I love pits too, but I think you just said if you didn't want to deal with possible dog agression---doesn't that tell you something?
So suddenly dog aggression = human aggression? What? A well bred, well trained, well socialized pit bull is practically genetically incapable of human aggression. To avoid having to type it all up again, I'll just quote something I posted yesterday:
a true, well bred pit bull would never, ever, under any circumstances, bite a human. The original fighting pit bulls were bred to have such strong bite inhibition that their owner could jump into the pit with two fighting dogs, and pry the jaws of one dog off of another with their bare hands without being bitten. This was actually proven to me the other day, and it was pretty amazing.
Butter and Culley play very rough, and sometimes it escalates. Usually once they start to get too rough I crate them both until they have a chance to cool down.
The other day, it escalated before I had a chance to calm them down. Culley pissed off Butter, and Butter chomped down on Culley's throat and would not let go. There was no blood, Butter just chomped and then went limp. Culley was choking and couldn't get away. Say what you want about what a bad idea it is to get in the middle of a dog fight- but Butter does springpole and we work on him letting me put my hands in his mouth and get him off of things no matter how focused he is. So, I treated this exactly as if he were playing springpole- I grabbed the top part of his jaw in one hand, the bottom part of his jaw in the other, and pryed them apart. I then told him "leave it" and he instantly sat, as if he were waiting for a chance to have another go at his springpole. It was all a game to him, and he NEVER redirected the bite onto me. Butter is only HALF pit bull, but it's a good half. I now know that if a fight ever occurs- and they DO occur, with six male dogs, no matter how vigilant you are- play just gets too rough and you're not always going to be quick enough to break it up- I can get in the middle of it and stop it without being injured myself. That is how proper pit bulls behave.
A pit bull that bites a human is a cur and should be culled, period, no questions asked. In my opinion, any pit bull that bites a human should be euthanized, and all dogs that even show signs of human aggression (barring certain circumstances) should be carefully evaluated and euthanized if necessary.
Do you see now how, specifically in the case of pit bulls, it is just plain wrong to connect human and dog aggression?
I know pitbulls can be sweet,loving dogs, but why have one when you have children. You've got your hands full with the children, let alone worrying about watching the dog. So sad.
Um, I don't see how the breed is important here, honestly. I could just as easily say "I know dalmations can be sweet,loving dogs, but why have one when you have children. You've got your hands full with the children, let alone worrying about watching the dog. So sad."
See how that works? Not very fair, is it? For the record, pit bulls were once known as "nanny dogs." I would trust a good, well bred pit bull around children over your average spastic lab (no offence to lab owners 
) any day. It goes back to the above- well bred pit bulls should be all but incapable of human aggression.
I'll use my own dogs as an example. A few months ago, we had a BBQ and had some people over. One of our friends recently had a baby, and I was a bit concerned, because my dogs are not used to babies. Some of them have never SEEN a human baby, as far as I know. Initially I just crated all of the dogs, but this friend and I got on the subject and we decided to carefully introduce Culley (my 2 y/o rescued APBT) to the baby, just to see how he felt about it.
Now, Culley is THE most fearful dog in the world. He was pretty obviously beaten before we got him. Raised voices...heck, even the TV or someone sneezing too loud...terrify him. Sandom inanimate objects in your hand? Obviously you intend to beat him with them. Too excited about anything? That's the same as yelling. Slightly open doors? For some reason, he won't walk by them. A door has to be all the way open, or all the way closed. Otherwise it's scary. Anything even slightly unusual about your appearance? Sheer terror. Culley spends his life cowering and peeing in fear of everything. We've only had him for 6 months, so maybe he'll open up one day. Maybe he won't. Either way, that's how he is.
He is also what I would consider "dog tolerant." It would be perfectly fine with him if he never saw another dog again in his life, but as long as they don't get on his nerves he's fine with them. He'll even play with other dogs, if he happens to like that dog. But very minor things that most other dogs brush off will earn you a fight with Culley if you're another dog. He has been in his share of fights with my other dogs, usually involving play that gets out of control. Because he is a pit bull, and a decent one, I can always break up those fights. Still, he has a VERY short fuse with other dogs. That's not his fault, that's a breed trait and we're fine with that.
He also has strong prey drive- but luckily, his only thought is to please me and I can get his attention and call him off of something no matter how focused he is. Still, he would kill small animals if he were ever around them unsupervised.
SO- we have a very fearful, formerly abused dog who is dog aggressive under some circumstances, and has a fairly strong prey drive . How does he react to a scary, strange-smelling, noisy, human baby that strongly resembles a prey animal?
Well, first, he sniffed it. (remember, we're HEAVILY supervising here and ready to jump in at any second. I may have kids one day, so he'd likely have to be introduced to a baby sooner or later.) He didn't know WHAT to think at first...what was this strange thing that had invaded his territory? Was it food? Was it prey? Possibly a friend?
After a second of tail-between-the-legs-and-shaking sniffing, something just came over him. He started wagging. He stopped shaking. And then, he was licking the baby on the face. I would have NEVER thought this of Culley- but within minutes that baby was crawling all over him, pulling his ears, grabbing his fur, poking his eyes, hugging him, you name it...and Culley was just eating it up. I have NEVER seen him so secure and happy.
Culley stayed with that baby for the rest of the day. We had 10+ people over, and Culley LOVES people..but he didn't even greet the guests that day...he just stayed right with "his" baby with the happiest, most serene doggy grin I have ever seen on his face. When another one of the dogs approached, he growled at them and made sure he was between them and "his" baby, even though the other dogs were just curious. It was amazing- but it SHOULDN'T have been, because THAT is how pit bulls are supposed to be.
I have yet to see a pit bull attack that DIDN'T involve irresponsible owners. Every case seems to involve a loose dog, unsupervised children, an unsocialized dog, an unneutered dog, or a chained dog. I have yet to see or hear of a well bred, well socialized, well trained, neutered, vaccinated, sufficiently exercised, properly supervised, FAMILY (raised inside with people) pit bull biting or attacking a person. I just haven't.
ETA: We never left him and the baby unsupervised, and we never would have under any circumstances- that is just majorly tempting fate. Sadly, too many people get too lax and fail to supervise their dogs and that's how these things happen. Yes, all dogs WILL bite- my point being that Pit Bulls specifically were bred to have greater bite inhibition with humans than any other breed I can think of. Any dog that so much as snapped at a human was culled mercillesly. Yes, human aggression is being bred into some lines by idiots who don't know what they're doing- usually by crossing in mastiffs and american bulldogs and other potentially HA breeds. Still, that is not indicative of a well bred pit bull. Pit bulls that bite people, except in self defense or in defense of their families, should be euthanized, no questions asked, IMO.