Canine Lexicon - Hardcover

This attractive and ambitious volume has many excellent attributes, which serve to make its shortcomings extremely frustrating. The information on the various breeds and allied species is fascinating. In addition to the familiar breeds, coverage includes such rarities as the Korean Jindo and the Cane Corso (the latter for some reason listed here under Sicilian Branchiero), which are not included in Bonnie Wilcox and Chris Walkowicz's Atlas of Dog Breeds , 3d ed. (see "Grooming Your Pet Care Collection," LJ 2/1/93, p. 49-53) but which are found in limited numbers in the United States. There are a number of errors, especially in the captions. The dog pictured with Nancy Reagan, for instance, is her Bouvier puppy, a herding dog, not a "terrier." As a lexicon, this reference falls short in some surprising ways. While there are entries of varying depth in a wide variety of fields, many important terms that patrons may find on the pedigrees of purebred dogs are left out or given short shrift. Where, for instance, are Register of Merit (ROM), Herding Certified (HC), Senior Hunter (SH), Canine Good Citizen (CGC), or Certificate of Gameness (CG)? Why is there only one sentence on CERF (Canine Eye Registry Foundation), an acronym now found on American Kennel Club (AKC) registration papers for puppies whose parent(s) have been certified clear of inheritable eye diseases? And the authors just can't restrain themselves from plugging a certain nylon bone (coincidentally made by another branch of the company publishing this book). With more research and careful editing, a second edition of this could be a winner. For now, withhold the ribbon--it doesn't meet the standard.
- Jennifer King, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Marlboro, N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.