Our dog Heidi:
... was a rescue from the Peninsula Humane Society south of San Francisco when she was about 9 months old. We're not sure what breed she is, though we think she may have a little German Shepherd in her due to her face and ears, and the black and tan splotch on her tail.
It took her a while to warm up to kids - she used to very steadfastly avoid them. As we were preparing to adopt a child, we worked purposefully to help her overcome this aversion, and now she's quite pleasant around kids. I have a very cute photo of a friend's daughter giving Heidi a big hug.
She's alert and protective, but does not attack - for example there was someone out front walking down the very dark street in front of our house, and she was woofing warily, standing at the side of the street, backing up as they walked along. She finally recognized the person as someone she knew in the dim light, and the tail immediately started wagging, ears went down, and she ran up to give a "hug" - cat style, rubbing her torso along their legs.