KISS Guide to Raising a Puppy

by Liz Palika

The only full-color, photographic, truly accessible how-to guides on the market. The Keep It Simple Series has set a new standard in how-to publishing. The truly accessible guides inspire and instruct readers and deliver all the information one needs to know about the featured subject. Expertly written with helpful diagrams, full-color photographs and illustrations, these books give readers even more reasons to K I S S inexperience goodbye.

Genres: Nonfiction, Dogs

Paperback

First published October 28, 2002

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

How good is this book? I read it in England in late 2004, around when I got my first puppy, Pony. My copy, and makeshift home in the woods, got destroyed by an arsonist. It was then I knew I had to get me and Pony the hell out of England. When we finally settled in my Mom's home back in America, one of the first books I bought was this. There are not many non-fiction books I have bought twice.

The Keep It Simple Series is an uneven series, as all of the For Dummies series clones are (and so is the For Dummies series itself, for that matter) but this book is a standout for being practical, helpful and well organized.

There are also bizarre but cute color cartoons of a dog in human clothes (a dog person) trying to raise a spunky, chunky white and black puppy. This, of course, raises a whole host of questions of what life for dogs would be like in this alternate universe.

My only problem with the book is that the author has an unabashed preference for purebred dogs. To her credit, she admits it. After having been owned by both purebred and mongrels, I can sadly tell you that the only thing purebreds bring to the table is incredibly poor health leading to early death. The concept of the purebred is the worst thing that ever happened to dogs.

[Iloha Najmuddin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an owner of a 3-year old Staffordshire bull terrier. Not a puppy, I know. I still thought this book was very helpful. Many people come in with puppies they get for Christmas (I work at Persmart) and if I had to recommend a simple and BASIC book to read, this would be the one. 80% of the content I agree with and is correct. Other 20% is outdated information, like how to perform CPR, which I later googled online because this is very important to know. None the less, this is a good entry-level book you should read to get a genral idea of why it's alot of work getting a puppy and where to start. This is not a book that you should use to get all of your information from, but it is great enough to put you onthe right track.

[Delight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good concise book - put it all together in an easy format & easy to look back on for refresher. Really liked it!

[Hannah Ouston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some helpful tips and guides but a big focus on getting dogs from a breeder. Some not relevant information. Well written but has a few typos.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very handy and useful guidebook for those who are willing to welcome in their houses a puppy. The book provides lots of information on how to prepare for an event of getting a new member of a family, which breed to choose from, what to expect, how to welcome/train/feed a puppy, first vet visit and many more... Lots of pictures, tips from A-Z and a very pretty graphic design.
Thanks to that book I finally solved the problem of biting and mouthing.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple helpful tips - even if it was a bit too one sided sometimes.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is easy to read instructions on basics how to raise a puppy. It was worth buying.