Review by Steve Dale, Host of Animal Planet Radio - April 19, 2004

This cd is the best bargain in the history of the world. The mission of this fun family-friendly interactive cd is to help you to choose the right dog. Loads of dogs are dumped at shelters because people made a poor choice.

The breed selector allows family members to check off questions about their own lifestyles. Would you jog with a dog? How many hours are you typically away from home? Will your dog be living with young children? When you've completed the questionnaire a list of potential breeds that could be a perfect match magically pops up on the screen. Then, you can learn more by seeing pictures of each of the breeds, and reading about them. The author does a superb job of offering information about each breed, including genetic medical issues and what their temperaments are supposed to be.

What's more, you can compare breeds - type in, say Australian shepherd and German shepherd dog and you can compare side by side the size of the dogs, which breed requires more grooming, which is more likely to bark more, which are best suited for canine activities, ranging from sledding to search and rescue work.

If you've selected a breed you want and are interested in a puppy - the national breed club is always a great place to start a search. And the links for breed clubs are right there for you to click on.

There's an entire book worth of material on this cd, including articles on everything from crate training puppies to tips on blow drying after a bath.

The cd is particularly geared to those interested in trying out a canine sport for the first time. Aside from articles and resources on agility, lure coursing, herding and other sports, movies present the dogs in action.

Family members can compete in the 'Guess the Breed' game, although you'll have to remember previous scores since the disc does not remember. If I may boast, my score was 100 percent at the champion level, which either means I know my stuff or the game is too easy. (The cd is both Windows and Macintosh compatible.)

*****

This is a wonderful source for pet owners, shelters, adoption agencies. We plan to use it in connection with our local shelter to advise and educate adoptees and volunteers. It can greatly benefit dog ownership! - Mary Robertson, Paws for Life, Inc., Edmond, OK

*****

Telemark's Guide to Dogs is a very complete guide to all the different purebred dogs. I am an instructor in a Veterinary Technician program and am considering making it a class requirement! The thorough descriptions of all the different breeds seem to be very accurate and include the positive as well as negative traits of each breed. This would enable a person looking for a puppy to make an informed decision...I would highly recommend this CD-ROM to anyone with an interest in learning more about dogs, selecting a puppy, as well as any students who need to research the breeds. - Katie DeCosse, Minneapolis, MN

*****

I just wanted to let you know how much my 11-year-old son LOVES your product. Since we bought the product, he has been waking up at 6:30 AM in order to be able to play with the CD-ROM before school. In the evenings, he reads me articles while I cook dinner. His favorite part of the program, however, is the Breed Selector - which I must say is amazing. He runs it by anyone who will sit down with him for a few minutes to figure out what dog would be best for that person. Thanks to this program, Thomas has clearly identified a pug as the type of dog who would fit our lifestyle. I have to say, I agree.

Guess what we will probably get for Christmas!

For my part, I am really happy to see him get involved with a CD-ROM that has a true educational component, rather than meaningless thumb-twitching games. He announced the other morning that he is going to become a veterinarian when he grows up.

Thank you for making such a great product!

Sincerely,

Lise in San Francisco

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