Customer Reviews

DK Handbooks: Dogs

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It may seem kind of silly, but in our household we must have thumbed through the pages of this book about a thousand times! Someone seems to take the book from the bookshelf and leave it lieing on the coffee table each week. Since you never actually read this kind of book cover-to-cover (it's really a fancy picture book), you always seem to find something new.

The handbook is a wonderful guide showing almost every breed imagineable. Approximately one page is dedicated to each breed (there's the occassional 2-page dedication to popular dogs as well as 2 dogs per page for some lesser known breeds). After finding a breed which catches my eye, I enjoy jumping onto the internet to learn more from a dog club's web site. The book may be light on detail, but there's just enough to get you interested to learn more. And the pictures are great.

If you're trying to decide on which breed is right for you, this book may be appropriate as a first step in your decision - but you'll have to go elsewhere to learn more. Make no mistake, there's a lot to learn about each breed which isn't described in this book. After getting some ideas as to which dogs may be right for you, call a breeder or talk to the personnel at your local SPCA.

As a quick picture guide, we have found no better. Compact in size (8.5"x5.5"), it's a great book to carry to a dog show as well.

I think this is a very good book, the pictures are amazing with very quality dogs, not just whatever dog came off the street with registration papers. The information on the different breeds was good, however there are a few things missing...i.e. there isn't a profile on German Shorthaired pointers, does not mention that Flat coated retrievers come in liver color, Basenjis and Norwegian Elkhounds are not listed as hounds, etc. But overall very good.

The book contains colorful breed pictures, as well as basic informative information about the breeds (i.e. country of origin, first use, origins, height, weight, and temperament). It also gives a tiny bit of history and additional remarks. Use the book as part of your research, maybe as the foundation.

This book is visually clear as well as informative regarding over 300 breeds. The organization makes it easy to find that odd breed seen on TV dog shows, even if you missed the breed name. The dogs are organized according to the major groups, and then in each section are grouped with like types.

Each dog's description includes beautifully done photographs showing different views, samples of color variations, and a graphic that compares the dog in size to a human. The description is concise and includes additional facts about the history and other interesting information.

This book includes major breeds as well as breeds not common to the American Dog shows and as such is helpful when watching shows from other Countries.

If you love dogs, this is a book you will enjoy for the profusion of excellent photographs! It is also packed with good information. Each breed is described in one or two pages with bullet points about its history and character. Color-coded data in the margins tells you the size and weight, temperament, and origin of the breed. But the best part of this book is the collection of full-color, detailed, and very expressive photos.

The book is organized into chapters for "companion dogs, gundogs, herding dogs, hounds, terriers and working dogs." This is a little confusing, at least to a non-breeder. For example, Labrador Retrievers are in the 'Gundogs' chapter and Chow Chows are under 'Working Dogs'. Fortunately, there is an index to assist with locating the dog you want to learn about.

I picked up this book to help me identify the breeds that went into my two adorable mutts. I admit I didn't get very far -- best guess is that one is a Lab-Chow Chow mix and the other is at least part American Pit Bull Terrier. Now that I have this book about breeds, I think I need a "Mutts of the World" book to help me figure out my little monsters!

This guide is perfect for quick facts about many different breeds, such as where they first originated and for what purpose, their average weights and heights, and so forth. In addition, it offers a brief history of the breed and a couple interesting facts, such as bulldogs often need C-sections done because their heads are so large. Of course, as always with DK books, beautiful, full-color photographs certainly aren't in short supply. Every breed entry includes at least one photograph.
For those of us who are left disappointed by books that focus only on AKC-recognized breeds, this book is refreshing. It offers a glimpse at both German Shepherd dogs and little-known breeds such as the Leonberger. Not all entries are the same length, however; some are two pages, some one, and some are only part of a page. And, as one might expect, the better-known, recognized breeds are given more attention, but at least unrecognized breeds aren't entirely overlooked.
It also includes several pages of text at the beginning looking at coat types, conformation, the dog family, etc., and an index.
If you're looking for a book that delves into breed temperament and care, this book doesn't cut it. If you simply want a pretty compact handbook to carry around and recognize breeds by, and learn a little something extra in the process, this book is perfect.

It has great pictures of over 300 breeds and basic information on all of them including their size and weight, brief history, country of origin, job, and has a picture of a man and the dog to show the size. It also has the history of dogs and many other great information. I have had the book since I was young and it always was a great source of information and a great book to just look at all the different breeds and their pictures. I loved the book then and love it still. I highly recommend for any household that has any interest in dogs and for young kids that want to know more about the dogs they see on tv, outside or at dogshows. I Love this Book!

Not nearly as vital as the inside cover proclaims, this book lacks in-depth information. Overall, it gives you very little useful info on the various breeds. You get a breed history snippet, very generic temperament description, and information like size and coloring. If you want in depth historic and breed information, look elsewhere. This book is only useful as a pictoral guide to common breeds.

I Think that the dog handbook from DK is one of the very best dog books that i know of, and that is deifinatley saying somthing!