Any dog can bite, but the dogs that most often do serious damage are large, powerful dogs that come from “service breeds” — that is, they are bred to do work. Statistically, the breeds that bite most often are pit bull terriers, German shepherds, Rottweilers and dog breeds of similar size and power. Part of this has to do with the dogs’ large size, which gives them the power and height to reach vulnerable parts of the human body. Another part has to do with their breeding; these are dogs prized for their work as police dogs, hunters, guard dogs and (illegally) in dogfighting, which encourages traits that make them unsafe.

Another major contributor to dog attacks is bad training, no training or even neglect and abuse by their humans. All dogs are territorial, an instinct that owners must control with training or strict controls on their dogs’ interactions with strangers. They also have a social hierarchy, and they may try to dominate people they see as competition by attacking. Dogs trained to attack are also dangerous, of course. And dogs that have been neglected, abused or left to fend for themselves are not well socialized and may revert to dangerous territorial dominance behaviors. While not every dog attack is caused by factors humans can control, bad decisions by owners are a large factor.

Here in Minnesota, dog owners (and anyone keeping dogs temporarily) are legally responsible for any attacks by their dogs against a person who was “acting peaceably in a place where the person may lawfully be.” This includes inside a private home the victim was freely invited into. There is no one free bite in our state, and dog owners may not defend themselves by arguing that the victim’s own negligence contributed to the attack. They may raise a defense based on provocation, trespassing or failure to “act peaceably,” but these rules may not apply when young children are victims.