Well, I didn't REALLY choose the breed and definitely didn't choose the dog of my JRT...he was a gift from my parents. I was interested in JRTs because of their high energy and intelligence, they do fairly well in sports and are somewhat versatile (I was interested in obedience and rally-o, agility, and go-to-ground). I liked their feistiness and basically craziness. I liked (and still do) terriers.
My parents decided to buy me a puppy to "cheer me up" when I was diagnosed with depression. I guess they went into a pet store and were looking for any dog/breed I might be interested in. They had some JRT/shih tzu mixes, which was what they were going to buy, but my mom also decided to buy a wheaten terrier for herself (she wanted a low-shedding dog after our eskimo, and had met some wheatens via family friends and liked them), so they offered to throw in Milo (sold as a purebred) for free (since he was already 5 months old and so batsh*t crazy no one would take him).
Milo definitely didn't turn out as expected, but I still love the breed and would eagerly own another JRT - probably not until my kids are older.
Pit Bulls....I had always liked them a lot but also always thought I wanted a higher energy, more drivey, focused dog than the typical shelter pits around here. Then I got that higher energy dog and changed my mind
Ok, not really. I learned more about pit bulls and BSL on Chaz, actually, and started working/volunteering to reverse it. When I moved, I knew I couldn't permanently have a dog, so decided to foster, since I wasn't certain about the future and wanted the ability to travel easily in between dogs, etc. I decided to foster a pit bull for a number of reasons:
1. I didn't really have a breed in mind, and they were widely available in city shelters.
2. I didn't care about DA/prey drive because it would be the only dog
3. I liked them a lot and probably would have picked one anyway, especially after bonding with a few in day care.
4. My first foster was pulled from death row an hour before his euth time. I'm sure there were other dogs there I could have taken, but the rescue picked him probably based on his easygoing temperament and adoptability. The second foster was pulled from death row (probably for the same reasons) temporarily by a woman who was 9 months pregnant and needed someone to take her before she gave birth, Tom got adopted, so I took the second dog the night he went home. I didn't apply for either of them, just got a call "this dog needs a foster" and said ok.
They didn't disappoint, and that's the breed I'd go for in the future, most likely.
Other breeds on my list (boxers, ridgebacks, neo mastiffs) came after meeting them through work/volunteering.