Pit bulls tend to get a bad rap as aggressive dogs -- and city health records show they're responsible for most human bites in the Big Apple -- but pint-sized chihuahuas and shih tzus aren't exactly placid pups.
The yappy canines both near the top of the list of dog breeds cited in health department records for biting humans, according to the Daily News.
Chihuahuas bit people 442 times since 2008, compared with 359 bites by shih tzus, the paper reported. Pit bulls still top the charts with 3,505 bites over that period, but experts suggest New Yorkers remember small dogs have bite, too.
"People are not scared because they are so small ... but they have to defend themselves because they are so small," Tyril Frith, a Queens dog behavioral specialist, told the News.
Overall, dog bites are down across the city after a record 3,607 bites documented in 2010.
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