Ditto for German Shepherds and Dachshunds (I have 3 dogs; the one in addition to the 2 pits is a Dachshund, and he's bitten pretty much everyone he's gotten close enough to)
There is a categorical difference between the two. While dachsunds may have a propensity for violence, it is verging on comical to compare them to a German Shepherd, just because of the comparative physical capability of the dogs. A dachsund could get it in its head to attack me for days and I would never require anything more than a bandaid, while a German Shepherd could seriously injure me even were I trying to defend myself.
As I've said elsewhere on this thread, the first-order consideration for breeds is just the physical capability; temperament and training are second-order considerations that may mitigate some of the capabilities, but rarely will increase the danger of a breed.
I'm curious- is the Dachshund a rescue or did you raise it from a puppy? And if you raised it from a puppy, when was the first time you first socialized it? Did you begin immediately after weaning at 8 weeks or did a month or two pass before you brought it into the world? Those first couple months after the 8 week mark are critical for to reduce reactivity and encourage proper socialization. So many people I've come across just hear than you can't bring your dog out into the world before all their vaccinations and in doing so, they royally screw over their dog by lack of proper socialization and that's why you see so many poorly behaved dogs.
We raised him from a puppy. I probably am guilty of putting less effort into him than I did our pit-lab (She was also raised from a puppy; I was worried about everything I heard about pits, and fell into the trap of "cute wiener dog" thinking for the little one). To this day (10+ years later) he's still a dominant dog, and the pit-mix is actually super passive, loving on every person, kitten, and dog that's ever come into our home. (though perhaps her lab influence plays a large role in that)
Sort of. I think the high-order bit here is whether the dog is capable of causing grievous harm. Chihuahuas can be aggressive and can attack without warning, but they will rarely require more than basic first aid to treat, and the possibility of death is practically zero.
At a minimum you are talking about dogs that are capable of killing a child and seriously injuring an adult, and when we talk about the larger breeds in the pit bull family, clearly capable of killing an adult.
Some larger breeds, like golden retrievers, can be ferocious when provoked, and can be dangerous in this regard, but in terms of brute strength are more limited. This is even putting aside differences in temperament.