Mad Dog McGraw by Myron Uhlberg
The mean neighbourhood dog, Mad Dog McGraw, is always chasing the young hero of the book. Everyone is scared of Mad Dog but our child hero knows there must be a way to deal with him. The child tries various ingenious ideas but Mad Dog always wins. But when introduced to a cat called Bait, Mad Dog is suddenly friendly. Finally the child works out that making friends is the answer and that Mad Dog might not be such a mean dog after all.