At first Baby seemed timid, but she was very warm and loved to be petted. My husband plays with her, and she lies still to have her belly scratched by him.

Initially, I was intimidated by her and only went around her when I was feeling confident. I did not allow my children around her at all at first — and later only exposed them briefly and with our supervision. If the children are outside, Baby is kenneled or chained away from the play area.

We have two other dogs: a 2-year-old male Heidelberg shepherd and a 9-year-old female Shar-Pei. In the beginning, all of the dogs roamed the backyard, with the Shar-Pei sleeping indoors at night.

One day during feeding, the two females fought and the Shar-Pei almost lost her life. My husband refused to get rid of Baby, stating he needed a good guard dog for our property, and that she kept our neighbors from allowing their dogs to roam the neighborhood, which he feels is more of a danger to our children.

The second incident with the Shar-Pei really pushed me over the limit: We had been working with a trainer with both dogs for months — Baby has food aggression, especially on hot Texas afternoons — with muzzles and leashes and treats. The Shar-Pei got her muzzle off first and would lie beside Baby and wag her tail. Baby was not relaxed, but also was not showing aggression — no snarling or puffing up. She would just get very still.

Then one day, Daisy suddenly turned her head and latched on to the Shar-Pei's throat and face. She would not let go and was growling and snarling. I was afraid that if she let go at my persuasion, she might come after me or my children, who were in the yard only feet away from the attack. Again the Shar-Pei fought for her life.

Even after such a close call, my husband refuses to get rid of her. He thinks that all dogs are equally dangerous — even though none of the other dogs has a history of any type of aggressive behavior with dogs, people, strangers, cats or anything else. He feels that the Shar-Pei instigates situations with Baby. I don't really care who starts it; it is who finishes it that scares me the most.