Breed all about it

When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with horses and books.
My mother would take me to the library every Thursday night. I always tried to pick out only as many books as I could read in a week, but I usually overloaded myself.
One book that I consistently checked out was a very large, hard cover book that was an encyclopedia of horses. It showed all the different breeds, explained each one’s history, strengths, weaknesses, sizes, colors, etc.
Horses quickly took a back seat in my life when Brent and I brought puppy Sensi home.
A year later, on my birthday, my mom got me one of the best birthday gifts I’ve ever received. I recognized it as soon as I saw it.
She had found the encyclopedia of dogs, the same book and format as the one I used to study on horses years earlier.
That was five years ago. Incredibly, this book is now a sort of feature for friends visiting my house.
Brent and I, and our friends, reference this book so frequently that, of the many wonderful books I’ve collected, this is the only one to have a permanent place on the coffee table.
It seemed impossible for one of Brent’s friends to keep his hands off the book when he came over, so one year, we bought a new edition of it for him on his birthday.
He has reported back to me that at every family gathering since then, the book has become the center of attention.
Want to check it out?
The book is properly titled The New Encyclopedia of The Dog and is authored by Bruce Fogle.
I’ve always purchased my books at Borders; I like being able to place an order and pick up a book on my way home. I will say, though, that the prices offered by Amazon.com are more competitive.
You can also probably find it at the local library. Check it out one day and watch as people in your house start congregating around it.
One note to the reader: Use the index. It’s at the back of the book and allows you to look up dogs by the name of the breed.