Favorite Breed: Brown

Mutts: America's Dogs: A Guide to Choosing, Loving, and Living with Our Most Popular Canine by Brian Kilcommons and Michael Capuzzo
Reviewed by Joie

Don't let the AKC (American Kennel Club) trick you. The favorite dog of America is not the pure bred Labrador Retriever or German Shepherd. My friends and fellow dog lovers, it is the Brown Dog. You know, that usually brown dog with short hair, narrow snout, about forty pounds? Oh, did I forget to mention he's the classic mutt? This dog is the "Original" Dog, as in, the Dog every dog would become if we didn't interfere with their lives. And these are the dogs, not the purebreds as the American Kennel Club wants you to believe, that America loves the most. Mutts.

In this guide, Brian Kilcommons and Michael Capuzzo create one of the first dog guides just for mutts. Curious, as mutts make up more that 80% of the American Dog Population. In this one guide, they tell you everything great about mutts and are outrageously funny at it to boot. While disproving myths, they provide heart warming and wrenching anecdotes about day to day mutts and owners. The guide begins with a introduction to what is a mutt and their benefits. It flows nicely into the Mutts 101, detailing the most common mutts of the day, and hinting at the crazy combinations. Finally, the guide even helps you along with getting your own mutt and living plus loving your own mutt. This really is a fantastic guide and persuasive tool for our most popular canine.

I found this book full of witty humor, valuable information, and good stories. These mutts deserve a second chance and another look at them. There are too many misconceptions about mutts, and they're all blown away here. Not to mention this is the first book out of the hundreds (maybe thousands) of dog books that feature exclusively mutts. These dogs are lovable, trainable, and in some aspects, better than the purebred dogs of today. There is a good reason why the Brown Dog is number one.