Children and other animals

No “good with kids” score

published breed descriptions publishes editorial tags that can read as a child-safety rating. This catalog does not use them. Morrill et al. found breed to be a poor predictor of individual behavior, including traits related to how easily a dog is provoked. A sentence like “great family dog” would overclaim.

What is scored is physical, and it is labeled as such. A Chihuahua's published weight does not exceed 6 pounds, so the dog is easy to injure in a home with young children. That is a caution about fragility, not a claim that the breed is sharp or gentle. A Dachshund's long back is a reason to ask how a particular dog handles being stepped over and grabbed, because the registry already warns about jumping and stairs.

Other animals

Where a published source describes a breed as bred to hunt, a home with rabbits, other small mammals, or birds is a mismatch for that illustration. A home with cats is a strong caution, not a verdict. Many individual dogs live peacefully with cats, and many do not. Ask what this dog did in a foster home that actually had a cat. We only match on traits with a published source.