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We adopted a pit bull when it was full grown (it more or less adopted us). T-Bone was big, solid muscle, and a pussycat with the family, he would slobber all over you, follow you everywhere, and try to climb on you when you were sitting down.

We also have an easygoing male chow, Bear, that T-Bone was jealous of. (Bear lived with us first.) We had to keep them apart, but one time T-Bone got to Bear and nearly killed him, pinning him down, and going for the jugular. Bear bled and couldn't free himself. Only his fur, and my mother beating off T-Bone with a broom, saved Bear. The dogs were always kept separated after that.

As well-behaved as T-Bone was around the adults, though, when my two-year-old niece went to bother T-Bone, (as all little kids do to dogs), T-Bone gave her a warning growl....you never saw me jump into action so fast to pull that kid away from the dog. I was surprised at this. She was always supervised around the dog after this. T-Bone is gone now, he liked to chase cars, and a pick-up got him.

Aside from that, I have a question out there for anyone who can possibly answer. Is it OK to have a pet German Shepherd around a newborn baby? I wanted to originally get a Pomeranian, but toys are not good around little kids, and often bite little children when they are bothered(ours did). I was going to get a Shepherd puppy when the time comes, so the dog gets used to the baby, and get a neutered male from a reliable breeder. As much as I would like to get one from a pound, I thought that this would be too risky since I would be unsure of his inherited disposition. Any comments on this from Freepers?

See post 14. And remember that dogs can get very jealous of little newborns, taking the owners' attention away from them, particularly if the dog has been allowed in the house previously. Maybe you should hold off on the dog....

Excuse me! You knew your dog was dangerously aggressive, kept it away from your other dog and your niece -- but you let it get loose where it could chase cars??????!!!!!! People should be put in jail for this; then we'd have a lot fewer maulings. Instead we wait until after an innocent child or elderly person is killed or maimed, to start babbling about how dog owners ought to do this and that.