This book is stunningly dull. It should be re-titled "John Cree rambling on about his own dogs with 30year-old black and white photos showing you how many prizes they won." Sub headings like "What is loyalty?" and "Loyalty to whom or what?" are followed by lost paragraphs looking for a thought to latch on to.

BEWARE - the Synopsis makes inaccurate claims!

As I'm considering buying a German Shepherd, I was looking for a book specifically dealing with this breed. The synopsis claimed: "Covering all aspects of training and with a strong emphasis on understanding the breed's psyche," which fooled me into buying a copy.

This claim could not be further from the truth. The synopsis should more accurately read, "For those interested in circuit training, with a few small black and white photos of German Shepherds thrown in for good measure."

I can't comment on whether it does a good job coaching readers to train their non-specific-breed of dog to jump through tyres, weave through cones and skip merrily before the judges, but I can say as a book about German Shepherd dogs, their history, their psyche, specifics of the breed, etc, with particular emphasis on training, it's marginally better than "The Complete Cat Guide," but not much... So again, to summarise:

For circuit training your dog - maybe.
For German Shepherd specific training - no way

This book did not live up to my expectations. Having heard so much about the wonderful writing style of Mr Plummer I bought this book thinking it would be a great read but I was sadly disappointed. It lacks any real content, the language is almost childishly basic and Mr Plummer goes into great detail about his own adventures and misdemeanors with hardly any mention of his dog Polly, of whom the title of the book suggests is supposed to be the main focus!
The book is very thin and is without a doubt over priced.
Very disappointing.

This is one of the best, if not the best and most complete German Shepherd book out there. It's great for the new puppy owner to the experienced breeder like my self. It's packed with German and American bloodlines. ROM list with pictures, German Siegers, Grand Victors, German terminology, and German names for your new puppy.