Customer Reviews

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

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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.