You know those people who yell and scream at the top of their lungs that certain breeds of dogs are always vicious? Well, they can kiss me where the sun don't shine. Take a gander at my 2-1/2 year old daughter playing with our doberman. Does he look the least bit irritated to you? I think he loves that little girl almost as much as her mother and I do.

With regard to the topic of vicious dog breeds... I do agree that all breeds have certain 'personality tendencies' and owners need to be aware of them. Just like people, dogs come in all different shapes and sizes with different personalities, likes, dislikes, etc, but breeds do tend towards personality types. Yes, I'm advocating 'dog profiling.' If you're getting a dog then get some information, talk with dog owners/breeders and understand what breed would best fit your lifestyle. For example...

Labrador retrievers have a reputation for being wonderful family dogs and they generally are, but I have known more than one lab that did not like kids at all. My dad has had labs all of his adult life for duck hunting, but when I was a kid [4-7] I was always told to be careful around the older one [who was around before I was born] because she would snap at kids. She never bit me, but my parents were also cognizant enough to realize her personality traits and to always supervise my interaction with her.

Doberman pinschers used to be the stereotypical vicious guard dog [remember Zeus and Titan from Magnum P.I.?], but most of the dobies I have known are just big goofballs with a really loud bark. Our dobie has been absolutely wonderful with our daughter, but we have also been very careful in introducing them gradually over a long period of time. We didn't just plop our daughter on the ground in front of Slone and say 'here ya go.' That's what stupid dog owners/parents do. It takes time and effort to build a good child-dog relationship, but it's worth it. Just look at that picture and tell me it's not...I dare ya!

~tod