Dogs from A to Z

Dogs are more than man's best friend. They're also the source of thousands of words and phrases -- some used only by specialists and dog breeders, others used by everybody. Probably no dictionary ever compiled will contain them all, but this book has most of them -- more than 8,000. Specialized and technical terms abound in these pages: for instance, fiddling, an unorthodox technique used by handlers to confuse the dog show judge. Other terms are especially familiar to veterinarians, such as Lyme disease, a tick-borne disease causing joint inflammation, arthritis, and general malaise in dogs. Readers and browsers will also find names and thumbnail descriptions of virtually every dog breed, terms used by trainers and judges at shows, medical and anatomical terms -- and even metaphor in the general language, such as doggedly, which is another way of saying stubbornly, or behaving obstinately like an illmannered dog. A 32-page full-color insert presents color photos of all AKC and many non-AKC breeds. A separate section of black-and-white art shows everything from canine anatomy to details looked for by judges when they score competition dogs. An additional 400-plus line drawings are scattered throughout the book to accompany the definitions.