"The Dog Breed Bible"; By D Caroline Coile PhD: A Review

D. Caroline Colie, Ph.D must have received a sweet deal from Barron's Books. She wrote one book for them, "Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds" and they managed to get two books out of the second edition, published in 2005. "The Dog Breed Bible" is the second book, which is nothing but a condensed version of the first.

But readers do not discover this fact until they are about ten pages into the book. Condensed books may work for Reader's Digest, but they have no place in pet books, where pet lovers are desperate for all of the information that they can find. "The Dog Breed Bible" is a total rip-off. Get any edition of "Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds" instead.

Seriously Lacking

For a book entitled, "The Dog Breed Bible", you would expect every single dog breed in the world to be mentioned. There are over 500 dog breeds around the world. However, "The Dog Breed Bible" only covers the breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club as up to 2006. That's only about 160. So, if you are not from America, this book will mean little to you, since it will not reflect the dog breeds that may be easily found in your country.

Each breed is given a whopping one page description and most of that is devoted to white space and a photograph. Considerably more time is spent on discussing the AKC and explaining the AKC groupings at AKC-sanctioned dog shows. One of these days, it would be nice to read about how average dogs from a breed look and act '" not just reguritating anything a breed association promotes. "The Dog Breed Bible" is nowhere near this longed-for book.

The most serious information that is really lacking is the health problems that are found in all of the breeds. When comparing the health problems listed in "The Dog Breed Bible" to breed rescues and to books written by veterinarians, "The Dog Breed Bible" really comes up short. For example, the boxer is listed as having four health concerns. The Veterinarian's Guide to Your Dog's Symptoms (Villard; 1999) lists 17. That's quite a difference.

The Binding

Another bizarre aspect to "The Dog Breed Bible" is that it is published in a white plastic spiral-bound binding. Perhaps someone somewhere at Barron's got the bright idea that readers wanted their books to lay flat. Actually, readers would like their books to stay in one piece for as long as possible. Spiral-bound binding is notorious for falling apart years before glue or stitch bindings.

Occasionally, there are full-spread pictures of beautiful dogs. It is a shame that the spiral binding blocks the center of those pictures. What was the point of having a photo that spreads out over two pages if there are huge blue plastic spirals cutting through the center?

This book also makes a strange scratching noise whenever you try and turn the page. At least, my copy does. I can't guarantee that all copies will. The noise in and of itself can be irritating.