They have an atypical and unique kind of love. Skeetah loves China more than anything. He not only loves her, he is obsessed with her. The relationship between Skeetah and China can be best illustrated in the sentence “China is white as the sand that will become a pearl, Skeetah black as an oyster, but they stand as one in front of these boys who don't know what it means to love a dog like Skeetah does. (p 162) This is very contradictory to the description of Skeetah's personality in "those little firecrackers [you get] on the Fourth of July that throw sparks from all sides" (p 73) Uses of the word firecrackers in this context can be played as Skeetah is stiff and intense. But readers might see Skeetah's compassionate side whenever he is with China. Skeetah is willing to do anything for China. The novel begins with the scene of Skeetah helping China give birth to her first litter of cubs: “Skeetah crouches even closer to help [China]. He lays his hands on her" (8). During the birth scene, the reader got to see the tender, caring, and compassionate side of Skeetah's personality. Skeetah is very worried about the cubs. “Skeetah kneels behind China… [and] cleans the cubs” (9). Not only that, his love for China and the puppies is so great that he is willing to rob the nearby White family who he knows has the medicine he needs for the dying puppies. ). However, Skeetah's dog fighting brings out mixed feelings. But people who fight dogs usually do it not just for money, but for honor and pride. Another proof of Skeetah's love for China is that China even goes so far as to kill one of her cubs, but Skeetah still loves China unconditionally even though she needs money by selling the cubs.