I wanted a dog. I really wanted a dog. So I bullied and badgered and pestered and pouted. I looked in the local paper for people with free puppies then read the listings to my husband. I pointed out the family with puppies in the back of their pick-up truck at the Wal-Mart. I looked on the petfinder.com website for dogs available in my area. Finally, I discovered a shelter in a neighboring community that had a couple of litters of puppies available, and with a total adoption fee of $5.00, my husband relented and we came home with a cute little border collie. That’s where our ‘adventure’ began.

I was expecting some basic bills for the dog. I knew she would need shots and food and probably a few toys. I didn’t know (but wasn’t really surprised) that she would immediately need de-worming (how gross.) I knew border collies need to be active, but didn’t know that we would end up with a ‘piranha puppy’ chewing on everything available—especially my arms (those puppy teeth are really sharp!) And I wasn’t fully prepared for the amount of time you have to spend to have a friendly, well-behaved 4-legged member of the family.

Hearing about my puppy problems, my mom sent us a book, the Practical Guide To Dog Care by Sheldon Rubin, DVM. I’m sure my mom was drawn to this book for several reasons. It has a compact ‘pocket book’ size making it convenient to store or take with you. It is from the editors of Consumer Guide, a well-respected consumer magazine. And when flipping through the pages, it seems to have a number of illustrations that will make it easy to utilize the information given.

Unfortunately, the apparent usefulness of this book ended up being appearances only. While this volume does contain some good basic reference information, it falls short as a practical tool for the daily raising and training of a new dog.

Overview

The table of contents for Dog Care lists 32 (un-numbered) ‘chapters’ plus the introduction and index. This is slightly misleading as the back section of the book covers medical care and the ‘chapters’ are really just section headings for different types of treatment. Some of the chapters seem too long without giving much useful information, while I wish others had been fleshed out a bit more.

Here’s a brief overview:

Introduction
Just a basic intro. Since most of what they said here is covered in the first real chapter, they probably could have left it out entirely.

Choosing Your Dog: Finding A Friend
This covers why you might want to have a dog, things to keep in mind before getting a dog (like dog personality and expenses), where you might get a dog, and the kinds of dogs that are available. Much of the discussion focuses on purebred dogs, including a 4 page, un-comprehensive list of breeds (some of the common breeds not listed include: Pointer, Bloodhound, Greyhound, Border Collie, Corgi, Saint Bernard, and Jack Russell Terrier). This chapter also reminds you that your dog is subject to a dog’s instincts, and that dog ownership is a long-term commitment.

Your Dog Becomes One Of The Family
This chapter covers some of the choices and responsibilities you will have when bringing home your new bundle of fluff. Topics covered are where the dog will sleep, what you will feed your dog, housebreaking and crate training, leashes and grooming aids, legal issues, veterinarians, elective surgery (like spaying/neutering and docking the tail or ears), and the end of a dogs life and grieving. The most useful part of this chapter is a list things to keep in mind when choosing a vet—although I would have liked to see some specific questions to ask your potential doggie doctor.

Nutrition: How To Keep Your Dog Well Fed
This chapter discusses the types of food available for your dog, nutritional needs of your dog or puppy, and some foods or plants that may be harmful to your dog.

The Well Behaved Dog
This chapter provides only a brief overview of appropriate training techniques. It also covers training a dog to behave in the car, and tips on vacationing with your dog.

Grooming: The Good Looking Dog
A useful chapter devoted to basic grooming of your dog. It includes a diagram of the dog’s body parts (do you know your dog has a stifle instead of a knee, or where his withers are?), a list of grooming tools you might need, how and when to bathe your dog, and some basic preventative health care suggestions that you can perform during regular grooming.

Vaccination: A Key To Good Health
This is another useful chapter that lists the main conditions that your dog can be vaccinated against, as well as discussing what each disease would do to your pet if they became affected.

Parasites That Bug Your Dog
Similar to the previous chapter, this is a listing of common parasites that could infest your dog. Included are external parasites such as fleas, ticks, lice and mange, and internal parasites including the full spectrum of worms (yuck).

Dealing With An Emergency
This is probably the most comprehensive section of the book including specific information and some drawings showing treatment techniques. Of course, if you actually had an injured dog it would be hard to care for your pet wile reading the book since the binding does not allow the book to lie open so it can be read hands-free. Sub-headings in this section are:
Restraining An Injured Dog
Transporting An Injured Animal
Administering Oral Medicine
Animal Bite
Bleeding
Bloat
Broken Bones
Burns
Choking
Convulsion/Seizure
Diarrhea
Electrical Shock
Eye Injuries
Frostbite
Heatstroke
Hypothermia
Poisoning
Puncture Wound
Shock
Skunk Encounter
Unconsciousness
Vomiting
The Whys Of Emergency Treatment
First Aid Supplies For Your Dog

My Thoughts
This review is quite a bit longer than I had originally intended, but in some ways it’s because of the way this book is set up. The book is wordy and not very user friendly. Some topics are covered fully, while other areas are only briefly mentioned. I think the usefulness of this book could be greatly improved if it were to be re-worked and re-edited to cut out some of the bloat and make it easier to find the reference information a dog owner may need on short notice. I would also prefer it if it were a slightly larger format with a spiral or lay-flat binding so I could easily see the information while still controlling my dog—especially in the emergency medical care section.

Overall, while this book does contain some helpful information for dog owners, and some things to think about for prospective dog owners, it doesn’t quite live up to its title of being a Practical Guide To Dog Care. I have not used this book very much for its intended purpose, and have gotten more information from the internet, from friends who have pets, from the trainer at the pet supply store, and from our veterinarian. The one thing I wanted most in a dog book—information on basic puppy training—was glossed over by saying that it’s useful to train a puppy to behave, and a brief overview of what you might learn in an obedience class.

Fortunately, dogs do ‘grow up.’ They learn to be good dogs when you reinforce good behavior, and a nice long walk does wonders for a puppy that has too much energy and is running around the house like a maniac. My recommendation is to skip this book (there are better ones out there), develop a good rapport with your trainer and vet, and be patient. Sooner or later that wild fur-ball will be the friendly companion you were hoping for.


Recommended: No