Something that some people either need to know or are simply interested in knowing is the bite force of different dog breeds.
In this guide, we look at how different breeds rate on the bite scale in terms of bite pressure and bite force.
(NOTE: this is a general information guide only, and is not professional advice, or a substitute for professional advice. A qualified vet or animal expert is the only person qualified to give you expert advice in regards to your pet/s)
Bite Force (Strength) Of Different Dog Breeds, & A Comparison To Other Animal Species’ & Humans
How Bite Force Is Measured?
Several of the online sets of data express bite force measured in pounds per square inch (psi), and not Newtons.
There’s several ways bite force experiments might be carried out, and how they are carried out can have a large impact on results.
The most accurate way might be with a force measuring device that is placed in the mouth.
Dog Breeds With The Strongest Bite Force
We took the online data from a few different reports online, and composed the following custom list.
It’s worth noting that some online data can contradict each other and provide different psi averages for different breeds, so we used what appeared to be the average stated psi for some breeds.
Bite force in the list below is expressed in psi (pounds of force per square inch), and shows the dog breeds with some of the strongest bite forces:
1. Kangal – 743
2. American Bandogge – 730
3. Cane Corso – 700
4. Dogue De Bordeaux – 556
5. Tosa Inu – 556
6. English Mastiff – 552
7. Dogo Canario (Presa Canario) – 540
8. Dogo Argentino – 500
9. Wolfdog – 406
10. Leonberger – 399
11. Akita Inu – 350 to 400
12. Rottweiler – 328
13. Siberian Husky – 320
14. African Wild Dog – 317
15. American Bulldog – 305
16. Doberman – 245 to 305
17. German Shepherd – 238
18. Great Dane – 238
19. American Pit Bull – 235
20. Labrador Retriever – 230
21. Boxer – 230
22. Alano Espanol – 227
23. Dutch Shepherd – 224
24. Chow Chow – 220
25. English Bulldog – 210
26. Malinois – 195
27. Golden Retriever – 190
How Dogs Compare To Other Animal Species
Lions and White Sharks – around 600 pounds
Hyena – around 1000 pounds
Nile alligator – 2500 pounds
*For perspective, 2000 pounds of bite pressure is roughly the equivalent of the force that the weight on a small subcompact automobile would put on something when it is on in.
How Animals Compare To Humans
Human bite force is around 120 pounds.
Asterisks On Measuring Dog Bite Force
The bite force of different dog breeds might be a generalized measurement only, and not definitive or comprehensive.
A few reasons for this (paraphrased from petkeen.com) might be the number of scientific studies currently available, the potential limitations of these studies, and also that ultimately bite force might differ between individual dogs within a specific breed.
Psychologytoday.com wrote an interesting piece on bite force and we paraphrase from that article:
Bite force can differ depending on if you’re measuring at the back or front of the jaw [as force measured at the front of the jaw can be much stronger than the front]
A Newton only equals 0.22 pounds of force/psi (i.e. it’s only one fifth) – so, how bite force is expressed matters
How bite force is measured can matter too i.e. how the experiment is conducted. Is it done with a force-measuring device, or is it only calculated and estimated based on the makeup of the jaw structure?
Bite force might differ depending on how provoked and angry an animal is
The size of the animal and the shape of it’s jaw are usually good predictors of bite strength – the larger the dog and the dog’s head, and the wider the jaw, generally the stronger the bite force
Sources
1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/canine-corner/201005/dog-bite-force-myths-misinterpretations-and-realities
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673787/
3. https://topdogtips.com/dogs-strongest-bite-force/
4. https://www.insidedogsworld.com/dog-bite-explained-top-20-dogs-with-the-strongest-bite-force/
5. https://petcomments.com/ten-dogs-which-have-the-strongest-bite/
6. https://petkeen.com/dogs-with-the-strongest-bite-force/
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