I think Karen hit the nail on the head for me....it is the 'lax attitude' of the SPCA in placing this type of dog (1 1/2 yrs old with no history), as a family pet with small children. My daughter is very good with dogs as we always had 2 or 3 at a time during her childhood...she also saw us training the dogs and being responsible, and when we had an Akita which is also dog aggressive, we made sure that he knew his boundaries and listened...we had to train with him constantly, great dog with people, not so much with dogs. After he passed we decided that we didn't want any more high maintenance dogs so we switched to more family oriented dogs.

The shelter did offer 1 hr of free training (whoopie), but we are going to pay for our friend who is a highly skilled trainer to take the whole family and the dog thru as many sessions as they need to get this dog under control and socialized. It bothers me that they don't control the dog around the baby and as you know, babies can pull and poke in ways that will evoke a reaction from the dog.

We will probably at some point introduce our dogs to theirs but we just don't trust it....with any other dog a bite is a bite and it is over, with Pitts the bite can be deadly and that scares the crap out of me. If they had gotten him when he was a brand new puppy and raised him and seen the parent's temperament I would be a lot more comfortable. They are a busy family and I just don't see them giving the dog as much attention as it needs and deserves which can be a disaster.