# Good pitbull/apbt books?



## bluedozer (Sep 8, 2013)

In your opinion what are some of your must have pitbull/apbt books? What topics are covered?

1, History of the breed
2, Dogmen
3, Conditioning
4, Training 
5, Breeding/bloodlines
6, General

I am wanting to find some good credible books on the breed I have always admired and now love. 

Thank you


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## TheHiddenAngel (Mar 21, 2014)

I haven't read these myself because most are hard to get a hold of but...
-The Complete Gamedog: A Guide to Breeding and Raising the American Pit Bull Terrier by Ed Faron and Chris Faron
-The World of the American Pit Bull Terrier by Richard F. Stratton
-The Book of the American Pit Bull Terrier by Richard Stratton
-The Working Pit Bull by Diane Jessup


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## Carla Restivo (Feb 17, 2014)

bluedozer said:


> In your opinion what are some of your must have pitbull/apbt books? What topics are covered?
> 
> 1, History of the breed
> 2, Dogmen
> ...


1. Breed Information Center
2. don't know that there is a definitive BOOK on this -- whatever someone will or wants to tell you. 
3. commons sense; or some say only the "dogmen" can tell you.
4. best books aren't even APBT specific. Any good training book for DOGS will do. I like, for beginning with puppies, "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With". You kinda grow into training books -- I find you also need to read behavior books along with training books....
5. Knowledge of bloodlines is again, something you grow into as you spend time in the breed. There are dozens of good books on breeding dogs.
6. "The Ultimate American Pit Bull Terrier" by Jacqueline O'Neil.

Just plan on building a library about DOGS, with specific books here and there as you go along -- if you are serious about any specific breed. It takes years, but is well worth the expense.


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## Odin`s_BlueDragon (Mar 11, 2012)

i bought that "ultimate" book by O'Niel.... i saw it at the Good Will store for a few bucks so i bought it. and it really should be titled "the Ultimate American Staffordshire Terrier" cuz its not about APBT... 

if u want a book about a more traditional APBT then find something by Richard Stratton. or Schoolboy Lives (on FB) has one called The Big Red Book. 

we even have a lot of info here... use the search bar and see what u can find


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## ames (Jun 6, 2010)

Rudy sent me some great books to read. I just finished them and just need to get to the store I get an envelope to mail them back to him (this weekend Rudy lol)

Some things were overdone lol but the books were a good read overall! I think they are the books Lauren mentioned.

Sent from Petguide.com App so please excuse the typos


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## Carla Restivo (Feb 17, 2014)

Odin`s_BlueDragon said:


> i bought that "ultimate" book by O'Niel.... i saw it at the Good Will store for a few bucks so i bought it. and it really should be titled "the Ultimate American Staffordshire Terrier" cuz its not about APBT...
> 
> if u want a book about a more traditional APBT then find something by Richard Stratton. or Schoolboy Lives (on FB) has one called The Big Red Book.


I personally like the O'Neil book as a general book because it DOES go into the different registries; and WHY there is that whole dual registration thing. It DOES help one understand the history of that.

It also helps clear up the confusion amongst similar breeds, such as the APBT, AST, Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

I personally find that newbies are often confused about these things and I think this book helps set it straight.

It IS very much a "general" book and CAN help one get started and understand/appreciate the more specific books.

This book does have the original ADBA standard -- which I actually quite liked -- one of the better explanations of conformation and it's relation to ability. It's not easy to find this anymore since ADBA changed their standard years ago.


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## Odin`s_BlueDragon (Mar 11, 2012)

Carla Restivo said:


> I personally like the O'Neil book as a general book because it DOES go into the different registries; and WHY there is that whole dual registration thing. It DOES help one understand the history of that.
> 
> It also helps clear up the confusion amongst similar breeds, such as the APBT, AST, Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
> 
> ...


i didnt say it was a horrible book. i just implied it wasnt what i expected. yes, prolly a better "general dog book" than an APBT book.


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## Carla Restivo (Feb 17, 2014)

Odin`s_BlueDragon said:


> i didnt say it was a horrible book. i just implied it wasnt what i expected. yes, prolly a better "general dog book" than an APBT book.


Yeah and you know, most newbies don't even know the GENERAL stuff about DOGS, much less about APBTs!

They just want to jump in and know all about "dogmen" and game dogs -- and just end up parrotting what they read without really KNOWING.

And end up being pretty ignorant.


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## bluedozer (Sep 8, 2013)

Thank you for all of the suggestions so far. Yes their is tons of info here just sorting through some of the bs arguments to find good solid info gets pretty confusing for me. Just looking to expand my personal knowledge about this breed. This gives me a good starting point. Thank you again.


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## APBTN00b (Jul 8, 2013)

I am going to also say grab something by Richard Stratton. I think he has like 3 or 4 books just on the APBT. Also there is a book written by one of the Colby's but its like 100$ @[email protected] I've yet to get my hands on that book also. And While I know Diane, I haven't personally read any of her material, So I don't know if I can recommend it or not.

But Def check out the Richard Stratton stuff. And look for a book called the APBT Bible ... or something like that.


Also keep in mind some of these books were written in the 80's and older. So dog fighting was still practiced and it is written about in these books as historic knowledge.


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## surfer (Feb 20, 2013)

i have over $1000 worth of APBT books have everyone mentioned plus several more,

plus over 20yrs worth of the SDJ, if ya'll know what that is


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## Raiderblue (Jan 1, 2014)

surfer said:


> i have over $1000 worth of APBT books have everyone mentioned plus several more,
> 
> plus over 20yrs worth of the SDJ, if ya'll know what that is


Ok? then help out the op and suggest an opinion some of the best reads, mr. money bags lol.


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## surfer (Feb 20, 2013)

it aint money bags, i work for a livin, and save my money to buy each and ever one,

it has taken over 30yrs to collect all of them,

i got the sdj's one at a time, delivered every 2 months.

and believe it or not one of the best 'reads' that i have found is,

'pit bulls for dummies' written by a woman vet, who understands 'gamedogs'

just the way its wrote, is something that can be read over and over.

r, stratton all of his books, complete gamedog, f.rocca, j.crenshaw, j. kelly, t.l. williams,

to name a few of the good ones,

now you go to work, earn some cash, save up and buy some good ones,

cal. jack has got one of the most informative ones out there, 'the bible'


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## bluedozer (Sep 8, 2013)

Thank you surfer. knowledge=$ when it comes to some of these books. I completely understand I am not going to give a lifetime of knowledge away for nuthin. Anybody want to donate to the blue dozer book fund?


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