[.ca] Simon & Schuster's Guide to Dogs (ISBN 0671255274)

excellent overview of breeds and their characteristics:
we have turned to this particular book time after time for our own information as well as when making a recommendation to a friend who is interested in deciding upon a dog to adopt or buy. we have been using this book for over 15 years and have gone through 2 copies of our own as well as having bought it for gifts for others.

Well done general canine reference:
This is a well done, quick & general reference. It provides a high level overview & attempts to note general variances in many of the breeds. It falls a bit short on adequately describing temperaments, which are as critical in chosing a dog as the type, size, coat & color. It's especially beneficial to novice pet owners who are trying to learn about & compare suitable options. The picture quality is generally quite good but dated for some breeds.

Guide to 320 Dog Breeds:
This volume is about the size of the Audubon field guides and is easy to carry and fairly lightweight. There is a general discussion at the beginning of the book on the history of dogs, the different types, and basically general information including grooming, training etc. The keyword here is general, this information is not breed specific. The book is divided in the sections for Terriers, Working Dogs, Toys, etc. There is an illustration or photograh for each breed with about a paragraph of text on each breed. This text includes origin, description, personality, and uses. It should be noted these are brief general descriptions of the breed. Readers who want extensive information on a specific breed are advised to get a breed specific book. However if this book is taken in the spirit it was written, as a brief identification guide it is more than adequate. For readers who want a general guide with a little more text and larger pictures should consider the Atlas of Dog Breeds, but it should be noted this is a heavy book not easy to carry around and also does not go in to a great deal of depth on each breed. With that being said I would recommend this book as an easy to carry identification guide, affordable, and it would actually be a good book for children and teenagers who are interested in dogs and would like an overview to identifiy breeds and which ones they would like to do further reading and research on.

Excelent resource tool.:
I have been training dogs for six years now and out of all of the breed reference materials that I have used, this is one of the easiest that I have found. Its size makes it easy to carry with me to the office and out in the field. Its pictures are excellent for identification and its provided history on each breed is a great help for understanding each breeds behavior drives in training. In the front it offers a wonderful story as to how dogs as we know them came to be, and a unique look on how man domesticated the dog. This is a book that no dog trainer or dog owner should be without.

A Good Resource for Potential Dog Owners:
I bought this book about 6 years ago and it's still interesting to look at today. It is a good reference for anyone who is interested in getting a dog of a certain breed or a mix of certain breeds. It has personality traits which I found to be very helpful and it has interesting information about origins of certain species, my favorite story being of the Bernese Mountain Dog. It also has general information before breed profiles in the beginning of the book which is helpful has well. This book is reccomended to anyone who's interested in owning a dog.