Customer Reviews

Dogs for Dummies

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As the local coordinator for Great Dane rescue and the person in my neighborhood that people come to with their dog questions this is THE book I recommend.

So much good information on dog pack behavior and adopting an older dog I recommend it to everyone thinking about adding a new dog to their family.

Especially good for people considering a second dog and how to integrate it into their home.

I fully agree with the first sentence in Amazon.com's review: "Dogs for Dummies should be required reading for anyone considering purchasing or adopting a dog." Although at first glance it looks more like a reference for people who already have a dog (and it is great for this purpose), I found it even more useful as planning material BEFORE we adopted our dog. Reading through this book gave me a good, realistic idea of what I'd be getting into by adopting a dog. On their own, most people (including me) wouldn't realize or think of all the miscellaneous but necessary tasks that go along with dog ownership (teeth brushing, nail clipping, socializing, picking up dog poop during walks, etc.). The book helped me prepare the house, buy essential supplies, etc. beforehand. For example, I knew to have a crate ("safe space") already set up in the house before bringing the dog home, which helped tremendously in establishing a routine from the start. This book doesn't say much about characteristics of individual breeds, but there are dozens of other dog books out there that do. This book fills the neglected niche of "all-purpose dog owner's manual." I'd even recommend this book to those of you who already have a dog. You might learn something!

Our new puppy would be joining our family soon, and I needed a few reminders. I had forgotten a few things since our 8-year-old dog was a pup! I was also interested in advice regarding introducing the "new kid in town" to our older dog.

Although I never cared for the "For Dummies" titles of these books, I ignored that and purchased it anyway. I found this book to be a wonderful reference whether this is your first dog or tenth!

The text is very clear and straight forward. Great tips and practical information. Abundant topics, answers every question you can imagine.

F.Y.I. - We found our puppy at a shelter listed on the [related website]. Check out the dogs in the shelters before going to a breeder. (Please don't even consider a pet shop or puppy mill). This little guy is a wonderful dog and a happy addition to our family!

I'm a cat person. I love cats. I know so much about cats, that vets think I am a former vet tech.

Dogs? I know a few things like wagging, the play bow, and "sit!". I am contemplating getting a dog, partially to keep my cats humble (a joke! OK?) and mostly to keep me company while I walk. I love to walk, so I figured a dog would be a great co-conspirator. We'll see if I do get one.

However, if I do get a dog, I understand now what is involved in keeping one. There's a discussion on breeds, which points to more sources of information on more obscure breeds. (An obscure dog might work better for me than the Dog in That Movie I Saw Last Week.) There is a lot of discussion about the work involved in raising a puppy and the aggravation of a "teenaged" dog being rambunctious and the mystery of the adult adoptee and the glorious karmic gift of taking in a senior dog.

There is not one, but two veterinary chapters. One is for puppies and one is for dogs in general. This is a good idea. As someone who has adopted adult cats and kittens, I can tell you that baby animals are a different, um, animal, medically than an adult.

There is a lot of coverage on behavior and discipline. You do have to be bossy with dogs. This is reiterated throughout the book.

One thing I was not aware of at all was the issue of grooming requirements. Anal sacs? Yeesh! Toenails? Gee, my cats have scythes and I don't care, but doggies need pedicures. Folks have told me they don't like to wash their dogs. It was a relief to read that you can wash your dog pretty frequently. I don't like smelly dogs. I do love freshly bathed dogs. Their fur is so yummy when they are clean.

I laughed out loud at her gleeful confessions about her love for paraphenalia, like toys and colorful leashes and trinkets. At least she's honest. Once you get past the basic kit, the rest of the dog goodies are for the owner. But still, a pink rhinestone collar on a Doberman or a black leather collar with studs on a toy poodle can be a joy to behold, even for someone who does not have a dog.

Now, a couple of readers ganged up on the book with long screeds about not leaving the dog alone while the human is at work. Well, if no one with a day job adopted a dog, we'd have a lot more dogs languishing in shelters. Its just a fact of life that the human has to go work to buy Kongs and Chewies. The crating and feeding and doggie day care recommendations all match what my dog owner friends have told me. Its an imperfect world and some folks can't take the dog to work and do hire a mid-day dog walker.

Now, this *is* a book for "Dummies". Its an excellent start. If you decide, after reading the book, that you want a particular breed or want to enter the dog in agility competitions, you need more information. Fortunately, this book will point you to that additional information. It does not leave you stranded. The book also points you to fun resources, like Letterman's Top Ten lists, including what the country would be like if a dog were president.

If you check my other reviews, you'll see I also gave high marks to _How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend_, mentioning that I would be consulting it often once again because we were hoping for a new mastiff puppy to be a companion to our older English mastiff. Well, the breeder's female had a false pregnancy and we decided to go with a rescue mastiff when we found that there was a sweet older female nearby that needed a new home. We adopted Molly last week and, boy, are we glad we have the _Dummies_ book!

_Friends_, while very helpful in many regards, does not spend much time on the situation of two dogs together, particularly the introduction of a new adult dog into a household with another one (not to mention five cats!). The monks encourage owners to start with a puppy of the proper breed from a reputable breeder. That was our experience in the first situation, but not with Molly.

_Dummies_ actively encourages you to adopt a shelter/rescue dog and gives you tips on how to do so successfully. Thanks, Gina! And she thinks it's cool to adopt an older dog, too!

Of course, we also found this book to be excellent for helping with our first dog. One reviewer said it would be easy to go online to find the sort of information offered in _Dummies_. I disagree: there is no substitute for a comprehensive book like this from an author with excellent credentials, an understanding heart (whether in regards to people or pets) and the ability to present (in a fun and logical way) an overwhelming amount of information to someone who knows little about dogs but wants to learn.

From pests to travel tips, from canine sports competitions to how to brush your dog's teeth, it's all here. Trim his toenails, give her the right chewtoys, help him become a Canine Good Citizen, buy her the proper collar: you'll find all this and more in _Dummies_. Since I have two older dogs now, I found the chapter "Caring for an Aging Dog" to be very, very helpful.

You are going to love the clear (and sometimes very clever) illustrations. There's a super index and a big, fat appendix of widely-varied resources. In short, you are getting a big, yellow bargain here, whether you are getting a new dog or adding another dog to your household!

I bought this book two weeks after the adorable pound puppy we rescued was wrecking my carpets and chewing everything in sight -I needed help! The best advice on any of the pages is a crate - I would never have shelled out the money until I read the author's sound words. Once I began to follow the crate-training instructions, I began to see success. I was thrilled at the thorough advice on "raising your dog" that this book lays out in a straight forward and sometimes comical fashion.

This book is is a great help if you are making the huge decision to get a dog, or if you already have one and would like to improve your relationship.

I was inheritor of a new "adopted" SPCA puppy.... We knew nothing about her including just what her breed(s) were. She Was fearful, way too thin & adorable, they thought she was 2 to 4 months old. This book helped me, through all the steps of helping her adjust to us as us to her. Gina's advise got me through alot of the "Puppy-Hood" events with pleasure & now our Puppy-Girl is a maturing solid member of the household. I can't stress enough the help, & encouragement this book gave me. It's an important Refernce guide to all problems that can crop up. First Aid, Traveling, Toys... Do you have a super-chewer, What to do about it!

This is a very comprehensive and easy to read book. Because it's so thorough, it may at times be overwhelming, especially for the first-time dog owner, but the information is relevant and necessary for ANY dog owner. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to welcome a dog into their family, and enjoy it for years to come.

I borrowed this book from the library and telling from the condition it's in, it seems to be pretty popular. If you're thinking about getting a dog, this book needs to be on your reading list.
I'm planning on adopting a dog in the near future and after reading this book, I feel a lot more confident than I did before. This book covers everything! Crate training, breeding, feeding, toys, first aid.. if it has to do with dogs, it's in this book. This book should be required reading for anyone who is thinking of getting a dog.

this is a great book that is useful for any dog owner. It contains information on how to pick a new pup, where to get a dog, how to train the dog, feeding, exercise, first aid, doggy psychology, etc. Its a quick reference for anything you might need. Even an experienced dog owner might find something in this bok they didn't know.

While much of the information is available on the net, this book ties together dissparate sources and topics and organizes it well.