Anytime dogs and insurance are mentioned together, everyone is all ears. Aside from the fact that millions of people own and love dogs, there are many people afraid of dogs or who have had bad encounters with various house pets. Some of these encounters are the fault of the dog, the owner, or the injured. Regardless, everyone has an opinion about dogs and whether they are inherently bad depending on the type of breed they are, or whether their behavior reflects on the training or lack thereof provided by the owner. Various cities and states have even established regulations concerning dogs, and insurance companies have had their own issues.

 Back in the 1990s bad dogs were the bane of personal lines underwriting. It was common then for carriers to maintain lists of specific breeds that were not eligible for a homeowners policy if the insured owned a dog of one of these breeds. Most commonly the list included Pit Bulls, Doberman Pinchers, German Shepherds, Akitas, Chow Chows, Rottweilers, Siberian Huskies, Presa Canarios, Boxers, and Great Danes. The thing all these breeds have in common is size and strength.

 While Pit Bulls may not be as large as many of the others, they are tenacious and strong and are the breed most often considered dangerous. They have been trained to fight in illegal dog rings and often mistreated. Unfortunately, the dogs are often confused with any dog with a similar appearance. There are four recognized Pit Bull breeds: American Pit Bull Terrier, the Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. It was in the 1980s that illegal dog fighting made a comeback in America, creating issues with Pit Bulls and other dogs that could be trained to fight. Likewise, the same breeds were used by drug dealers and gangs as guard dogs.