When I was probably about..oh, 9 or 10. We had a sweet little chow female come around. My grandfather at the time didnt want any dogs around. So he would keep running her off.
Well, she would run out of the yard, stop in the neighbors yard and wait for him to turn away or go inside and then would come back to our yard.
She had a red old tattered collar and one of those chain leasesh with a red hoop.
She would NOT leave and I probably didnt help going out there, feeding her and playing with her. Papaw hated it, but my Mamaw supported me.
I swear I was bonded with this dog from the beginning the moment I laid eyes on her.
Finally after about a week we took her in and my grandfather began trying to find her owner. We put ads in the paper, on the radio and flyers up. My aunt and I (sadly) took her door to door in TWO neighborhoods and no one knew who she belonged to.
After about two weeks, nothing..and she had already been there a week, so, I got my way

and we got to keep her! I named her Cinnamon cause she was all brown and we were hardly ever apart. She did have to stay outside and she was chained up, but that never did anything to her. She loved me but got along great with my friends and family.
About a month after that, we were outside one day and mind you im only around 10yrs old at the time and this guy walks into our yard. Tall skinny dirty unkept hair, etc etc etc. And..he had a HUGE wrench in his hand.
I was with a friend playing with Cinnamon and Cinnamon instantly cowers down behind me shaking like crazy. My friend tries to get me to run inside and I said "Im not leaving my dog!"
I swear, at 27 I remember the convo. word for word.
Tall guy: "Hey, you seen a dog like that running around?" <point wrench at Cinnamon>
Me: "No sir I havent"
Tall guy: "You sure?" <stares at Cinnamon behind me>
Me: "Yes sir" <I look at Cinnamon behind me then back at tall guy> "She's been MY dog for quite a few months now. Her name is Cinnamon"
We stare at each other for a few minutes
Tall guy "Ok then"
And then leaves.
My friend looks at me and goes "your nuts" LOL.
I think, that if you get one. You should look for a good breeder or one that has been evaluated good so you know what you get. They can bond closely to one person. Cinnamon was bonded to me the most...HOWEVER, I made sure that she was around other people, dogs and cats in a positive way and we NEVER had an aggression problem.
They can be a bit stubborn, Cinnamon sure was sometimes, but I was even more stubborn so it worked out..lol.
I think if you are fair and firm with them and show leadership they can be WONDERFUL dogs, even with children as long as you go about it the right way. I was able to read Cinnamon just fine, however I was with her all the time and I got to know her and her pesonality.
On the flip side, one of my dads friends had two chows. Bonded to him and tolerated his wife, never around anyone or anything else. If anyone came back there without my dads friend, they would attack and possibly kill whatever came back there.
So said, they were so beautiful.
My fav. thing to do with Cinnamon was use her as a pillow in the summertime to watch the clouds outside. hehehe