I am very much a dog person. I prefer the dogs I have had as companions and working dogs to all but a handful of the humans I have met in the last sixty plus years.
It is definitely true that breeds of dogs have archetypal characterises that apply as a norm ... For example the Welsh Sheepdog [properly the Welsh Collie] is not a natural pet or companion. They have to work or they can easily go completely mad, but once they have worked they often become wonderful, playful and affectionate creatures if brought up with firm and fair discipline. I don't count hitting or belting a dog as fair, and I never have, but the sin bin is definitely effective. Exclude them till they decide to behave.
According to what I have read, Patterdale Terriers are more biddable than Jack Russells, and I have experience of both breeds. I would say that the generalisation is rather truer than might be expected, and even if a good JR is a wonderful, playful type, there are certainly a few outliers who are never genial, however well brought up. JCB's companion male JR Terrier was called Osker, and a more short tempered curmudgeon I never met. He bit my brother [aged about three] and was summarily put down with a shotgun on the doorstep in the picture of JCB. He was the sire of her pups in the picture ...
Corgis are famous for nipping if not full on attacks. They like biting ankles!
My current dog is also easily the best I ever had guardianship of: Lu the Patterdale, who takes the genial tendency to an extreme, and at that after a rough first fifteen months [before she came to me as a rescue case]. I think of our relationship as a partnership. She is completely loyal, and she remains politely aloof with people she does not know, and even towards some she does, but does choose to make a great fuss of a few people and win their hearts:
IMG_1346 by
George Johnson, on Flickr
That does not mean she is a goody two shoes, but being a typical Terrier, she takes delight in a certain amount of mischief!
Here is a nearly sixty year old photo of me with a long legged Jack Russell [Parson Terrier?] called Josephine and and I am holding one of her pups. In reality she was very like Lu [same size and sweetness], and adored playing and had a certain disruptive nature, but, though a phenomenally quick rodent assassin, she was a gentle and trusting as a lamb:
IMG_8624 by
George Johnson, on Flickr
I named her JCB, because she had an incurable [not that we bothered much] habit of digging into the carpet in the corners of rooms!
Here we see my other rescue dog, who came from my eldest English Uncle's father in law when he entered a nursing home. Spot the not quite a Jack Russell. Feisty and difficult, he was never the entirely reliable with humans. Much less so with other dogs. He died shortly after his only defeat by another dog aged thirteen - he was terrible fighter on home turf. He was also typical of the Terrier breeds being exceeding naughty and playful. He adopted me in the family ...
IMG_8606 by
George Johnson, on Flickr
He was a devastating rodent killer right into old age.
And finally a Welsh Collie who I had from Christmas Eve 1984 to the 7th. January 1997. Here he is absolutely tired out after a hard day working sheep in 1987. He adored playing with children, but could be too enthusiastic for some who did not realise he was simply wanting to play.
IMG_8628 by
George Johnson, on Flickr
He had two siblings who were no good as working dogs and both were put down, but Fred was the hardest working Collie I have ever.
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Long introduction, so please forgive it. It serves as context. It is clear that some dogs are by tendency more unreliable, or significantly genial and safe. Any well brought up dog "can" be genial, but even the best dog can have a funny moment, and do something completely out of character.
Fred could have done real damage had he gone "loco," which fortunately never happened, but I was exceeding careful with him round people he did not know ... Collies are extremely loyal, generally to just one person, their working master, and can demonstrate a startling ability to take the boss's side. I had kidney stones and Fred would not even let my aunt [who Fred knew well] through the bedroom door when she came to visit. In those days doors were never locked, and my aunt let herself in ...
He was looking out for his boss - nothing more or less. And he was strong enough to have done a serious injury to my aunt if she had not realised her mistake just barging in to my sick room.
So, and this just my option, I tend to the view that owning a powerful and potentially dangerous [by dint of their physical strength capable of it] should be limited to working use and at the extreme end simply be outlawed, Fred was classed as a working dog and so was exempt from the dog licence requirement. Were it not for his work as a sheep dog, I would never have considered him as a suitable type to keep as a companion dog, though he became one aged five when I stopped working sheep with him.
The various Jack Russells were farmyard dogs, who just happened to live a high life in the farmhouse! Not much interaction with strangers, but quite harmless in general ... Lu is not granted the same farmyard freedom, because, she still has the potential to hurt or frighten a child. Always on the lead in any situation where she might encounter children as a result, and if she ever bit a child, my next port of call would be at the vets to be put down.
I say that as someone so grateful for her good natured companionship in the evening of my life.
No dog is sacred above harming or frightening a human.
To finish, what I do not understand is why people who know little or nothing about dogs don't realise that they should make very deep enquiries about to the suitability as a pet or companion of any specific bred [or subset of a breed], and not the least of the crucial considerations of what could happen if the dog goes all loyal, or even loco.
Myself I would not allow for anyone getting first dog to be allowed to acquire one weighing typically more than ten or fifteen kilos, and only after graduating on from there be allowed to keep larger and potentially more dangerous types after veterinary approval.
I also believe that breeding dogs should be much more tightly regulated, and the norm that dogs sold on should be neutered first. I say that as a dog person, and animal lover in general Even cats tend to like me!
Best wishes from George