A Guide to Dog Sports: From Beginners to Winners Book

Mr. Masson presents a pretty clear picture of how dogs and humans have "evolved" together. I did take exception to some parts, however.

First, his take on pitbulls being naturally aggressive was shortsighted and based on some very flimsy data. One piece of evidence was the euthanasia rate of pitbulls in the United States. Pitbulls ARE killed more often then other breeds but this has more to do with 1)breed bias (including bsl and insurance requirements) and 2) their sheer numbers (backyard breeders produce and produce and produce). Pitbulls score very well on the American Temperament Test Society's examination.

The other area where I felt like Mr. Masson took liberties to present his opinion as fact was with the bond between humans and other animals. Most notably he portrayed the horse as not having an emotional bond with its human and I have doubts about that. The people I've known who were horse people seemed to have a strong mutual bond with their horses. He also presented horse back riding as being almost cruel to the horse. His whole take on horse ownership irritated me.