The Perfect Match: A Dog Buyer's Guide

In my years as breeder referral chair for a local kennel club I just about wore out my copy of this book. It has all the pertinent information arranged in chart and narrative form for each breed. The articles have the ring of veracity. Authors who really know the breeds are telling it like it really is. It is simply the most useful dog book I ever bought, and I have bought many.John CulletonWexford Irish Terriers

Most dog encyclopedias or "pick the best breed for you" books are just photo albums with breed descriptions straight out of the AKC info snippets. They tend to have very little practical info on breeds or their quirks. I dont know where the information came from for this book, but breed after breed I found it right on the money. Having worked as a veterinary kennelworker for 3 years and in a groomers shop for 2 I have had experience with most common breeds and this is THE book I hand out whenever people ask "What should I get?". I really had to laugh at gems in there like "Shih tzu, special abilities: Shadow" or "Bearded collie, protection: may bark.. if they think burglar has come to play with them". Spot on! :)

I think this book is the book that every dog and pet lover shouldnt be without. It tells great detail about each breed. This book has important categories about the breeds. Like how the breed is with children, energy, protection, shedding, life expectancy, other animals, and health clearances and abilities. I hope you dog lovers can experirance the greatness of this wonderfull book. Cant live without it.

I always read breed books. This is undoubtedly the best. While most of the others appear to crib material from each other, thus passing on incorrect information, Ms. Walkowicz clearly went out and found correct information about breed personalities of the rarer breeds. She is the only one who characterized the papillon as wanting to be dominant to other pets in the household (true) or standard schnauzers as being very bright but jet-propelled monsters until age 2 (also generally true). On the basis of the information she gives about breeds I do know, I trust her for correct information about other breeds I don't know so well.

I bought THE PERFECT MATCH to add to my collection of many dog breed books, and found it to be very informative; Even moreso than some of my other books. The descriptions are very well written, even giving information for the buyer to consider before a purchase of the particular breed (for example....would it be a good breed with small children in the home, or in an apartment, or in the city, etc.) The dog breeds are all listed by catergory (an example would be: Basset hounds are listed in the Hound category), and their are even listings of rare dog breeds. The only drawback I found to the book, and the one reason why I did not rate it a 10, was the fact that it was not printed in color. It would have been very nice to have seen some of the darker breeds pictured in color, because their coats often came across as being very dull. This did not deter from the writing or descriptions however, so all in all, I would say it is one of the best breed dog books on the market today. This is an excellent book for people considering a dog as a pet, and also it is an excellent reference guide for those of us who enjoy attending dog shows. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT