Most of what a pup inherits comes from their dam, but a sire still plays an important role.  Lets put it the way one of my dear friends put it:

If you abuse, starve, and fight a dog, and breed it to another dog that was abused, starved, and fought, and then do the same to the puppies, and breed the pups to others who have had the same done, what do you think the next generation will be? 

This can be done to any breed, no matter how much the breed has a 'family dog' reputation, dogs can inherit bad genes because of bad breeding and circumstances.  Bad breeding can also contribute both health and mental problems that can cause aggression, but that will be dicussed below.

 

Rearing of the Litter:Puppies need to be handled as soon as possible in every way, shape, and form.  Socialization from the get-go is important to having well adjusted, confident dogs.  Confident dogs are less likely to bite out of fear or be aggressive towards animals and humans alike.  Puppies also need to stay with the dam as long as possible.  This may not always be possible, or the best option in cases of medical concern, but the training that the dam and litter mates give play a key role in how a dog will develop later on.  This includes bite inhibition, as dams will give corrections to one that is playing too rough, and litter mates will yelp and refuse to play with a hard bitter.

 

Training:  Bad training and the lack of can cause serious problem and create a dog that is very much a liability.  It is well known in dog circles that beating a dog for not doing something, or doing the wrong thing will often result in fear biting and serious aggression problems.  We don't expect a human to lay there and take a beating, how can we expect a dog *not* to fight back either or develop mental problems?

Many a nervous and dangerous dog have been created from such methods as beating and starving.  Dogs simply do not know what they've done wrong an half hour after the fact, and they don't understand being starved.  It is considered abuse in humans, it is abusive to dogs.

The lack of training can create several situtions, one being a dog that thinks *everything* is ok to do.  This means rough play that can injure a child unknowingly.  It can also create a dominant dog that tries to dominate and sometimes even fight everything.  Lack of training also often goes hand in hand with lack of socialization, which once again, will be further down.

 

Sitution and Habitat:  Dogs are mentally and physically active animals when awake.  When bored or frustrated, it often builds up anxiety, which then often becomes aggression.  A dog that is chained all the time will often lunge and pace for the lack of exercise, become extremely bored and frustrated, and often become aggressive in time.  A dog that is kenneled all the time will often spin in circles, something that is called 'kennel crazed', and if in a long kennel run, will race and hit the fence.  Dogs that are chained or kenneled for their life, day and night, without human interaction might as well have been thrown away.  They lack the skills, training, and exercise needed to be healthy mentally, and often become a danger to humans they don't know.

Exercise is required for a happy, healthy dog.  Many problems a lot of owners have are due to lack of exercise, and it has been proven time and time again.  Some dogs are more active than others, Border Collies are natural workers, and need a job to do all day, otherwise they can become very destructive, where as an older Mastiff is often content with a few short walks a day and a couple of longer ones a week.

  Chained dogs can also become food aggressive and possesive over toys and 'their' area, making untangling them if chained, a danger to adults and especially children.

Chained dogs have caused more deaths than any one breed or mix, 109 in a span of 30 years.

 

Socialization-  Sad to say, dogs do not naturally know our laws.  And dogs without socialization and training, don't really know anything. 

Dogs have to be socialized with anyone and everyone as soon as they have had all their shots.  Socialization needs to be a positive experiance, one which builds confidence and shows the dog there is no need to react to new and unusual things fearfully or aggressively.  Think of it as one more form of training that should be required for nearly all dogs.

 

Occurances In the Dog's Life:  Did you know, that one bad occurance in a dog's life can cause years of having to retrain a dog?  It's true.  Dogs, especially very sensitive ones, are prone to being traumatized.  This could be from a strange person attacking with certian objects, loud noises, other dogs attacking(even just certian breeds), or an accident even.  Pushing a dog to reaccept something or even people who may resemble the person/people who hurt the dog can cause aggressive or fearful behavoir to surface.  The more you push a dog to try and 'hurry up and show the dog there's nothing to be afraid of', the more likely someone is to get hurt.  Often in these cases it is best to take slow approaches at a distance and let the dog work "it's" way to the person/people or object.

Occurances in the dog's life that can cause problems can happen if the dog escapes or is stolen.  This is not the dog's fault, but if any signs of long lasting stress occur, it is best to seek professional help.

 

Health-  Health, both mental and physical, can sometimes result in bitting and attacks.  This includes the 'Springer Rage Syndrome' and seziures mentally, and numerous physical conditions that can cause a dog pain.  Where as an adult who knows of the condition will be able to handle it, a child can often be hurt when trying to place with the dog, or even when in the same general area.

The best thing to do is to supervise the dog and possibly even give it it's own area or crate.  Older dogs don't have to be put down because of the risk, however, doggy parents need to be responsible and supervise all friends, family, and children wth the dog.

Also in this section, the talk of spaying and neutering.  It has been shown that un-altered males are more likely to attack.  It would be a great measure for ALL states to have free and cheap spay and neuter requirements for all dogs that aren't working or show dogs, or any dogs being used in a program in establishing a new breed(does not include designer mutts) or saving a rare one.