Right Dog For You [Paperback]

How to find the perfect match for you...

Here is a systematic and enjoyable way to choose a dog. This highly informative and useful book will take the guesswork out of choosing a dog while leaving in the fun. It will tell you about more than 110 breeds and help you to select a dog compatible with your personality, family, and lifestyle. Choosing a dog can become easy and enjoyable as you learn everything there is to know about the breeds, including:

-physical characteristics—height, weight, strength, coat color and texture, tendency to shed, and food requirements

-temperamental characteristics—indoor/outdoor activity level, emotional stability, sociability, training potential, and watchdog/guard-dog ability

-popularity, background, and unique qualities of each breed

-This fully illustrated guide includes easy-to-read tables and pages of practical advice, plus a miniquestionnaire to help you narrow down your selection to the perfect match for you, your family, and your lifestyle.Chapter 1

Breed, Behavior and Temperament

What do we mean by temperament ? We may think of terms such as loyal, congenial, affectionate, regal, aristocratic, tranquil, eager to please, shy, happy-go-lucky, attentive, alert, self-confident, energetic, obedient, sweet, rollicking, courageous, intelligent, gentle, upstanding and quiet. On the other side of the coin, we may think of words such as aggressive, mean, stupid, lazy, quarrelsome, aloof and so on.

These terms, normally used to describe a dog's behavior by everyday folk and by the American Kennel Club, are useful to the extent that they enable us to predict the behavior of a dog so labeled. For example, you would expect a shy dog to avoid strangers and novel objects, an affectionate dog to engage in a lot of nuzzling and licking, an obedient dog to train easily and retain its skills a long time. A rollicking dog would be one that does a lot of jumpil!