Answer:
Stealthy as a shadow in the dead of night, cunning but affectionate if given a bite. Never owned but often loved. At my sport considered cruel, but that's because you never know me at all.
A mile from end to end, yet as close to as a friend. A precious commodity, freely given. Seen on the dead and on the living. Found on the rich, poor, short and tall, but shared among children most of all.
What do you use to hoe a row, slay a foe, and wring with woe?
Round as a button, deep as a well. If you want me to talk, you must first pull my tail.
Metal or bone I may be, many teeth I have and always bared. Yet my bite harms no one. And ladies delight in my touch.
They are many and one, they wave and they drum, Used to cover a state, they go with you everywhere.