Doggy damage: The biggest gnawers

It stands around 23cm tall and weights just 2kg but the average chihuahua costs its owners more than $1600 over its lifetime in stained carpets, ripped sofas and chewed cables.

The pint-sized pooch has been unmasked as the second most destructive dog after its considerably larger cousin, the great dane, which notches up an impressive $1739 worth of damage.

Mastiffs came third, costing their owners $1521 over a lifetime while basset hounds were found to cause $1466 of damage on average, according to a British pet insurance company which compiled its destructive dogs list after interviewing 3000 dog owners.

Finishing off the top five is the whippet, which will leave a trail of destruction totalling $1346. But Hamilton chihuahua breeder Gail Nielson believes the tiny dogs are much maligned and do not deserve the bad rap they get. Recently an Illinois University study also identified chihuahuas as the third most aggressive type of dog.

That's because owners pick them up when they see another dog, and therefore tell the dog that he must be afraid thus reacts that way.

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