Introduction

Welcome to the second edition of Dogs For Dummies, the canine reference for those who want all the basics covered in one easy-to-use book.

Well, you've found it. Dog health. Dog training. Not to mention dog gear, dog grooming, dog breeding, and dog sports. Whether you're looking to adopt a dog, trying to improve your relationship with the one you have, or attempting to come up with fun things to do with your furry pal, this book contains something for you.

The first edition of Dogs For Dummies was the first of the For Dummies pet books, and the most common question I heard was: "Wait! Don't they just do computer books?" I don't hear that anymore, with For Dummies books available on just about any imaginable topic, and with lots more on the way!

Dogs For Dummies was more than the first For Dummies pet book: It was my first book. I'd written a pet-care newspaper column for many years, and I was featured in the pets area of American Online when I was asked to write the first edition of this book. I felt like my prayers had been answered when I was offered such a great opportunity.

The first edition of Dogs For Dummies was critically acclaimed, and named Best General Reference and Best Writing on Dogs by the Dog Writers Association of America. Even more important, I started hearing from lots of book buyers about how much my work had helped them.

Buoyed by the success of Dogs For Dummies, I co-authored Cats For Dummies and Birds For Dummies. I'm proud of them all, but this book will always be my first, and I'm so happy to have the opportunity to make it even better.

So make yourself comfortable and enjoy this comprehensive and easy-to-follow book for dog lovers from dog lovers. The dog you get - or the dog you have - will thank you, believe me.

We Love Dogs . to Death, Sometimes

In spite of the popularity of dogs, some numbers suggest we don't love dogs all that much. How can anyone explain a society where doggy birthday parties and doggy day care aren't all that rare, but millions of dogs are put to death every year in humane society shelters and municipal animal-control facilities?

Undoubtedly, some of these dogs are semiwild strays, some are psycho, some incurably ill, and some are ancient. But many are none of those things: They're healthy, young, beautiful dogs - mixes and purebred both - who will die because the people who took them in don't want them anymore, for reasons as frivolous as redecorating and as serious as biting.

And what about the puppies who won't make it? Where did they come from? Some end up in shelters as part of "oops" litters, others are leftovers from litters planned by people who overestimated the demand for Golden Retrievers or Poodles or Rottweilers and got tired of the extra mouths to feed.

Because no one wants to imagine the worst, everyone who has ever dropped a dog at a shelter imagines that he ends up in a perfect home.

For many, that home is in heaven. Such is the dark side of a dog-crazy society.

How Do Dog Disasters Happen

Too many decisions about dogs are made because of emotions, not facts. The truth is, most of us are suckers for a puppy face.

Few things are more adorable than a puppy, no matter the breeding. They are endowed with noses like licorice jelly beans, big eyes that sparkle with curiosity and affection, big paws and gangly legs that give them an adorably bouncy gait, and soft, fluffy fur that's better for snuggling than any teddy bear ever made.

Like human babies, puppies even smell special.

My own theory is that they are made this way as some kind of ingenious natural defense, to keep the humans they rely on from seeking revenge for every carpet soiled, every finger nipped, and every couch corner chewed during what can seem at times a very long babyhood and adolescence. You come upon your wondrous puppy in possession of your new and very expensive running shoes, the upper of the left one neatly severed from its sole by sharp puppy teeth. You feel the blood rush to your face. The puppy stops, a piece of fine leather dangling from an eye tooth.

Before you can snap his little neck, he's running toward you, stumbling over those big paws of his, every inch of his body happy to see you. And before you know it, you're smiling.

See what I mean? Do you think a wild dog would fall for cuteness? Think again. He'd nail him if they had been his running shoes. Or his tasty leg of rabbit. Cuteness counts for nothing in the wild.

The awwwwwww factor

It's a shame we aren't a little less impressionable where puppies are concerned. Every year hundreds of thousands of people bring puppies into their homes, many after little more than a moment or two of thought.

If you take away only one thing from this book, it should be that getting a dog on impulse offers low odds for a successful relationship. Still, it's easy to see how it happens.

Maybe you see a puppy at the mall, in a pet-store window that's emblazoned with the symbols of every credit card in your wallet. Or maybe you get waylaid by a couple of kids outside the grocery store, hawking a box of free puppies.

"And you say the amount of shedding isn't really that bad?" you ask the nice people at the pet store while cuddling a collie pup, thinking of your navy-blue couch and your closet full of basic black. The puppy sighs and snuggles against your chest. Soon you're adding a lint brush to the growing pile of supplies on the counter and, lest you start to worry about the cost, the sales clerk quickly points out that you can always breed your dog and get your money back with puppy sales. You look at that wonderful puppy face and imagine seven more just like her, and then seven times the purchase price in your pocket. A beautiful pet and a return on your investment? Sold.

Or maybe you're moved by pure altruism.

"Say, mister, that one really seems to like you!" says the kid in front of the market, as you stop just long enough to cuddle the pup with that amazingly adorable patch over his eye. The puppy is licking your fingers while your brain struggles to work this dilemma out. You know you ought to call your spouse. But hadn't you talked about getting a dog someday, now that you've bought a house? How much effort can a little puppy be? You always had dogs when you were a child; how can you deny your children that pleasure?

"Dad says if we don't get rid of 'em today he's going to drown 'em," says the kid, urgently.

"Not Patch!" you yell and, a little while later, you're driving home with a puppy in your lap and ten pounds of puppy food in the trunk of your car.

Puppy love is fleeting

When it comes to puppies, love at first sight is a disaster in the making. A year later, Patch and the collie touch noses at the shelter. On TV, Timmy never seemed to care about Lassie's fur on his jeans, but you can't stand it on your clothes anymore. As for Patch, who'd have thought he'd turn out to be so large? You have neither the kind of space nor the time for the exercise he needs. And you're tired of yelling at the kids over whose turn it is to clean up the yard. One dog isn't house-trained, the other never seemed to understand that chewing wasn't OK. Not surprising, because neither dog was ever trained as a puppy.

They're still nice dogs, though. Young, and apparently healthy. A country home, a little training, and they'd be perfect - for someone else. Problem is, they aren't so cute anymore. Maybe they both make it, maybe neither does. It's not your fault, is it?

A Preventive Approach

Nobody adopts a dog guessing that they'll be dropping him off at the shelter later. Just thinking about doing so is heartbreaking. You get a dog because you want a loving, well-mannered companion. A playmate for the children. A crime deterrent, perhaps.

The most important factors in determining whether you end up with your dream dog or an ill-mannered and possibly dangerous beast is how well you educate yourself before you buy and how well you educate your dog thereafter.

That's part of what this book is all about. Preparing you to make the right selection when you're ready to adopt a dog and giving you the information you need to make good on the bright promise of that first meeting.

Improving the Dog You Have

Of course, many people wouldn't dream of giving up on their dogs, although the infatuation stage is long past and the relationship is strained. They endure "bad" dogs the way they do bad marriages - and for many of the same reasons. Because the children would be heartbroken or because friends and relatives would be disappointed. Because it's the right thing to do, or because they don't want to admit they made a mistake. Because if they wish hard enough, maybe the situation will get better. Because maybe the problem is their fault, and they're sure that they still love him (or her).

Is this you? You may get points for being a good sport, but admit it: This isn't any fun. You want a good dog.

I can...