Reviewers Comments

Magnificent!  Stunning Photography!  Beautiful!  Wonderful! 

A Journey With Stellar Photos!  A Must-Read!

ISBN 1-884330-09-6  Click here to view sample pages.

Price: $25 per copy, plus $10 shipping and handling. 

Click here to read what people are saying about this book.

Click here to read what breeders are saying about this book.

Click here for a list of Schutzhund organizations and resources.

From Paws Here With Lynn Kelber, PalmBeachPost.com, March 24, 2008

When I saw the cover of the well-done The Sport of Schutzhund book with the photo of the GS doing just that, it struck home. Authors BJ and Peter Spanos have poured their love of the Schutzhund sport into this fascinating, glossy, photographic book that covers the entire world of training and competing in this area. Just as it's beautiful to see a human athlete at the peak of his or her sport, it's the same feeling watching a Schutzhund-trained dog compete.  The dogs are fluid, leaping over barriers, tracking smells, attacking on command (nobody gets hurt!).  The photos that the 26 photographers contributed to this book catch the dogs in all areas of training and in all the ways they interact with their humans.  And the dogs love it. That's the most beautiful part of all.

From J. Kaye's Book Blog, March 6, 2008

In Spanos' book, she's compiled 370 photos from around the United States and Europe to make this a unique dedication to the beloved sport...Through these photos, each chapter will tell a visual story.  My most favorite is Schutzhund: Not Just For Adults.  This sport isn't just for the K-9, but his human partner as well.  In order to achieve this, you must be a dedicated responsible individual.  What an awesome thing to teach our children, wouldn't you say?

From Sgt. Mom, Blogger News Network, February 5, 2008

The dogs pictured in this book are athletes all, at the peak of their game, and competing in the dog version of the iron man, or the triathlon. Without exception, they are focused, intent on their mission – and they are having a whale of a good time. Nothing matters to them, save their mission, and the affection rewarded to them by their human afterwards. They know nothing of ribbons and records. It’s their human handlers who generally look anxious. This is a lovely and detailed book, both as an introduction to a relatively unknown sport, and an affectionate tribute to our oldest and most dedicated friend – the working dog.

From John Burroughs, Burroughs' Bookshelf, The Midwest Book Review, February 2008

Beautifully organized and presented, this singularly unique, 250-page, full-sized coffee table paper back is especially recommended to the attention of dog fanciers in general, and Schutzhund owners in particular.

From Jessica Roberts, BookPleasures.com, January 31, 2008

Schutzhund, a dog sport developed in Germany in the early 1900s, is a training that is applied to popular working dogs - German Shepherds mainly. This magnificent book illustrates this dog sport so well with its simply stunning photography and insight.

As soon as I began this I was captured...Of course this book isn’t just full of pictures of magnificence, it is mainly to show us just how clever, intelligent and skilful working dogs can be when trained by the sport of Schutzhund.

The photographs show the step-by-step phases...so you really can get a good idea what is involved if you are a dog owner and fancy a go at this sport yourself. Or you may just be a big lover of animals like myself and savour each page and the intellectual side of these dogs too as illustrated in this book.

I cannot express how wonderful this book is but will say it is an excellent introduction to this sport with colourful photographs taken by professional and amateur photographers alike. Also there are some photographs from Europe too. If you weren’t inspired before you looked through this collection - you certainly will be once you have!

Words are simply not enough to convey what a wonderful collection of photographs are inside this book and would look so great on your coffee table. The dogs inside, one word -  beautiful! I just completely fell in love with them.

A wonderful book in every way.  

From Victoria Tarrani, January 29, 2008

The Sport of Schutzhund: A Photographic Essay is a wonderful coffee table book. However, it is also educational and deserves its place among your treasured dog breeding, training and dog show books.  The Sport of Schutzhund is unique...a journey with stellar photos.

From "Friend Mouse", Friend Mouse Speaks, January 17, 2008

I have a dog. Her particular skill set includes inhaling her food, sleeping on the couch, sleeping on the bed, sleeping under the bed (in the event of thunderstorms) and begging. The gorgeous dogs portrayed in the coffee table book, The Sport of Schutzhund: A Photographic Essay, are slightly more ambitious than that...The hundreds of photographs are largely wonderful, showing the strength and skill of these animal athletes; the few pictures that are obviously taken by amateurs more than compensate for lack of photographic experience by an abundance of love for their subjects.