Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds Description:

Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds review:
5 stars (Excellent source of information) - I really enjoyed going thru this encyclopedia. It helped me judge which dog was right for my family.
5 stars (Great Reference Book on Dog Breeds) - This book features profiles and beautiful color photographs of more than 150 dog breeds, including information about AKC standards. The book also rates the different breeds for such tendencies as energy level, playfulness, ease of training, watchdog capabilities, heat tolerance, etc. (summary by South Texas Library System)

You may not need this on your bookshelf at home, but do consult it at your public library before choosing a dog. It's sad to see the wrong breed suffering because it's too active, not good with children, etc. Many behaviors are inherent in a breed and it's a mistake to ignore that.
5 stars (Best dog breed book ever) - If you just want to read about different dog breeds, or if you want to know which breed is best suited to you and your lifestyle, this is the book to buy. This book is an ocean of information. You can find out the history of the breeds, the difficulty or ease of maintaining a specific breed, the personality of a specific breed. The pictures are beautiful. The information is concise and easy to read and understand, even for the person like myself, who knows nothing about dog breeds. I couldn't put this book down. It's one of the favorite books for our whole family in our library (this one and the cat breeds book).