Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Dog Breeding

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dan Rice, DVM has produced an excellent handbook to guide you through the dangerous shoals of breeding your dog. Careful and up to date information on every aspect of breeding makes this book a worthy addition to the breeder's bookshelf, and is equally valuable to the novice and veteran. Especially reassuring is Rice's detailed examination of when to and when not to call the vet. Essential reading, and sure to comfort on that long and lonely night when your girl is whelping. Highly recommended.

This is a great book. I ordered several at once, thinking that I would thus overlap any weaknesses. But this is the only one I've used. It has lots of great pictures and illustrations. It is written in a column-format with separate headings and a great index in the back. It also is not derogatory toward the inexperienced breeder. It is what the title says: the COMPLETE book of dog breeding.

Our dog was a few weeks pregnant and I've never owned a dog that had puppies before, so I bought this book to learn a little beforehand. I learned everything I needed to know from her pregnancy straight to weaning the puppies! I didn't buy another book and didn't need to! This is an excellent book (especially for new breeders) which I highly recommend.

I enjoyed reading this book very much. It was packed with updated information, delivered in a very easy, professional style. The short sections, each with its own heading, made it easy to digest and also to reference certain points at a later stage. It gave enough facts to work out how much money, knowledge and work is involved, acting as a deterrant if you were after making a quick buck. I like the way this particular information remained factual and unemotive. Some books written by breeders can be very sanctimonious and patronizing towards newcomers over why and whether they should breed dogs. It leaves me with a feeling that their motives are not so much based on fact, but their fear of a little competition. I just felt this was altogether a trustworthy book of information.

I'm not a dog breeder, past or future. I wanted information on sire and dam selection, puppy development and conditioning prior to purchasing our next puppy. We've had 9 dogs over the years. This book would be rated 5 stars for a novice breeder. It's well priced and covers all the basics of pregnancy, gestation, whelping and potential problems. In the area of sire and dam selection (9 pages), the recommendation is to select a good example of the breed standard without any genetic faults. A recommendation on nutrition (8 pages) is to select a "premium dog food that has been feed trialed". The puppy development section (12 pages) described the general development from birth to 8 weeks. The information was general, basic and I didn't learn anything new. Lots of color pictures of cute puppies. A few illustrations of dog anatomy. Several stories of dog patients Dr. Rice used for examples. Easy writing style and very well indexed. But very basic.

I love this book. It's a good refresher. I recommend it for every first time breeder BEFORE you even decide you're going to breed. It's easy to read and the information is extremely helpful. It's not as indepth as I need, but a good cursory look. Don't stop your breeding library search here, keep adding to it!

Very informative concerning dogs in general, but especially all aspects of breeding and a dog's reproductive system, both male and female. More specifically, covered are heat cycles, mating, pregnancy, nutrition, delivery, lactation, puppy neo-natal care, and weaning. Complications and illnesses at each stage are also covered, as well as when a vet should be consulted. The cataloging of diseases and complications can get a little tedious.

One is left with the impression that there is a good deal to know about the breeding process with considerable possibilities for complications. But as the author says, it is in a dog's nature to have puppies. Most often the owner needs to stay out of the way and intervene if only necessary.

Buy this book BEFORE you breed!! Dan Rice tells it like it is and breeding is not all cute cuddly puppies that all go to great homes and you live happily ever after.. Not only does he touch on how to choose breeding dogs, he tells of most of all the serious problems that can and do go wrong, how there are hundreds upon hunreds of homeless unwanted dogs both pure breeds and mixes. and he puts it so everyone can understand what is happening. Even an expereinced breeder can use this book for reference!

I needed a book to help walk me through what to expect durning heats and the breeding process. I am a first time dog breeder and everything was all new to me. This book not only walks you through what you need to know but follows the process to a T. I am very thankful to have this book.

Rice has compiled a simple, thorough, easy to read book that I would recommend to even the seasoned breeder. I don't need anything else!