All breeds with love, care and socialization become wonderful pets (is that really true?)?

It's not all how you raise them. If a dog is genetically unstable, no amount of "love" and "care" will EVER make it a good pet. Temperament is first and foremost, genetic.ETA: Ooo sounds like some people don't like to hear the truth.

Dog breeds I have owned over 37 years of continuous dog ownership:RottweilerEnglish MastiffMalmuteSpringer spaniel/Pointer crossBlack labKarelian Bear Dog German Shepard1/2 German Shepard / 1/4Rottweiler/1/4 Bull Mastiff cross Great PyreneesPanish (extremely rare herding dog)Akita crossChow-ChowCollie German Shepard/Rotweiler crossMinature Fox TerrorNeedless to say, by my list, you can see I favor large dogs, that are often concidered agressive dogs. Did you guess by the list which dog turned into the biter? Yes, that's right, the 4 pound dog. Of course it only turned into a biter after I got divorced and my ex-husband had the dog full time. He thought it was funny to teach the dog to growl and snap at people. No dog, not one, under my care has ever bitten a person, in 37 years. Every single one of them was a wonderful pet, and companion. The black lab never would housebreak properly. I live on a farm, and raise goats. My dogs are working dogs. They live with their goats. Their duty is to fight and defend the herd if needed. Yet these dogs are enchnted when one of our little toddler neices or nephews come to visit.They curl up with newborn lambs and kids keeping them warm while their mothers give birth to the twin.We had people try to steal goats one Christmas Eve a few years back (at 2AM). The dogs were loud, and extremely agressive, keeping the people away from the fence and goats, until we came boiling out of the house.Most of the dog breeds we have owned have been the alpha, think for themselves type. Loyal unto death, but will not obay their owners.I absolutely and firmly believe that with proper socialization, love, and attention/obedience dogs make wonderful pets.However having said that, I also believe that there are a few exceptionally rare dogs born with mental illness. They should be humanely put to sleep as puppies. Our first dog was a rottweiler. That was back in the 1970's long before rotties had a bad name. Our puppy grew up to be a 120 male. He was not neutered his entire 16 year life. Not one single time did he ever show the slightest agression. He loved every single person. He was attacked several times over his life by small dogs. I have a VERY vivid memory of a black cocker spaniel hanging off his lip, with all four feet off the ground. Max (the rottie), carefully lowered his head down to the ground, then placed his front feet on the cocker spaniel gently pulled his head back, until the cocker let go of his lip. Max then sniffed the cocker spaniel all over before allowing the cocker up. He never harmed it, or even growled or barked at it. This happened with several times over Max's life as varrious small dogs attacked him.We hosted Max's full sister at our house for about a week. Max and his sister were the ONLY two puppies born in that litter. Max's sister was insane. At three months old she was so agressive my parents would not allow me near her. She was that agressive, when my parents first saw her and Max as four week old puppies. No four week old puppy should growl, and snap at people. At that age, they are just little fat things that can hardly walk. From the moment of her birth she was insane.Why do I say insane, after all am I not just proving to you that not all dogs can be socialized? No, I'm not. Even a wild wolf puppy, if handled daily by humans as those two rottie puppies were, would not have that level of agression. No where near. There was something wrong mentally with that dog.~GarnetPermaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years37 years of continuous dog ownership.P.S. Despite what my dog list looks like, not one single time have our dogs ever had puppies. We simply favor those breeds, and have owned them over the years. Please be responsible dog owners and spay/neuter.

A dog with a very sound temperament and good health from any breed has the potential to be a wonderful pet.From there, other factors influence. I agree, sheer love from their person is not the foremost factor in a dog being a good pet, and in many cases is the cause of spoiled, uncontrolled, mentally unsound and aggressive dogs. Care, training, exercise and socialization are the primary contributors to a wonderful dog.Different breeds were created for specific characteristics and purposes. These are genetic, inherited, passed down through the generations. Traits, temperaments and instincts. How they react to stimuli. The needs of the breed. A "ratting" terrier finds prey and goes in for the kill. A herding dog better not!One can love, care and socialize a Border Collie, but if it's exercise and mental needs are not met, it can become pushy, neurotic and may nip out of frustration. Someone I know has a GSD that she raised as a pup. She loves the dog, cares for the dog, has socialized it from a pup, has had the dog in continual, various training classes starting when it was about 4 mos. It is not trustworthy around other dogs. As a pup, it "alarmed" at strange people, other dogs, sudden sounds and movements, and is just plain over-reactive due to "fear/stress" issue. Different breeders within each breed may focus on different priorities when breeding their dogs; as "conformation for show" or "working". Now, ideally both should be of equal consideration, and good, sound temperament should be the priority for both, but often it isn't. (Yes, yes, I know a lot of you breeders here work very hard for both, but you know there are many out there that let "things slip")Conformation people might under-rate a temperament flaw, as extreme shyness/fear or over-reactiveness/aggression, because the individual dog's "looks" are near perfection. Hence, the temperament flaws are passed down.Working people may overlook the same, because the dog excells in his work. Often the traits/temperament/instincts that make a dog excell in his work, when extreme, make for a difficult pet, or a dangerous pet. Examples: An old sheepman in our area had a big, mean BC. Don't get near it, don't get near his truck. Even he had to take care around this dog. But when he needed to move 300 sheep, and the rams got out of line and tried bolting or running through the fence, or standing their ground and challenging, this dog would fearlessly charge in, grab that ram and literally throw it back into the flock. Not necessarily the temperament nor the herding "finesse" desired in a herding dog, but it got the job done. Another sheepman: had a Kuvasz as a guard flock dog. You did not walk into the flock. You went in on a four wheeler A "Schutzhund" trainer in the area I saw working some dogs at a demo (in quotes due to my lack of his creditability); dogs greatly lacked control, handlers had to wear gloves, dogs were plain scary, aggressive and would not call off. But they really wanted to attack! After the demo, the dogs were hurried away, people were not allowed to greet the dogs.Each dog is an individual. Mental stability is firstly inherited. Mental stability should be the primary focus in breeding dogs. I have known many people who have had dogs that, no matter what, were never able to be trusted, were unfit to be "pets", and some eventually put down due to this.So, in summary. It is not "the breed", but the individual dog. However.....one must take into consideration the "tendencies" of the breed as a factor.