Pit Bulls For Dummies. D. Caroline Coile
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Introduction
Pull up a chair and spend some time with one of the most amazing, yet controversial, breeds to ever wag a tail. A breed of satin and steel, Pit Bulls are a mixture of softness and strength, an uncanny canine combination of fun, foolishness, and serious business, all wrapped up in love. If you ignore any of these ingredients you’re cheating yourself, and your dog, of the best relationship possible. My aim with this book has been to include the same mixture. Parts of it will be fun, a few parts perhaps even foolish, and much of it serious — always with the aim of strengthening and lengthening the bond between you and dog, and ensuring the Pit Bull earns back its good name.
But this book, like the breed, also comes with a caveat. As much as I hate to admit it, the breed has earned its controversial status. The Pit Bull has another side, one that too many dog lovers (and books) deny, ignore, or excuse. To do so isn’t fair to Pit Bull owners, other dogs, and the breed itself. Understanding this breed — both the good and the bad — is the best way to protect it. The irrefutable fact is that more Pit Bulls have killed more people and other dogs than any other type of dog has done. Owning any dog is a big responsibility, but because Pit Bulls aren’t like any other dog, owning a Pit Bull requires even more vigilance.
This is not a book meant to sit on your shelf as a collector’s item. This book should have ragged pages and chewed covers, with dog hairs as bookmarks. It should have imprints of tiny puppy teeth and full-grown paw prints marking the pages with your dog’s progress through life,