The Right Dog for You: How to choose the perfect breed for you and your family

If you are merely looking for a collection of common breed characteristics this book is for you. It features cursory information with a front and profile photo of each dog. If you are actually trying to find a dog that will meld with your personality, lifestyle and budget this book is sadly lacking. It would have been more helpful had there been a list of considerations for the potential adoptor. Space limitations. Activity. Costs including grooming, food, vet care, routine and emergency, training and socialization, supplies including collars, leashes, dishes, beds, etc. The focus is on pedigrees and so calked designer dogs. No mention of shelters which are packed mostly with good dogs with bad manners. There is too much emphasis on appearance and color. A dog is a living creature not an accessory. They need love and care and even the best can be demanding. Just because you like a breed does not mean it is right for you. A Norwegian Elkhound is not a good choice for a Miami apartment dweller. My former secretary's parents, a couple in their late eighties, fell in love with a Jack Russell terrier pup. Too bad they they did not realize he was a highly active animal with a propensity for digging. He had to be rehomed. A puppy is not necessarily ideal either. An adult or senior could be perfect depending on one's situation. There is no mention of puppy mills, breeder contracts, what to do when something goes wrong. Granted with a purebred you can expect certain characteristics. But dogs are individuals too and there are a wide range of personalities within given breeed parameters. So while it provides basic breed information this book does little to help a person hone the selection process.

As a professional dog trainer and behavioralist, I get asked "what is the right dog for me" on a weekly basis. Or I took this online quiz . . . what do you think. My answer is always . . . it depends. What this book, and most like it, seem to forget is that there isn't just nature, but nurture, and individuality. Yes, even in dogs.This is a well made book with a thick paperback cover, thick pages and strong binding.This is a hard to read book. The font chosen is clear but it is sized small which on it's own would make it hard to read. This is made worse by placing it over a grid background throughout the breed profiles. Reading it is a struggle and gives me a headache.Pictures are printed so that the dogs are all the same size which in and of itself isn't a problem. The issue is that the aspect ratio wasn't maintained so there are times that tall or muscular dogs look much skinnier than they would be in real life.There also seems to be a lot of whitewashing of breeds while potential owners need to know the negatives as well as positives. (Digging, barking, chase instincts, etc). Also some things just don't ring true. For example, Irish Wolfhounds are known as couch potatoes, yet they're ranked as needing the highest amount of exercise. At the same level as an Australian Shepherd. Having owned both I can tell you that is no where near correct.

Very nicely made book. I have Standard Poodles and I need to point out that the book has it wrong. It says they dont shed, but any poodle owner will roll their eyes when they hear that. Because poodles most certainly DO shed. It comes out looking like tumbleweeds. I don't notice it with my cream female, but my black pups yes, definitely. I understand that this sounds like such a small issue. But I breed, too, and all too often people come to me having heard the myth that my breed is hypoallergenic and shedless and it just isn't true. Sure they're not big shedders like a lab. And yes they CAN BE better for people with allergies but that doesn't mean they WILL BE. Some dogs including poodles produce more dander than others. When people believe one thing only to get the dog home and realize it's not what they thought, well that's how some pets can end up in shelters. So, I hope that is changed in the book. Otherwise, this is a nice book with a small blurb about the characteristics of each listed breed alongside a photo of the breed.

I have to like a book that is filled with pictures of beautiful and adorable dogs.There is basic info given for a great many dogs that seem to represent the most popular breeds. The breeds are arranged by size, so that helps if you know what size dog you are looking for. Child-friendliness, Grooming, Feeding and Exercise are shown in graph form to help narrow those preferences as well.But there are two very key aspects that have been important to me when looking for a dog that are all but missing from this book, and those are how much a dog sheds and which are considered hypoallergenic.Shedding and allergies are pretty big concerns for people when looking for dogs. While there is mention of coat maintenance for many of the dogs, there is little mention of shedding. There was only one mention of hypoallergenic that I came across and that was in the "As an Owner" section of the Labradoodle, but only to say there is no guarantee that one will be hypoallergenic. The Labradoodle also gets the rare mention of shedding.If you, like me, are looking for a hypoallergenic dog, you'll need to look at other sources for that information.If allergies and shedding are not concerns, then this book offers enough information to at least help narrow down your choices and is a good place to start.

This "The Right Dog for You" book is a good but basic overview of dog breeds book, but there is a serious issue that make it difficult for me to read and like this book. First of all, the background hashing/lines/color of each of the breed's page make it difficult to read. The dark hash background kind of fuse and interfere with the text, giving me a headache when I am trying to "read" the text. It is very difficult for me to enjoy the book.Now, onto the content, the information included are very basic, it is kind of nice for kids to flip thru the book, and look at all the different breeds. The organization is kind of confusing, I was expecting an alphabetical ordering of breeds, but it is not. It also missing quite some breeds too, for example, I couldn't find my favorite breed - the American Eskimo.It also lacks some important info too, like medical concerns or odor.Thank you for reading this review, I hoped that this review & the pictures are helpful to you in support of your purchase decision.