I emigrated from a third-world country to Canada. One of the first things I noticed was the docility of the dogs.

Maybe back in the third world they pick up on their humans’ stress. There, they’d definitely attack at any opportunity.

>I noticed was the docility of the dogs.

Depending on where you're from, some places spay / neutering dogs is much less common. It can impact their behavior a great deal.

Even the spayed dogs are on another level regarding aggression. I’m sure it’s psychological

I wonder if they're just used to being around non spayed dogs / so they're kinda on edge in a way.

Local suburban / trained dogs around here mostly just want to play with each other / random people / kids. I think they might be used to that kinda lifestyle even if just by example from other dogs.

Lots of people back home would keep their dogs in the yard all the time. The dogs wouldn't really ever socialize with the neighbours' dogs (maybe that's the issue?) For a lot of these dogs, if they ever got loose, they'd go and bite someone as soon as possible. This is true even/especially for the dogs of the rich, who have very easy lives.

But with Canadians, I'm never scared of their dogs, because at worst they'll hump me!

Ah that makes sense.

Just a whole different lifestyle for those dogs.

This is such an armchair take that I hear over and over. Classic rock-paper-scissors thinking.

If a rat were in your living room, you'd not want to go in there. Rats will almost never actually harm you, probably less than a dog. You can easily scare them out. But it's terrifying when one dashes across the room. It's biological/instinctive.

Yet an unknown dog in an unknown house that's actually aware of you and mad about it? No way. Off to another target.

They don't attack but they do alarm.

The house of a friend of mine was broken into. It was someone who went to every house in a neighborhood, broke whatever glass they could find with whatever was on hand (mostly paving stones) and went into the house. Dog didn't deter them at all. For his large (for the breed) black lab the burglar just grabbed a towel, waited for the dog to bite on it and then maneuvered the dog into a bedroom and locked the dog in there. Then ransacked the house in 5 minutes and moved onto the next house.

My brother in law's father had 2 German Shepards trained to guard his commerce and one night the burglars came in and killed them both. Very sad.

Yes, unfortunately if you're being specifically targeted, they'll probably know about your dogs and have a plan.

I was going to add something similar. There was a rash of petty burglaries in my neighborhood about 10 years ago, in broad daylight. Cops told me they were meth heads and didn't care about dogs -- they'd either risk the dog leaving them alone or harm the dog to get their business done.

I suspect most burglaries are just that, opportunistic. If there's some sense of extra risk or hassle, they're on to the next opportunity.

All dogs attack posties