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To a discussion that @poehere did yesterday regarding Pit Bulls and the fear that a lot of people have about them, I decided to put in my two cents. There are 45 million dog bites each year and do you know what the #1 dog is that causes them? The Chihuahua. Yup, that little, 20-pound 'Weenie Dog'. Not only do children get bitten by them but adults too; of course that would never make the news. Can't you picture the headline? "6'4", 240 pound Man Bitten By a Chihuahua". The Pit Bull and other breeds (Rottweiler, Doberman) take the brunt as the problem. In most cases it is children that cause getting bitten. A dog; any dog, will only take being poked in the eyes, ears twisted, tail pulled, feet stepped on or being hit before their natural instinct mode kicks in and they bite. Most of these instances could be avoided if the parents of the child taught the child correctly. Personal example: When I ran the animal shelter located on my property, a husband and wife; 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter came to look at a dog to adopt. As we were walking along the kennels, the girl went 2 kennels ahead of us, reached in the gate and punched a dog so hard in the face that it yelped. I yelled, "STOP IT!!" "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!!" "YOU DO NOT HIT AN ANIMAL!" The father said I shouldn't talk to his child that way. I told them to leave the property as they were NOT going to adopt from this shelter. Can you imagine if that girl did that to a dog what she might do to a cat? And people wonder why their kids get bitten? I'm sure if that dog would have bitten her in response, the parents would have gone ballistic and sued the shelter instead of correcting the girls behavior. So for you folks out there who have kids and pets, besides 'training' the animal, how about 'training' the kids.