The Dog Encyclopedia [Hardcover]

Esther J.J. Verhoef-Verhellen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2000

The Dog Encyclopedia provides specific information on over 225 breeds of dogs. For every breed there is information on the dog's:

• country of origin
• special skills
• size
• coat
• grooming requirements
• character
• training needs
• social behavior
• exercise requirement.

Each entry is accompanied by at least one full color photograph.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These two books are useful additions to the literature about our animal companions from an expert in the field of pedigree dogs and cats. Like Bruce Fogle's Encyclopedia of the Dog (LJ 9/15/95), The Dog Encyclopedia uses the classification system developed by the International Cynological Federation, which differs slightly from the American Kennel Club system. Classifying cats is more of a problem, and in The Cat Encyclopedia, the author has chosen to classify them by physical characteristics?length and type of coat?making it easy for cat fanciers to locate their favorite breeds. Each book gives general information about buying and caring for the animal. The Dog Encyclopedia includes a discussion of each breed's temperament and physical characteristics as well as information about training and exercise requirements and social behavior. The Cat Encyclopedia includes a brief history of the breed and information about temperament and physical characteristics, including the body, head, coat, and colors. Each book is profusely illustrated with full-color photographs. Highly recommended.?Peggie Partello, Mason Lib., Keene State Coll., N.H.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Highly recommended. (Peggie Partello Library Journal )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books (March 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552091554
• ISBN-13: 978-1552091555
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good list of breeds - but dry reading, November 5, 2001

By 

Yeoh Siok Kee (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dog Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

We have had the book since July 2001 ... its reasonably informative but lacks in the `keeping the reader interested' department.

Physically, the book is well bound with reasonable paper quality.
The author's stated intention was to produce a book, which assists readers in the selection of suitable dogs, and the book is adequate as such. It lists a fairly large number of breeds, including some breeds not recognised by the AKC. Each breed is described generally, with details on temperament, training and exercise requirements.

Although the book achieves its primary purpose, it does so in a rather pedantic manner, making for dry reading. The layout and language comes across as rigid and repetitive. Some of the colour printing lacks sharpness and falls short of many other breed books. Certainly many of the photographs could have been better taken, and some breeds better represented in visual form. One is left with the feeling that many photographs were inserted as an afterthought, rather than as part of an overall design.

While one ought not to select a dog simply because of its looks - good images, well presented in a breed book will always be appreciated. Also, for some reason, the average life spans of the breeds are not provided.

The book's strength comes from (a) its convenient size, and (b) the fact that it includes several breeds more commonly found in Europe, which do not commonly appear in other breed books (for example: Central & Eastern European Hounds & Herding breeds).
But otherwise, there are more lively and well-designed breed books around.

Closer to 3 and a half stars than 4 stars ...

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dog Encyclopedia... A review from me to you, July 6, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Dog Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

I recently purchased the dog encyclopedia. When I began to read through the pages, I noticed that it contained many more dog breeds than any other Dog Encyclopedia that I currently own or have ever looked at. Many other dog encyclopedias only contain dog breeds that are currently in the AKC. This book has many more breeds then those just in the AKC. I was impressed by the number of breeds. There were a few drawbacks from this encyclopedia. One was that the pictures werent of a very high quality. That might not matter to some readers, but kids like me enjoy looking at the pictures. I thought the dogs could have been photographed with a better camera. Some of the photos appeared fuzzy and unfocused. I also noticed that I got bored while reading about each breed. The book does a very good job informing people on different breeds, but it is strictly information. DONT PUCRHASE THIS BOOK IF YOU DONT WANT TO LEARN ABOUT DOGS!! cause that is all you will get out of it. Otherwise, I enjoyed this book, seeing as my purpose was to learn about dogs. I give this book 4 stars and reccommend it to people interested about dogs and the many breeds.:)

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty bad, July 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dog Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

I was extremely disappointed after reading this book. At least I didn't buy it, though. I seriously think that the author/s know very little about dogs. There were numerous spelling errors, which don't bother many people, but it does bother me. For instance, 'Bergamasco' was spelled 'Bergamsco' which is a bit unprofessional if you ask me. Another thing that I was *shocked* to see was that they made the mistake of calling a rough collie a 'Long-haired border collie', which is a pretty hard mistake to make if you know anything about dogs. After seeing that, I shut the book immediately and just assumed that the author had no idea what she was doing when she wrote a book about dogs. To sum it all up, I was disgusted with this book.