Labs are great - had a pair of brothers growing up. I have an American Pitbull Terrier right now, and love him to pieces. Don't believe the media hype - Pitbulls are one of the most stable, family, people-friendly breeds out there. No such thing as a bad dog - just bad owners. Buster plays with my two girls, four and two, and caught on right from the start that he can't play rough with them. He tags along behind them, and lets them ride him around the house. (Their high pain threshold comes in real handy with little kids - he just soaks up all their ear and tail pulling, and thinks its all great fun!) I haven't experienced any problems whatsoever with aggression - if anything, Buster's too friendly! We bought him somewhat as a home protection dog, but he just wants to meet everyone and lick them to death. As far as inside or outside goes, I don't think you'll ruin a dog by going either route. Just make sure that your outside facilities are adequate for the climate. Buster sleeps most nights inside in his crate, but he has a doghouse that he stays in too. We keep him inside with us a lot some days, and sometimes he spends a lot of time outside. The main thing is just to make sure the dog gets a lot of interaction with it's "humans", whether its inside or out. As for leaving a dog while you're gone, that wasn't a problem for us. We "crate-trained" Buster when we got him at two months old. This method of house-breaking basically teaches the dog that it's crate is it's den, and makes use of the animal's natural instinct not to mess in it's den. The pup spends a lot of time in the crate at first, whether you're home or not, and eventually the dog comes to regard the crate as it's own little sanctuary. It worked really well for us - you should do an internet search or get some books on the subject. Good luck - you'll never have truer friend than a good dog! (And Pitbulls are the best of the best - but then, I'm biased!)