@Islifefair : It is a combination. ANY dog can bite. Leave an untrained dog and an untrained child and it can get ugly. While parents think it is cute to let climb on dogs, pull ears, and inflict general abuse, it isn't and you are asking for trouble. Dogs do not have human logic, and while they are often patient beyond belief, you should not expect that of them. 20 seconds after a dog does something, the memory is gone. Your dog tears something up, three hours later you hit the dog for it, they don't know why. It's like calling a dog to you to beat on it for something, the dog learns if it comes, it gets hurt. I do not hit my dogs, ever. My dogs live in the house. When my kids were too little to know not to hurt the dogs, they were not left alone with them. We taught them from day one how to pet. Learn dog body language, remove the dog or the child from the situation. Don't ever say, "Oh, my dog would never bite." It only takes once, and can happen quicker than you can stop it. Prevention is the key.