Just Labs [Hardcover]

Steve Smith (Author), Dale C. Spartas (Author, Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1995

The Labrador Retriever is the most popular breed of dog in the country according to the American Kennel Club (AKC). These remarkable dogs are celebrated in a book as big and beautiful as the breed itself, featuring over 200 color photos accompanied by warm and insightful text.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The labrador retriever is the most popular breed of dog in the country: now enjoy a photographic celebration which captures labs at home, at play, and in the field. This will make an excellent, exceptional gift for any owner or fan of the breed. -- Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Steve Smith is editor of Pointing Dog Journal and Retriever Journal.

Dale C. Spartas is an award-winning photographer. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Willow Creek Press (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1427920753
• ISBN-13: 978-1427920751
• ASIN: 1572230290
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,229,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Dogs & Wolves

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Photo and Story Book For Labrador People!, March 21, 2003

By 

Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Labs (Hardcover)

For someone like me who has spent countless hours, days and weeks in the company of four or more Labrador Retrievers, this book is a hoot. It takes light-hearted look at Labradors, sharing a bounty of beautiful photographs of man's best friends with us, and looking at the personality traits and character qualities that make them the single most popular breed in America today. Labs are among the most social of canines, yet they are remarkably calm and pacific once they know you. Which isn't to deny the fact that they are very active and energetic, and that anyone who lives with one needs to ensure the dog and he or she spend sopme time outside in vigorous play every day. But as the author tells us, we love labradors because they seem to represent the best and most admirable qualities we happen to admire.

Labradors are amazingly loyal, and are quite keyed into your emotional state and sense of well-being. As a person who sometimes suffers from migraines, I can attest that the dogs seem to reconize my symptoms and key their own behavior from this perception of the way I am feeling, being much more willing to simply take a nap with me than usual, since they seem to understand from past experience that the migraine will dirve me back to bed. They show many endearing and remarkable traits, and we find ourselves amazed by just how intelligent, perceptive, and attractive they are as a species.

Labradors also live almost exclusively in the moment, and are ethusiastic and energetic in their pursuit of fun and frolic. Anyone living in their company can attest to the fact that you are never at a loss for entertainment when your Labrador friend is around, and he or she are happy to just be with you, and are almost oo willing and too anxious to show you just how excited they are to have you around. Coming home after a long day's work means a kidn of instant celebration, with four Labradors jumping, barking, and wall-banging, so glad are they to have me back home with them. Find a human who is that glad to see you, and you have found true love, my friend. Yet it is all here in spades with the Labradors, and this entertaining little book will seerve to amuse you, educate you, and sometimes surprise you with its nuggets of information, parcels of knowledge, and bits of wisdom about just why it is that Labradors rule the roost around my house! Enjoy!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dog photos..., May 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Just Labs (Hardcover)

Ask any photography instructor, and he will say, "I don't want to see any puppy and kitty pictures!" How wrong they are. Dale does a great job of presenting the working Lab in everyday situations, from the field trial to the duck blind and the upland field, and he does it with a great sense of humor.

This book, however, is not a training manual. If you're wondering how to train Labs to do what Dale shows them doing, check out Mike Gould's "The Labrador Shooting Dog". Another great look at working Labs is Paul and Julie Knutsons' "The Pointing Labrador." Both books have great photographs of Labs in action, by the way, and the training techniques to back them up.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ... hmmm ..., March 15, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Just Labs (Hardcover)

I was very much taken by the cover shot when I first saw this book on Amazon, the reviews too, seemed rather encouraging ... when the book arrived, I was expecting the rest of the photographs to be of similar or better quality ... am a little disappointed.

If this is an instructional book on how to raise or train Labradors, quality of photographs would not be so critical ... but its a pictorial book, and for some reason, quite a few of the photographs are missing that little extra ingredient which makes for really good photography ... perhaps if the photos had been more tightly edited, it might have made a difference ... At US$35 the book is not inexpensive, and there are better alternatives around ... just do a quick search, under photography and Labradors.