, you be the alpha" and the dog will assume that position if there isn't anyone else to run the pack! So what most people tend to consider aggression is often the result of the dog being the dominant in the family. And yet, some people are fine because they've been underestimating their little dog forever.

Now we get to the visible problems seen by everyone, a ruthless biting maniac who freely attacks anyone that steps on his or her turf. This is the result of the owner for allowing the dog to get away with many behaviours that you would normally forbid in a larger breed. It's very frustrating how many small dogs also end up in shelters because of this. If an owner of a husky witnessed his dog tackling or growling at a neighbour child, they would stop the dog at once but for toy breeds, the bad owners tend to tolerate these behaviours and laugh them off until the tiny dog has ripped off a person's toe. This is once again linked back to the ignorance in most human based on the size of the dog. These bad owner unknowingly spoiled their dog from puppyhood instead of training them properly.

In the end, Chihuahuas and Pomeranians actually contribute to MORE incidents than Pit Bulls and Rottweilers in Canada and the US but it is usually the larger breeds who get reported in the news more often because most people do not feel that a small dog's attitude is news worthy. But as you can see, a dog is a dog and regardless of size should be treated as a dog, not as a human child!

Now that you've asked this question, another thing that I would like to point out, though technically irrelevant, here that makes toy breeds more prone to bites than large wolfy-looking breeds is that they CANNOT give a person a "hit" when irritated because of their small jaws. A Hit is an open-mouth smack at the wrist or ankle (it differs from a bite in which the dog does NOT close it's mouth, it leaves it wide open as it bangs the person and you'll NEVER see blood shed from it) and most larger spitz dogs with long mouths like the Husky or Malamute whom have been properly trained are known to prefer this behaviour over biting. This implies that some extremely intelligent dogs understand very well that biting is unwanted and choose to hit to warn the perpetrator that they are annoyed. Unfortunately, a toy breed has been forgotten how to hit after generations of selective breedings which caused that trait to be lost so the only way for them to make the person understand their frustrations is to give a snap with their teeth. This is also why a well trained Chihuahua when compared to the Husky will always use its teeth instead of giving an open-mouth scolding.