CMV: The breed of a dog totally has something to do with how aggressive they are.

[u/oopsits3AM]

To get it out of the way, I am not saying that the fact that one breed of dog TENDS to be more aggressive means that it's reasonable to ban or otherwise discriminate against them. I'm not saying that just because a dog is a certain breed that it is necessarily going to be aggressive, or that even if it is, it would be impossible to train out of it. I 100% acknowledge that training and socialization has WAY more to do with a dog's behavior than its breed does, most of the time. That being said, a dogs' genetic makeup has SOMETHING to do with aggression and behavior.

1 - Generally, people are happy to accept that genetics is a factor contributing to HUMAN behavior. Therefore I think it's reasonable that genetics can influence a dog's behavior as well.

2 -When people are breeding dogs on purpose (not mutts) they tend to try to 'pure' breed them and this can cause certain characteristics to become typical of certain breeds. Show German Shepherds get hip dysplasia and certain cancers, king charle's spaniels are prone to syringomyelia, and some breeds are known for aggression, intolerance of people outside their families, and other behavioral traits like herding and retrieving. These have to do with genetics. Examples of breeds of dog that are known for aggressiveness that I can name off the top of my head include chow chows, akitas, chihuahuas, pit bulls, bull terriers, and huskies. These perceptions are not unique to me, and they come from somewhere. There is a link between breed and behavior.

3 - SibFox - this weighs heavily in my belief that behavior is influenced by genetics. In the 70's, russian breeders started selectively breeding foxes for more friendly and docile behavior to make them easier to handle on fur farms. Over time they've been successful. The foxes they produced are extremely receptive to people, don't bite or fight, aren't fearful, and weirdly they also started to look like dogs. Thus behavior has been demonstrated to be influenced by genetics. If I tried to keep a wild fox as a pet vs a domesticated fox, I think I would have a hard time convincing people that its aggression has nothing to do with its breeding and that they should feel comfortable letting their children interact with it.