A study[10] conducted at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School identified 74 fatal dog bites during the period 1966–1980 from news media and medical literature.

Most fatalities were young children, including 23 infants under 1 year old. In most cases, the dog was owned by the victim's family. In only 3 of the incidents was the dog reported to have been provoked by kicking, hitting, or having stones thrown at it. However, several incidents involved a child attempting to pet or hug the dog.[10]

In 5 of the incidents, there was no information available about the kind of dogs involved. In 10 fatal attacks, the dogs were only described as "mixed-breed".

Many involved large and powerful molosser breeds: 8 St. Bernards, 6 Great Danes, 2 Boxers and a Rottweiler.

Spitz and primitive dogs committed a significant minority of the attacks, mostly sled dog breeds (9 Husky breeds and 5 Malamutes), one Chow Chow and a Basenji.

Fatal herding and working breed attacks numbered 16: 12 German Shepherd attacks, 2 collie attacks, and 2 involving a Doberman pinscher.

There were multiple retriever attacks, including 3 Golden Retrievers and a Labrador, and 2 attacks by very small breeds: one Dachshund, and 1 Yorkshire Terrier, which is among the smallest of all dogs.[10]

When comparing number of deaths by each particular breed to the number of registrations of that breed, the authors wrote: "In relation to its small registration [929] the bullterrier (pit bull) was responsible for the highest number of deaths [6], but the popularity of this breed may be increasing and, therefore, its population might not be reflected by its registration."[10]