GOING TO THE DOGS!
A Review of Best of Breed: The American Kennel Club's Multimedia
by William T. Yates
CD-ROMs are going to the dogs! And it's done in excellent style by Macmillan Digital Systems "Best of Breed: The American Kennel Club's Multimedia Guide to Dogs". If a dog is man's best friend, this guide is a dog's and dog owner's best friend. It teaches his master or mistress everything necessary to provide the proper care for the dog. Want to know how to choose a dog? train it? care for it? show it? Want to know almost anything about dogs? This guide, a Silver Award winner from NewMedia's Invision Awards for 1996, should be the first place you turn to. The Guide is well-designed, with excellent graphics, easy navigation, in-depth information, and even the ability to connect to America OnLine for further information. There are areas for breeds, Choosing a Dog, Caring for a Dog, Training Your Dog, How to Pick a Pet, an Index of all breeds, a 'For Fun' area with interesting information, and a Tools menu. Each of OVER 140 AKC breeds is illustrated, described, profiled, and shown in over 600 still pictures and over 45 minutes of QuickTime video. The profiles provide valuable information on such things as size of the dog, how much living space and exercise the dog needs, how much shedding to expect, grooming needs, trainability, watchdog ability, and how well the dog bonds with people, especially children.
The Guide is well-designed, with excellent graphics, easy navigation, in-depth information, and even the ability to connect to America OnLine for further information. There are areas for breeds, Choosing a Dog, Caring for a Dog, Training Your Dog, How to Pick a Pet, an Index of all breeds, a 'For Fun' area with interesting information, and a Tools menu. Each of OVER 140 AKC breeds is illustrated, described, profiled, and shown in over 600 still pictures and over 45 minutes of QuickTime video. The profiles provide valuable information on such things as size of the dog, how much living space and exercise the dog needs, how much shedding to expect, grooming needs, trainability, watchdog ability, and how well the dog bonds with people, especially children.
By going to the Pick a Pet area, you can fill out an on-screen questionnaire which will automatically select the breeds which satisfy your requirements. There is information on training your dog, how to care for your dog from puppyhood on up, how to interpret dog body language, games to play with your dog, and almost anything else you need to know to properly interact with a dog. The entire CD-ROM is geared to helping you understand your dog as such understanding makes for a better relationship. A properly cared for, trained, and disciplined dog is a happy dog with a happy owner.
Think your dog is sick? Check him out with the interactive health care section. Want to find a local breeder? Want to adopt a dog from the animal shelter? Can't think of a name for that new member of your family? (The new dog, that is!) Want to know what's beneath all that fur? It's all here!The For Fun area discusses The Dog in History, Famous Dogs, Champs to Heroes (some of these stories would even convert a cat lover!), Dogs of Famous People, Dogs in Art, Literature, and Myth, Stars of TV and the Movies, Dogs of the Comics, and Mascots and Symbols. And you can say, "Ohhh! How cute!" at the puppy pictures of the screen saver part of this package.
Even if your dog is a mutt, you will find much valuable information in this CD-ROM. If you have any interest in getting a dog, caring for your dog, training your dog, or showing your dog, this is a great resource.
Multimedia Cafe Scorecard
| Product: |
Best of Breed: The American Kennel Club's Multimedia |
| Company: |
Macmillan Digital USA
|
| Cost: |
$59.95 |
System Requirements:
PC: Multimedia PC 486/25 MHz or better; 8 MB RAM;
VGA card with 256 colors, 640x480 resolution color monitor; 2x CD-ROM
drive; Windows 3.1 or Windows 95.
Macintosh: Performa or better/25 MHz; 8 MB RAM; color monitor; 2x CD-ROM
drive; System 7.0.1 or higher
Breakdown:
Entertainment Value 4
Educational Value 5
Concept 5
Depth 5
Interface 5
Overall Score:
Copyright © 1997 InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.