Australian Shepherd: A Comprehensive Guide to Owning and Caring for Your Dog (Kennel Club Dog Breed Series)

Rating:
Summary: Australian Shepherd's; How Should I know?
Review: Apparently, I'm the first one to review this book. . Just as you know nothing about it, I know absolutely nothing about it. This review is absolutely meaningless, as I know nothing about this book. The fact that this review was even published, speaks volumes about borders' policy of publishing reviews.

Rating:
Summary: Well Organized and Presented, but Thin on Content
Review: While many of the suggestions and explanations about this wonderful breed are consistent with other research documents I've read, I felt like there should've been more "meat" or text included on certain topics. In particular obedience training, feeding and the like.

Australian Shepherds are *extremely* intelligent dogs (far more so than most labs or retrievers for example - though I certainly love those breeds as well (and own one)). For this reason they have very specific training requirements if both owner and dog are ultimately to have a good relationship. However this book gave equally thin treatment to this topic as it does for others of less importance. I sort of get the impression the author said "well we can only dedicate x pages per topic on average" and then stuck to that, instead of allowing more pages for the really important stuff and skimming the more obvious or less critical topics.

This book *will* teach you something you didn't know most likely, but it will also leave you wanting more in-depth info. I'd give it 3.5 if I could....

Friendly Advice: while I was well aware of the breed's characteristics before buying, please DO NOT let your kids (or your own conscience) talk you into buying one of these dogs just because you've seen them catching frisbees on the beach or because they're so cute. If you do not have the time and space to dedicate to this dog every single day, you will wind up with a frustrated and destructive dog. Shepherds need to keep their minds going and their bodies going as often as possible; they are not couch potatoes like many other breeds of similar temperment and looks.

Also be sure to check your local Australian Shepherd rescue for available dogs before going to a breeder. You'd be amazed how many great dogs are out there already looking for homes. Don't contribute to the dog overbreeding problem in this country (more than 15 million dogs are euthanized every year in the US).