American Bulldog behavior concerns.

Question
Dear Dr. Connor,  I feel as though I am about to ask a question that I already know the answer to, however, I am truly hoping for a different one.  Last June my husband rescued (we have a law enforecement and animal control background ) and brought home a +/- 11 week old American Bulldog who had been abused and neglected: he weighed 9 lbs, his ribs protruded,and I can count the veterbrae in his spine. We had him vet-checked, We 'nursed' him back to health, vaccinated him, de-wormed hime, including homeopathically destroying any signs of the demodectic mites he had.  He was so smart- followed us side by side when we walked, stopped when we stopped walking and looked up at us - always looked at us when he was out and about with us as if to just make sure we were there.  He followed commands and potty trained easily.  The older he got we noticed he got 'spooked' by cars when we went walking, as if they snuck up on him, he'd sleep through anything- we could walk up to him, put feed in his bowl, make noise...etc and he'd sleep through it.  Needless to say we discovered he was bilaterally deaf-not by genetics but by injury. He followed the commands like sit, come, and stay based on the fact that we used the same hand signals along with the verbal command all the time.  He is a great boy and because of his auditory handicapp he excuded a hypersensitivity to movement (sight) and smell (olafactory).  He'd bark at things he saw or smelled for an excessive amount of time until he 'knew' they were gone.  Eventually we adopted a female, who's owner passed away and she (our female) had been living with a young family with an infant, toddler, and one one the way. She's very family oriented. She's a blue pit, complete indoor dog and has been living indoor/out door with our male to be his "hearing ear dog" and playmate.  The was never any real territorial aggression between them, just the normal establishment of dominance, you eat your food I'll eat mine, we were told she was spayed (has an abdominal scar and all) but she wasn't, we had pups, and now everyone is nuetered and spayed for sure!!! Recently, however, our males demeanor seems to be changing. We had friends over to see the puppies, pups were in the house, and we went out to the backyard so they could see the parents and our male growled at their toddler.  I kind of wrote it off to the protective parent thing, the girl was eye level to him-looked him in the eye-maybe he took it as another "dog" eyeing him, I don't know.  No aggressive move was made other than the growl and with the puppies and all I thought the explanation was reasonable; especially since he's been around children before with and was perfectly fine. We thought after nuetering him that he'd calm down...he's not 'aggressive' so to say but he plays rough and since he cannot hear the 'warnings' of our female he doesn't know when to stop and she gets defensive and he keeps going and....each tussle is more involved than the last (he outweighs her by 15 lbs or so but she seems to have a more destructive bite than him).  A couple week ago my husband was working in the yard, had a ball cap on (which he's done before) and a shovel in hand. Our male postured and started a low growl and stare down mode.  He was fine with me, always is, but seemed to not know who my husband was. Tonight the two dogs got into and although he seemed to get the worse end of the stick, a tooth puncture above the eye - I boxer cut fixed him up - I get the gut feeling, by the behavior of my female ( the 'whipped dog' cower)  when I broke up the fight, that he was probably the aggressor. We are planning on starting a family and I, we, are becoming concerened that perhaps our male is showing tendencies that may not be able to be changed, either by genetics or by the head injury.  He is deaf. He is an American Bulldog. He will NEVER be a candidate for rehoming or adoption. We were his only savior or he would of been dead ( we figure that the people that had him, had him for a reason <not a good one> and when he didn't meet their expectations he was beat and left for dead ).  The fights between the male and female are minimal and far and few between.  The "not recognizing" my husband has only happened once.  Is this something that is predispositioned? Is this going to get worse? Is there such thing and "doggy prozac". Is the reality that since we do not know any of his sire or dam's history that maybe his lineage is to blame? I am reaching out for any input, advise, recommendations at this time.  Overall he is such a good boy. Obeys his hand commands (once you can get his visual attention); they even stop fighting instantly when yelled at.  But nothing and noone is worth the safety of the family that we intend on starting this year.  I'm heartbroken at the idea of the reality of what we may have to do and am willing to try anything first if there even is an option.  Can you help?

Answer
My very first knee jerk reaction to this question was:  "Wow."

There's no proof your male was the aggressor between the two during the fight you describe: a "whipped dog" posture could very well be a signal of submission by the female to YOU as you approached (since you report you can end a fight with a yell.)  You've got two very tough breeds here, both notorious for intolerance of other dogs (this is not only a breed characteristic but is deliberately engineered by certain "people" who breed them).  The male almost always acquiesces to the female; either your Pit is going to type and making statements of rank or your Bulldog is misinterpreting her body signals (has nothing to do with being deaf), or is simply obtaining a dominance related problem (not uncharacteristic of the intact male of this breed, and he is intact now in his perception, no matter about the surgery.)  All by itself this is a serious problem, and I can't SEE IT from here.

I know you're both incredibly responsible, and also apparently very very capable, individuals who have an apparent real understanding of dog behavior, but those puppies were a huge error.  I understand how you made this mistake, I've had clients whose bitches were SPAYED INADEQUATELY (I know, it's hard to believe!) Allowing this dog to obtain full sexual maturity most likely contributed to his present behavior, but too late to fix that now; he is, as I said, always going to be "intact" in his perceptions.  When testosterone is ultimately removed after neutering, certain testosterone related behaviors are not and can linger for a lifetime.  There is medication available (hormones) to give the male a lower testosterone profile by introducing female hormones, but the problem with the female Pit absolutely 100% DISALLOWS this: all hell will break loose.  The use of psycho pharmacological agents in dogs is quite prevalent now; a veterinary associate and I worked with Prozac more than ten years ago.  My opinion regarding the use of this drug, or any like it, in an actively aggressive dog is: DO NOT DO IT.  Humans have all sorts of strange reactions to these drugs, including increase in anxiety, increase in aggression, disassociation from normal emotional reaction, changes in vision, ad nauseam: the human can TELL YOU, the DOG CANNOT.  Offering an agent that is capable of causing side effects that can worsen aggression, and I've SEEN it worsen aggression, is NOT the way to go.  A beta blocker (such as propanalol) can lower the rush of adrenaline that accompanies (or initiates) the dog's aggressive reaction, but this effect can't be counted on to contain a possibly life threatening situation between a dog and an infant.

It's not uncommon for a dog to OBSERVE a difference in clothing (your husband with the cap) and react fearfully: the fear reaction in this dog was to posture and growl, rather than tuck tail, put ears back, and offer calming signals (turn head, lick lips, yawn) or just plain run away.  This worries me.  The dog is a confident, strong individual and may be obtaining a real dominance; he obviously has some fear issues and that can be contributing to his aggression.  What happened between him and that toddler really worries me.  The male normally does not identify neonates as his "own"; however, as highest ranking among them, it's his self proclaimed "job" to manage every situation.  That baby did nothing except walk onto the scene.  A growl is a bite waiting to happen.

I can't pass a death sentence on any dog in this venue, nor will I.  You absolutely need the in person evaluation of a HIGHLY experienced certified applied animal behaviorist; this individual must have sufficient experience with aggression, both fear and dominance, and be able to evaluate both your dogs for temperament.  The dog's being deaf is an added dilemma but there are many deaf dogs in households who do not demonstrate aggression.  The following site has behaviorist membership but I have no idea regarding their education or professional credentials, you must ask for a strong veterinary reference (every working behaviorist has at least one veterinarian who refers clients to them) and three client references, and you must determine by talking with this person if s/he is confident that s/he can appropriately evaluate this situation.  
http://www.iaabc.org/

WAS that growl a one time event, created by the upset of neonates in his environment?  WAS that growl a fear reaction because this dog has not at all been socialized to infants and young children?  WAS that a sign of developing dominance behavior?  WAS it a reaction to the quick movements and strong odor (to a dog) associated with diaper wearing very young children?  I have no way of knowing the answer to these questions.  I wouldn't trust ANY dog with a human infant for any reason; far too many babies and young children are harmed (or worse) by dogs in their own homes because of improper supervision and lack of socialization and training.  I personally would never have either one of these breeds around my infant, toddler or young child.  When one has already demonstrated a tendency toward aggression, the handwriting is (as they say) on the wall.  Hire a professional who can spend time with you and your dogs; then sit down together and think this through with great care.  If I can do anything further to help, please repost.