The Ultimate Guide to Bird Dog Training: A Realistic Approach to Training Close-Working Gun Dogs for Tight Cover Conditions

This is a pointer book. In much of the US, gun dog means pointing dog, so it’s not his fault that the book is named too broadly for only covering pointing dogs.This is a good book, when read cover to cover first and taken as a whole. You can clearly tell that much of the content was written a long while back, then new content was added to update it. Some chapters cover a lot of development, then other chapters go back and clarify prior steps, so it feels a little jumbled in places. It references corporal punishment, which is outdated in many respects. The method of training a dog to heel didn’t work at all in my experience. It also suggests training a pointer to sit, which many, if not most, pointer dog owners disagree with.All of that said, it’s a good book because it still includes the logic for why you train a pointer in a particular way, and how to train those things. It’s specific to how a walking hunter would want to train a pointer, which is very different from field trial training or mounted hunting. This book is worth reading if and understanding.

This book is very informative. It just happens to not be exactly for the type of dogs that I work with.

Well written, easy to understand, entertaining, great book overall! I'm planning to run a big-ranging shorthair, but I picked this book up in a used book store, started reading, and had to have one. The concepts are applicable to any gun dog, not just close-working dogs. I like the book so much that I bought a copy for a friend with a new puppy.

Good information in the book, with a focus on getting your dog steady to shot and extending the training before the dog is introduced to wild birds, some of the training methods such as pinching a dog’s ear seem a bit dated, especially with the e collars we have in today’s world. Reads like some of the outdated falconry books I have picked up at the library.

It tells you everything EVERYTHING you need to know. From what kind of pup to buy to how to build your covey pen to where to buy your training birds. This book has it all

Felt like I returned to the 60's, would've been nice to have an alternative to an e-collar reflective of 2023 training....so everyone who has a young dog should also have pigeons/quail pens in order to train...in the 80's had a perfect irish setter that would hold a set forever and found pheasant everytime and somehow was able to learn all of this without any of this books training aids. Hoped for something simpler and efeective.

great book

was very good at explaining and understanding the method of dog training.

Uses sometimes racists language while promoting using a rolled up magazine to smack the dog while teaching no. Then to throw small stones at it when teaching heal. Nope don't get this book.

Great read

very informative with lots of tips . certainly worth adding to your librarie. good for the novice and also the old timers

Bought it as a Christmas present - apparently excellent book.

I've read a lot of good books in training pointing dogs and I felt this book helped tie everything together in an easy to understand kind of way.