text: Half of dog bites provoked , says American vet . CHICAGO 1996-12-06 As many as 1 million dog bites are recorded in the United States every year and half of them are provoked by humans , a veterinarian told fellow animal doctors on Friday . The Humane Society of the United States estimates that between 500,000 and one million bites are delivered by dogs each year , more than half of which are suffered by children . " Most bites can be prevented by teaching children how to respect a dog , " Michael Cornwell of the Glencoe Animal Hospital in Columbus , Ohio , told the annual meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association . " Let 's not let our kids jump on them or crawl on them . Dogs and children do n't have to have an interaction . Let 's respect their territories , " he said . Cornwell said 50 percent of reported bites were provoked by a person and 60 percent were suffered by children . He also estimated that only 25 percent of bites were reported because medical attention was not needed . Don Rieck , president of the National Animal Control Association , said aggressiveness in dogs was related more to gender than breed and a male dog that had not been neutered was three times more likely to bite than an unspayed female . The five breeds credited with the most incidents were chow chows , Rottweilers , German shepherds , cocker spaniels and Dalmatians . " The trends in dog bites by particular breeds have more to do with fad pets owned by individuals who need to have something unique . Speaking strictly of dogs , 15 years ago the macho fad pet was a Doberman . Today , Rottweilers are on the way up , " Rieck said . If approached by a stray dog , children should be taught to stand still with fists folded underneath the neck , elbows in , and gaze forward until the dog goes away .