We don't yet have any children, but with Shadow only 18 months old, the two will inevitably collide. I never even thought about some of those points, I was just so excited to finally owning a dog again. The statistics speak for themselves. He may be a loving member of the family, but he's still a dog, a hunter, a killer. I could stare at his cute, sad looking eyes all day, but one look at his sharp fangs and molars always reminds me. When he misses the ball and catches my fingers he has a very playful, controlled bite. No skin broken but it can hurt enough. What if a toddler picks up his ball and he wants to play? What if toddler picks up his food and doggy doesn't want to play?