Well it is at the moment. In the past, going way back, it was a GSD or a Doberman. Then it was the Rottweiler, the Pit Bull or some sort of Staffy/ Pit mix, then American bulldogs. Basically it's whichever fashionable 'tough guy' status breed is cropping up everywhere at that time. It could just as easily be any mastiff, an Akita or Rhodesian Ridgeback, or any strong, powerful, brave dog that can do serious damage if not properly handled, trained and socialised.
It will be a Cane Corso and/or Belgian Malinois that are the next breeds to be constantly making the headlines for all the wrong reasons, you mark my words.
Daschunds have a terrible reputation for biting, aggression and unpredictability, but because they are small, they do limited damage. Not the sort of damage that makes these awful headlines, thankfully. And also it's probably no coincidence that they tend to be owned by a different sort of person to the average XL Bully or Cane Corso owner, so are likely to be better trained and more intelligently handled.
What it almost never is, involved in these tragic attacks, is a breed that has no history of either fighting, guarding, hunting or baiting. And what it always is, is a breed which is currently the latest 'tough guy' status dog. They are bought by idiots who spend no time researching the traits of the breed, no time training and socialising them properly, or learning anything about dog psychology. Too many people don't understand, for example, that making intense eye contact with a dog and getting up in its face, even if you only want to give it a cuddle, can seem aggressive and indimidating to a dog, so it might well bite you in the face as a warning to back off. People will often 'play' with their dogs in a way that mimics aggressive or intimidating behaviour. They let their small children clamber all over their dogs and pull them around like toys, get right up into their faces, shrieking loudly and running around them without being remotely sensitive to the signs that the dog is stressed or uncomfortable, and then wonder why the dog turns, and bites.
I went to a seaside town a few days ago and it was incredibly busy with families out walking with dogs. One woman had a baby in a buggy and a dog which looked like an XL Bully type, or at least some sort of bull x breed, but it wasn't muzzled and just had an ordinary collar on, not a harness with any proper control.
That dog was a complete nightmare. Totally out of control. It lunged and snarled at every single other dog that walked past and the woman had a real struggle trying to keep hold of it. She was also trying to wheel her buggy at the same time. The dog could have slipped its collar at any time and attacked another dog. It clearly wasn't properly trained or socialised and she looked really stressed trying to manage it.
She literally had to stand on the spot for about 15 minutes, hanging onto this dog for dear life because there were so many people with dogs walking back and forth past her. She was trying to block the dog in with her child's buggy and both her legs, hanging onto the dog's collar with both hands to stop it from breaking free and savaging some passing cockapoo. She eventually turned around and went back the other way. Hopefully to take the bloody thing home. I was watching all this from a restaurant table, but I felt like going out and telling her she was stupid, stupid cow and her dog should be muzzled. I love dogs. Really love them. But not all of them are nice and some simply cannot be redeemed or trained to be good family pets.