Legacy Of The Puppy: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Rating:
Summary: Following in the pawprints of "Legacy of the Dog"...
Review: Several years ago I bought "Legacy of the Dog"; yesterday, I bought "Legacy of the Puppy," having instantly recognized it as the follow-up to the first--same style, same beautiful glossy book, another picture of a terrier on the cover (this time Airedale instead of Irish). The primary reason I like this book is that it's a good one to coo over with your dog-loving friends; normally we don't get to see much of what all these breeds look like as puppies. At least, not all in one book. Not as many breeds are represented, but with over 200 pages, enough of them are, and not all are AKC-recognized. Basically, every set of pages shows pictures of a mother dog with a variety of beautiful, representative-of-breed puppies around with their ages next to them; most of the breeds follow this general format. The text is essentially the same as you'd find in any dog-breed book but is useful nonetheless; I haven't found major errors in it so far. The text also centers, of course, around the puppies of each breed but also covers what they will likely grow up to be and what to expect. Also, it includes new features like words from actual owners of each puppy breed, offering insight into what it's like to really live with one, & a handy 'diseases by breed' chart.

Looking through these pages and choosing a puppy based on which one you think is cutest is NOT the way to do it and not what the book's intended for, but when used responsibly, or just for fun, it's a great book. The maltese, Great dane, and Brittany puppies look just like my current dogs when they were tiny. My very favorite breeds--afghan hounds, borzois, salukis, and Bedlington terriers--are all represented. The book is wonderful for seeing the whimsy and curiosity of young puppies. Some of the pictures are truly excellent; the little border collies and beagles and Irish setters, for instance, are gorgeous. The Dachshunds are portrayed in a variety of uncommon and common colors, including my favorite adorable long-haired brown and blue merle combination. The Lakeland terrier 'group shot' looks like they're all smiling. One of the 55-day-old Akita puppies looks like Angel from "Lady and the Tramp 2," proving how seeing the puppy version of a breed can change your perception of how a dog will look full-grown; I'd never considered her an Akita pup before! The husky pups have sapphire blue eyes, the Shiba Inus play with pinecones, one of the French bulldogs has the greatest expression on, the Bichons and Schipperkes are precious--well, they all are, ne?

This book is the ultimate look at the cute, happy playfulness of puppies. The kind you leave out and guests will want to go through. It's great, I recommend it.