Оглавление
D. Caroline Coile. Pit Bulls For Dummies
Pit Bulls For Dummies® To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Pit Bulls For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box. Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Illustrations
Guide
Pages
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
WHY THIS BOOK ISN’T SUGAR-COATED
Getting Started with Pit Bulls
Pitting and Petting: The Pit Bull’s Past
Creating Canine Gladiators
BULL-BAITING
Showing Off
FIGHTING WORDS
NAME THAT DOG
Becoming America’s Sweetheart
THE PETEY PAPERS
Overcoming Pride and Prejudice
GOOD SPORTS
Growing in Popularity
FAMOUS PIT BULL OWNERS
The Michael Vick influence
The consequences of no-kill shelters
Breed-specific legislation
THE PIT BULL LOBBY
Finding the Middle Ground
MAKING A NEW BREED: THE AMERICAN BULLY
Sizing Up the Pit Bull
Toughing It Out
Building a Better Bulldog
The American Dog Breeders Association standard
The United Kennel Club standard
A NOSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR …
The American Kennel Club standard for the American Staffordshire Terrier
Strutting His Stuff
UKC conformation shows
AKC conformation shows
Deciding whether a Pit Bull Is Right for You
Making a Commitment
Making the Match
Getting to the Heart of the Matter (or Your Pit Bull)
Facing the Facts
PIT BULL BITE FORCE AND THE LOCKING JAW MYTH
ANSWERING THE PIT BULL ADVOCATES’ CLAIMS
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR LOCAL LAWS
Shopping the Bull Market
Avoiding Bad Blood
Searching High and Low
Checking the classifieds
Buying from a breeder
Getting a dog from a shelter or rescue group
EVALUATING TEMPERAMENT EVALUATIONS
MEETING YOUR SOULMATE
Checking the Bona Fidos
ADBA registration
UKC registration
AKC registration
Picking Your Pit
Giving Your Pit Bull a Good Home
Bringing Home Your New Best Friend
Puppy-proofing Your Home
Fencing In Your Pit Bull
Providing a Cozy Doghouse
Giving Your Dog a Comfortable Place to Sleep
Crates
Exercise pens
Shopping for Your Pit Bull
Toys
Food and water bowls
Collars
Buckle collars
Slip collars
Martingale collars
Other choices
Leashes
Grooming supplies
Poop bags
Travel supplies
Living with Your Pit Bull
Acting Like a Pit Bull in a China Shop: House Rules
Taking the Pit Stop Outside
When the Plumbing’s Broken
Trying Your Patience
Understanding Pit Talk
WHAT PIT BULLS SEE
Becoming a Social Animal
Going to Kindergarten
Meeting the Children
Going for a Bull Run
GOING HOG WILD
THE DOG PARK DILEMMA
Making a Splash
CLEANING UP YOUR ACT
Hitting the Road
THE FAKE SERVICE DOG
KEEP YOUR HEAD AND PAWS IN THE CAR AT ALL TIMES …
Finding a Pit-Sitter
Finding a Lost Love
PROPER I.D
Training and Having Fun with Your Pit
Coping with a Pit Bull Terrorist
Saving Your Home
Fighting Like Cats and Dogs
Cats
Dogs
Avoiding DogFights
Breaking Up a DogFight
Calming the Raging Bull
All in good fun?
Biting the hand that feeds
Dealing with Pit Bull Aggression
Plucking Up Courage
Corralling the Escape Artist
Digging Up Some Dirt
Tales from the Bark Side
Training the Teacher’s Pit
Training Your Pit to Wag Her Tail
Working for food
Making ideas click quick
Getting the Timing Right
Following the Ten Commandments
1. Thou shalt not live in the past
2. Thou shalt not train your dog to be bad
3. Thou shalt not confuse
4. Thou shalt not speak in tongues
5. Thou shalt not use excessive force
6. Thou shalt not hurt thy friend
7. Thou shalt not beat a dead horse
8. Thou shalt not end on a low note
9. Thou shalt not go crazy
10. Thou shalt not lose your patience
Going to School
Getting the Right Stuff
Starting Basic Training
Coming to terms
Sitting bull
Staying power
Learning ups and downs
Walking well-heeled
Trying Every Trick in the Book
Going Out to the Bull Games
Pulling His Weight … and More
Training to pull
Becoming a S.T.A.R
Being a Good Citizen
Staying in Step with Obedience and Rally
Overcoming Obstacles
Following His Nose
Getting a Grip on Schutzhund
Rounding Up a Herding Title
Taking a Flying Leap
Racing the Clock
Keeping Your Pit Bull Healthy
Feeding a Bottomless Pit
Starting with Dry or Moist Foods
AVOIDING BLOAT
Considering Raw
UNDERSTANDING THE DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY SCARE
Boning Up on Nutrition
Eschewing the fat
Skin and bones
Feeding Time
Keeping Your Dog Hydrated
Primping Your Pit Bull
Taking Your Pit to the Cleaners
Smelling Like a Rose
Debugging Your Dog
Making fleas flee
Ticking off ticks
Managing mange
Losing those lousy lice
Saving Your Dog’s Skin
Scratching the surface of allergic itching
Pyoderma and impetigo
Cooling down hot spots
Nailing Down Nail Care
Going in One Ear and Cleaning Out the Other
Keeping an Eye on the Bull’s Eye
Keeping Your Dog Armed to the Teeth
A Clean Bull of Health
Examining Your Pit Bull
Gums
Body temperature
Pulse, heartbeat, and breathing rate
Establishing a Relationship with a Vet You Trust
Making Sense of Blood Tests
Giving Your Dog Medicine
Staying Up to Date on Your Dog’s Vaccinations
Puppy vaccinations
Rabies
Distemper
Hepatitis
Leptospirosis
Parvovirus
Coronavirus
Tracheobronchitis (kennel cough)
CALLING THE SHOTS
Lyme disease
Keeping Your Pit Free of Worms
Ascarids
Hookworms
Whipworms
Tapeworms
More worms
Dealing with Intestinal Parasites
Coccidia
Giardia
Preventing Heartworm
Sick as a Dog
When Your Dog Just Isn’t Himself
Dealing with Diarrhea
Saying Vamoose to Vomiting
Coping with Coughing
Helping Your Dog with Urinary Problems
Understanding Endocrine Disorders
Hypothyroidism
Cushing’s syndrome
Investigating Immunological Problems
Banishing Blood Parasites
Ehrlichiosis
Babesia
Coping with Cancer
Looking into Lameness
An arm and a leg
From the hip
Doctoring Your Dog
Holistic medicine
Homeopathic medicine
Herbology
Chiropractic medicine
Acupuncture
Trying Home Remedies
Pit Bull First Aid
ABCs of First Aid
Artificial respiration
CPR
Specific Emergencies
Poisoning
Seizures
Heat stroke
Hypothermia
Bleeding
Limb fractures
Bloat (gastric torsion, gastric dilatation-volvulus)
Insect stings and allergic reactions
Snakebite
Burns
Electrical shock
Helping Your Dog Age Well
Eat and Run
Act Your Age
When You’ve Done Everything
Eternally in Your Heart
The Part of Tens
Ten Pit Bull Resources
American Dog Breeders Association
American Kennel Club
DogsBite.org
Dogster
Dr. Sophia Yin
Live Science
Pit Bull Rescue Central
Strombeck’s Home-Prepared Diets for Dogs and Cats
United Kennel Club
Veterinary Partner
Ten Ways to Help the Pit Bull’s Reputation
Understanding Both Sides
Showing Off
Being Considerate
Steering Your Dog away from Trouble
Being Realistic
Staying Optimistic
Coming to the Rescue
Organizing a Local Pit Bull Group
Spreading the Word
Supporting the Cause
Index. A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
About the Author
Dedication
Author’s Acknowledgments
WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
Отрывок из книги
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.
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In the early 20th century, Pit Bulls moved graciously from fame as pit fighters to fame as national symbols. The Pit Bull’s reputation for courage and tenacity, combined with his good nature, made him a natural as the dog synonymous with the United States during World War I. A popular war poster of the period aptly captures the true Pit Bull outlook by showing a picture of a Pit Bull wearing an American flag bandana above the phrase “I’m neutral, but not afraid of any of them.” Another poster featured a Pit Bull named Tige, who was the companion of the then-popular cartoon character Buster Brown. (Buster Brown and Tige also represented Buster Brown shoes in advertisements.)
In fact, a possible Pit Bull (or Pit Bull mix or Boston Terrier mix — nobody knows for sure) named Stubby emerged from World War I as a national hero. Stubby was the unofficial mascot of the 102nd infantry, and when it came time to go overseas, the men smuggled him on board. Despite no training or experience in battle conditions, Stubby braved intense shelling to comfort wounded soldiers lying in the crossfire. He eventually served for 18 months and participated in 17 battles. Stubby repeatedly warned his regiment of incoming mortar shells and mustard gas attacks, and once he even prevented a spy from escaping. When Stubby was wounded, he played the role of therapy dog, cheering hospitalized soldiers. Even while recuperating in Paris, he was credited with saving a child from being run over.
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