Dog Eat Dog: A Very Human Book about Dogs and Shows

by Michael Stern and Jane Stern

Book Overview

The Secret Life of Dogs meets A Good Walk Spoiled in this behind-the-scenes look at the subculture of the professional dog-show circuit. The owners of two bullmastiffs bring the world of dog breeding... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684822539
• ISBN13: 9780684822532
• Release Date: February 1997
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

An essential reader for anything thinking about showing or breeding dogs

Recently, a friend mentioned he was thinking about breeding puppies. Luckily, I was already reading this book. After mentioning the schedules, money, paperwork, heartbreak, and blood, sweat, and tears that goes into dog breeding, he said "never mind" Not only is Dog Eat Dog a brilliant expose on dog breeding, it focuses on the world of show dogs, a complicated place in which the slightest bump on a dogs shoulder can make the difference between winning and loosing, and where wirehair dogs have to be groomed by having individual hairs pulled out. Though many breeds and breeders are mentioned, the main focus is on Mimi Einstein and her All Star Kennels, which breeds and shows Bull Mastiffs, massive, loving guard dogs. Many of the stories are touching, some will make you cheer outloud and one made my eyes water. It's fast moving, well paced, and though a real tale it has a happy ending. If you're thinking about getting a pure bred dog, showing a dog, or breeding for profit, please read this book first! Highest recommendations.

Entertaining, Interesting, and True

"Dog Eat Dog" is an entertaining look at the dog show scene, and is a must for any dog fancier. The book thoroughly chronicles the life of a prominent breeder and her campaigning special, Rusty. "Dog Eat Dog" is humorous and interesting, and will have you repeatedly nodding your head in agreement. Read this book.

A slobbery journey for the Blue!

I'm not a dogparent, but I take everyone else's hound to my favorite park in San Francisco, which is where I first saw a pack of Bullmastiffs in all their glory...their walker told me about the Stern's book and I rushed to learn about this odd looking cross between a rhino and a bulldog..I loved the Sterns other books, particularly the Bad Taste Encyclopaedia...now I and find Dog Eat Dog, for a non-dogshow neophyte trapped in the body of a diligent pooper scooper, a marvelous glimpse into the world of canine chaos. It's entertaining, whimsical and best of all, the reader's spared a bunch of dog show lingo. A wonderful gift for just about anyone whoever wondered why dogs show their lipsticks at the most inopportune time.

Best book I've read that explains the world of dog shows.

If you love dogs, but can't understand why anyone gets involved in dogs shows; if you've ever watched the Westminister Kennel club show on USA Network, and wondered what it's really like for the human contestants, if you want to know why anyone would turn their lives around for their dogs, this book is the best explanation I've read. Havings owned show dogs and raised show dogs, I've found it nearly impossible to describe to the uninitiated what it's like to show dogs, what it's like to be with dog show people, and why anyone would devote all their vacations and much of their disposable income to a sport where you're going to lose most of the time. The Sterns use a year in the life of a Bullmastiff breeder to get inside the world of dog shows, dog show people and expose the humor, pathos, bitchiness (both from the dogs and the humans) involved in a sport involving millions of dogs and owners, but one almost entirely foreign even to dog owners and lovers who don't show. It's funny and reads much too quickly. You'll never forget Mimi Einstein the breeder or her charges Rusty, Sam and Sugar

A must read for anyone who competes purebred dogs!

Alright, I must admit, I am a little biased. I have known Mimi Einstein, the subject of this fascinating book, since I was a child. She and her incredible dogs, the "Allstar Bullmastiffs" have been precisely captured in a work which intimately details the goings-on of a very unique and somewhat deranged land, the world of purebred dog showing. The book is an extremely telling account of this world, and a true and honest reference for anyone thinking about exhibiting their beloved Fido. The Sterns' language is, at times, grandiose and overbearing, but they really can't help it...so is the world of dog shows.