Gundog Training Books
The thread on what breed is best for hunting pheasants got me to thinking about books on training dogs that are available. I have a fairly extensive library on gundog training. I don't have all of the books written, but I have a lot of them. Most are quite good. I think if a person bought just one book and followed the training program outlined (regardless of the breed), they'd probably end up with a very nicely trained dog. Here's my take on a few of the books I have.
"Expert Advice on Gundog Training" by Dave Duffy. This is an excellent book if you can find it. The book is divided into sections on the pointing breeds, the retrieving breeds, the flushing breeds, and the versatile breeds. Duffy asks the same questions to a panel of professional trainers in each section...questions most people would have in the course of training a dog. Each expert gives his or her answer to the same questions. If I run into a roadblock training up a pup, I usually refer back to this book first. I can get the opinion/advice from 3 or 4 professional trainers on pretty much any issue that comes up while training a dog.
John Wolters wrote a series of books. Most people have seen them. He wrote "Gundog", "Waterdog", Gamedog", "Kid's Dog", etc....probably a few others I'm not aware of. He's the man who promoted getting a pup at exactly 49 days of age. That particular philosophy has been very controversial and has been pretty much debunked, but there are still people who believe a pup has to be taken home at exactly 49 days of age. Regardless of whether that is valid or not, his books are easy to follow and have lots of photos to demonstrate what he is explaining. In his book "Gundog", he's big on getting a pup to point a wing on a string, which many trainers frown on to say the least. From what I understand he really didn't train very many dogs, but countless dogs have been trained via his books. I like the concept he promotes of training a pup when it's quite young....young brains are like a sponge, but their attention spans are very short.
"The Labrador Shooting Dog" by Mike Gould (I think that's the name of the book) is pretty good, but I see a lot of Bill Tarrant in his writing. It's a good read if you are training not only a Lab, but any flushing breed. His section on "The Power Bar" is very good. I've used this and it works like it's described.
James Spencer is an excellent writer. I have his book "Hup, Training Spaniels the American Way". He's trained some Master Hunters, so he knows what he's doing. I particularly like the section of his book on Force Fetch...He suggests a very gentle approach to force fetching a dog to retrieve (although I personally prefer honing the natural retrieving instincts of my dogs).
I have a couple books by Bill Tarrant. The problem I have with his books is all the gear and techniques he recommends (like the nerve hitch on a dog's toe to force fetch to retrieve). His books are easy reading, but I just don't care for some of his recommendations...
For the Pointing breeds one book I have that I have followed is "The Burnt Creek Method of Dog Training" by Jim Marti. This is actually a bird dog workbook where you go step by step and don't got to the next chapter until you check off things your dog can do. There's a place after each chapter for writing notes, etc.. The only catch with this book is that he doesn't talk about retrieving. He wants his dogs to point and doesn't really care if they retrieve or not, so if you want your pointing dog to retrieve, you'll have to incorporate that somehow into the training. You won't find it in this book.
A book I really enjoyed reading is "American Roughshooting" by Edward K. Roggenkamp, III. It covers everything from picking a pup, to how and where to hunt, to guns, etc.. There are interviews with trainers from Great Britain, discussions on conservation, states to hunt, safety, etc....It's not breed specific, but just a good overall read.
Of course these days anyone who is thinking about using and e-collar should probably find a good book on the subject. I can't recall the author (Dobbs maybe?), but I have a book around here somewhere on training with the e-collar. It's very good. I think it was put out by tri-tronics.
Last but certainly not least, I think everyone should have book on home vet care to refer to. I have "Dog Owners Home Veterinary Handbook". It's authored by four different Veterinarians. It doesn't take the place of bringing your dog to your vet, of course, but it covers the whole dog and is just a great overall resource to have to refer to.
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Very impressive list
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