We're Having A Puppy!: From the Big Decision Through the Crucial First Year [Hardcover]

Eric Swanson (Author), Bob Dombrowski (Illustrator), Allen M. Schoen (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1997

Who's going to be your new best friend?

Choosing a puppy is a lot of fun, but it's also an important decision. This unique guide shows you how to select the breed which most perfectly matches your personality and environment. Looking for a laid-back, comforting friend? A Saint Bernard or Pinscher would love to stay at home and relax with you. Need a dog that loves the city? Welsh corgis and French bulldogs are among the most cosmopolitan of canines. Looking for non-stop friendliness? Count on a Norwich terrier or beagle to bond as your most cheerful buddy. Active and energetic? Golden retrievers and greyhounds will keep up with you.

Choose a puppy as you would choose a partner-- carefully! With the help of a personal questionnaire, profiles of various breeds and their personalities, and charts listing the main characteristics of more than 100 dogs, you'll be on your way to proud puppy parenthood.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anxious for a little canine affection but concerned about what a puppy--so sweet and cute, and yet so destructive and demanding--might do to your life in the long run? Check out We're Having a Puppy! by animal lover Eric Swanson. This informative, easy-to-read guide encompasses a multitude of topics, beginning with the particulars of how a dog will affect your life and matching your personality with the right breed of dog. Continuing on the puppy odyssey, Swanson addresses areas of concern such as bringing home baby, adapting to life with your new pooch, training and neutering, and basic healthcare issues. Accompanied by charming line drawings, We're Having a Puppy! is a valuable resource for anyone thinking of taking the puppy plunge.

From Library Journal

Acquiring a puppy or a kitten entails a commitment that can last from ten to 15 years. In both these books, Swanson, an expert on animal behavior and cat training techniques, guides potential owners through the pros and cons of pet ownership with humorous yet honest advice. In We're Having a Kitten, he outlines considerations?furniture clawing or plant nibbling, vaccinations and healthcare, and the cost of food and litter?that may influence the decision to acquire a kitten. In one particularly good chapter, Swanson discusses the various cat breeds and gives excellent advice on how to find the right breed for an owner's personality. His chapter on introducing the kitten to the household and training essentials is especially well written. We're Having a Puppy follows the same format, describing such aspects of responsible dog ownership as house training, dealing with barking and chewing, and exercising the animal. Swanson discusses various breeds and their personalities, and a chapter on living together includes information on training, travel, and grooming. While there are other excellent pet care and training books, such as H. Ellen Whiteley's Understanding and Training Your Cat or Kitten (LJ 12/93), Swanson's titles are unique in stressing the responsibilities of pet ownership. The illustrations in both volumes are great fun. Public libraries will find an eager audience for both titles. [See also "Obedience School for Your Pet Collection," LJ 8/97, p. 47-50.?Ed.]?Eva Lautemann, DeKalb Coll. Lib., Clarkston, Ga.
-?Eva Lautemann, DeKalb Coll. Lib., Clarkston, Ga.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (October 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312170637
• ISBN-13: 978-0312170639
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,200,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An OK broad overview, August 11, 2005

By 

Debbie the Book Devourer "dletour7" (Waltham, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: We're Having A Puppy!: From the Big Decision Through the Crucial First Year (Hardcover)

This book provides a very broad overview of all the things you should think about before you get a puppy: Is your lifestyle compatible with living with a puppy? What kind of person are you, and therefore, what kind of puppy is best for you? What kind of care should you give your puppy (food, equipment, veterinary care, training, emotional care...)?

Unlike other books I've read recently on the subject, this one spends very few pages on training, and is rather vague in that area. That's OK; the mission of this book seems to be different from the others. The book spends lots of space discussing the temperaments of different breeds, which was interesting; the history of interaction of dogs with humans, which was probably not very scholarly; and how your life will have to change to take care of a puppy, which contained some good and some not-so-good advice, but which provided plenty of food for thought.

The advice was mixed; some of it seemed to be dated (for example, there is no longer any controversy about the usefulness of crates for housetraining and general staying-out-of-trouble) and some seemed to run counter to other experts' (for example, stating that in some cases, a dog might need to be tapped with the brush end of a broom to reprimand him!!!!). But the style was easy-to-read and humorous in places. Wouldn't be my top recommendation, but if you have no idea what life with a dog is like, it'd be worth a glance.