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The debate about the best type of dog will never be won. There are literally thousands of breeds of all shapes and sizes, that can meet any given person’s specific love. Some are furry and fluffy. Others are loud and protective. But one thing we can talk about here is what size should they be?

According to the site, www.dogsbite.org (a site literally dedicated to the education that dogs bite), fatalities in 2016 by breed are ranked from worst down in this order:

1. Pitbull (22 deaths)

2. Labrador (3 deaths)

3. American Bulldog (2 deaths)

Ok, so no Chihuahua’s on that list so far.

That said, on the other side of the coin, a great many dogs have saved people’s lives, from their owners to complete strangers. Take Katrina, an ironically named, black labrador that saved a man from drowning before rising flood waters from a hurricane. Another story in that vein is of the “half-breed wolf dog,” Shana, who heroically saved an elderly couple from a snow storm, digging a tunnel in the snow and dragging them to safety and warmth.

Again, not something I see a Chihuahua doing.

Now, on the other hand, this writer has first-hand experience with a dachshund saving a friend’s life. He had gotten super drunk, and before finally passing out, decided to make himself a bowl of rice. Then in the night, while sleeping on his back, he threw up in his mouth. His wiener dog jumped on his chest, and munched on the vomit until the airway was clear, and my friend awoke with the slim muzzle of his dog all the way inside his mouth (something a giant pit bull wouldn’t have been able to do.)

And while we’re on that, take the case of Isabelle Dinoire [1], who after feeling depressed, took a bunch of sleeping pills with the intention of killing herself. After passing out, and throwing up the pills and contents of her stomach, her labrador proceeded to eat the vomit, and then her face, horribly disfiguring her chin, nose, and ears. She later became the first person to receive a face transplant from a dead women (a schoolteacher who had successfully killed herself, (ironically enough) in a nearby town.

Some hero that Lab turned out to be, right? To try and kill yourself, wake up, horribly mauled, and with the face of a dead women who had succeeded where you failed? No thank you.

So I guess that solves it.

Small dogs win.

For now.

[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3776172/Woman-world-s-face-transplant-dies-cancer-decade-pioneering-surgery.html