Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoho
It doesn't matter how cute, nice, well-trained, friendly, well-known, or small the dog is... any dog can bite a child under circumstances. I just wish someone had told me this before it happened to me.
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ANY dog can bite under certain circumstances (not necessarily just kids, either). It's a myth that responsible ownership can totally prevent this behaviour. Dogs are animals and they are sometimes unpredictable. I believe there is a "myth of responsible ownership" that is sometimes propagated; while it's very much true that responsible ownership can really make a huge difference in how a dog behaves, and irresponsible ownership can cause dogs to become very anti-social and aggressive, it is also true that responsible ownership is not a magic bullet that can guarantee 100% that a dog will not bite. Dogs are first and foremost unpredictable. Just like human beings, even the mildest dog has a capacity for extreme violence in its very being. Responsible ownership simply reduces the number of triggers to an improbable amount, but it cannot completely remove the most deep-seated ones.