Suggestions for dog training books/videos

[Kevinwwings2]

I am curious to see what everyone uses for dog training literature. I have a well trained Lab, just not a duck hunting trained lab. I know there is a puppy in my future and would like to start researching the training process. I will probably buy a dog that is started, from a reputable breeder, and then do the rest myself.
I want to start reading about it now, and then would go back through the book as I am working through the training. Not really big on DVD's but that seems to be a common method from what I have seen so far.

Thanks for any input..

Kevin

[Suspect XX]

Smartworks series is the best, or if your on a tighter budget get the fowldogs series. The smartworks has both books and dvds. Stay away from watardog and other such book only programs. The books only approach is usually not as comprehensive.

[Randy Clark]

I used jim waters water dog gun dog series, some will say its dated but if it works thats what matters to me

[Satchel's Dad]

Hey Kevin,

Send me a pm with your address, and I'll mail you my copy of Water Dog by Richard Wolters.

Or, if you prefer to come get it, I live up here in Vero Beach.

Either way, give me a holler.

Satchel's Dad
John Paige III
772-633-8883

[mudduck]

I am not a professional by any means of the word, I am on My first dog, and he is 2, and does well. Very obedient, and handles well, by far not the fastest horse in the barn but gets the job done. I used the smart works, I also used the 10 min retriever by Amy and John Dahl, Retriever training drills for marking and Retriever training drills for Blind Retrieves by James Spencer, Water Dog by Richard Wolters, and Training your retriever By James Lamb Free. I think that it helped me to learn a bunch of different concepts. Also having friends that are training is priceless, as you can bounce ideas off of each other. One thing for sure is consistency in training is key. You are going to make mistakes and when you realize it it will be a pain to correct. For me I think I handle my dog to much, and from what I have read that is common among new trainers. It causes the dog to pop, and now we are going thru the painful correction phase.

[D Duck]

Smartworks series is the best, or if your on a tighter budget get the fowldogs series. The smartworks has both books and dvds. Stay away from watardog and other such book only programs. The books only approach is usually not as comprehensive.

I agree. Read all the books, but get the Smartworks DVD series. If you are a novice, it will give you excellent detail on "how to's" and "what to do when's". You can get the entire series (recommended) here:

http://www.rushcreekpress.com/homepage.html

[Baydog]

Kevin, go to a few hunt tests, make some friends, maybe even join the treasure coast retriever club. I had my chessie pro trained. Learning how to do what the trainer does with him was a big challenge. Members of the club and other competitors get together to train , working with them as a group and sharing ideas and suggestions was invaluable to me and my dog. Rich

[D Duck]

Another good suggestion - join a retreiver training group (HRC or UKC).

[Kevinwwings2]

Thank you so much for the info. I am going to start with reading a few differant books. I am not in the position to buy the pup yet, so lots of time to read and figure things out. I figure planning early is my best option.

My biggist difficulty is going to be I am out of town 4-6 days at a time, but when I am home 3-5 days at a time I will have a fair amount of time to work with her.
Thanks for the info guys. Will be looking into local retriever clubs.

Kevin

[leedarby]

Kevin, we got a dog yesterday- 3 yr old black lab- shelter dog but she checked out ok. Couldn't afford a dog from the place that I wanted- www.uklabs.com but they have good training videos etc. I've been to Wildrose and it's first class. I know this dog will be a project but my son seems determined to make it work. You'll see me on this side of the forum a lot more! See you tomorrow am.

[Kevinwwings2]

I just bought an old copy of Waterdogs off Ebay for a whole $10.00. Yes it is old but I bet it still makes a good guidelines and if nothing else a good read. Even though our lives have changed in 30+ yrs I don't think a dogs life has changed much, about the only thing it won't include I think would be important is the use of Electronic collars.
Steven, Congrats... What kind of dog did you get? I just hope it isn't gun shy, that is probably the hardest thing to get them around if they are. If a Lab the instincts tend to cover much of the rest. We aught to get our dogs together and see if we can work them together. Jazz has a pretty good grasp on it, and maybe she can pass some traits over. I am half tempted to bring her tomorrow, but think I am going to pass because we are trying to walk on. Plus I am not sure my Ruff Stand will be here in time. I am really hoping it gets deliverred today. See you in the morning.

[filter]

Chris Akins Duck Dog Basics and Tom Dokken's Retriever Training

smartwork is also good.

[Kevinwwings2]

Chris Akins Duck Dog Basics and Tom Dokken's Retriever Training

smartwork is also good.

I am half way through reading Tom Dokken's Retriever training and have to say I like it cause he doesn't BS around it is short and to the point. I have the old Waterdog on it's way. I realize it is old but lets face it a dogs life has not changed other than Electronic collars. I plan to read 2-3 books then probably create my own time-line and combine the methods to what works best for the dog I am working with. I have a feeling it may end up being a year or 2 before I have the opportunity to get a pup and train it. I am hoping to apply some of it to my current 6.5 yr old and see if I can correct a few not so great habits, but nothing huge. Overall she is a great dog, just needs a few small corrections.
Thanks guys for the input, greately appreciate it.

[filter]

every dog is diffrent no one book is right, one of the best things i did to my last pup was force fetch and using an E-collar, it was the first times i did it and i will FF and use and E-collar with proper collar conditioning on every pup from now on. my pup turned 3 on the 16th and he does not wear his E-collar very much any more. My best friend is Bob Vetter, Bob work at FireWater with Justin Tacket as a guide/dog trainer and he has also work for Stacy West and SRS, i learned more from him than any book.

one other tip is shoot some birds over your dog, get some quail and some land and turn him loose. make it easy and fun.

my pup is just as good flushing upland as he is duck hunitng i was shooting released chuckars over him at 9 months old.
Lenny

[mudduck]

I am half way through reading Tom Dokken's Retriever training and have to say I like it cause he doesn't BS around it is short and to the point. I have the old Waterdog on it's way. I realize it is old but lets face it a dogs life has not changed other than Electronic collars. I plan to read 2-3 books then probably create my own time-line and combine the methods to what works best for the dog I am working with. I have a feeling it may end up being a year or 2 before I have the opportunity to get a pup and train it. I am hoping to apply some of it to my current 6.5 yr old and see if I can correct a few not so great habits, but nothing huge. Overall she is a great dog, just needs a few small corrections.
Thanks guys for the input, greately appreciate it. I bought a copy of waterdog in 1993, and carried it around for 16 years before I was able to put it to use. You should have heard my wife every time we moved or did spring cleaning, ask me why I still had the book. well 18 years later I finaly showed her I have a dog that is on his second season.

[Bluebonnet Gundogs]

You need to ask yourself do I want a hunting dog or hunt test dog. I like smartworks and Evan Graham is willing to answer your question on RTF forum or Mike Lardy series as well. Buy as many as you can and take away different aspects of them.

[Kevinwwings2]

No doubt I want a hunting dog. While hunting nature throws enough tests at a dog, there is no reason for people to get involved and judge my dog on their scale. If it minds, is a great house dog, is fun to hunt with and safely finds and retrieves birds that is all that would matter to me. A judge could decide it is the worst dog in the world if it can come close on the above requirements the dog is a complete sucess in my book. It has to love what it is doing and I will be happy just enjoying watching it do what it loves to do.

[Suspect XX]

It doesn't matter if you train for hunt test or hunting. A more thorough program will make a better dog. The problem with water dog, 10-minute retriever, and other books is just that, they are books. I promise you that when you get to things such as force fetch it becomes much easier to understand what you are doing when you can see it applied practically. I do run hunt tests, but only a couple a year. I will tell you that hunt tests isn't so much about someone judging your dog. To me it is fun, but more importantly it is the drive for me to train year round. I promise you that no matter how well your attentions are when July/August hits in Florida the training goes out the window.

And yes I speak from experience!!!

[filter]

my dogs are Meat dogs and house dogs but can get it done in the field. i dont run hunt tests and dont want to, i am not going to train my dog to run 100 plus yard blinds, not in Fla. i want my dog close to me and under control and pick up my birds. my pup can handle and run short blind, but my main goal was for working him close, picking up multibles and handle in close and have fun.


Lenny

here is one of our videos from one of our training days in NC last year, the red lab is my buddy Bob Vetter and the black lab is mine and 18 months old.
http://youtu.be/AHFERWR0OfM

[Bluebonnet Gundogs]

Akc/Ukc test are about pass or fail. No what place you dog ranks. I do hunt test for the fact it puts birds in my dogs mouth and the friendships that I have developed over the years through training groups. If you are just wanting a hunting dog go with Chris Akins duck dog basics 1 and 2 if 2 available. Chris is a master at hunting dogs and a great guy to know as well. Good luck with your dog.

[Kevinwwings2]

Lenny
That video is pretty cool. I thought my lab was fast but I think yours has mine beat. How old is your Lab (looks great)?

[filter]

Thanks Kevin, mine just turned 3 and is 60lbs

[WetDawg]

Richard Wolters wrote several excellent books (Water Dog, Gun Dog, Game Dog, etc)) many years ago before he passed (in a glider accident) and much of the information is still relevant. However, in the video series to his books you will note that Professional Trainer in them is Charlie Jurney. He trained my Chesapeake a few years back and is hands down the best in the business, not to mention a heck of a nice guy. Charlie's latest book is more updated and refined.

"FINISHED DOG: A Complete Training Manual for the Finished Hunting Retriever" by Charles Jurney (http://www.finisheddog.com/training_equipment/default.asp)http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/gundog_2190_38398571

It is also available as an eBook from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/FINISHED-DOG-Complete-Retriever-ebook/dp/B0054G73VY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325697396&sr=1-1)

[EazyGauge]

fowldawgs is the best one Ive found so far. Fair price, very easy to follow along and trainer tells you problems that may arise and how to fix them.

[Kravhammer]

I used Joan Bailey's two books. No electronics needed and about 15 minutes twice a day..

http://swanvalleypress.com/pages/best_trained_gundogs/best_trained.html

[filter]

Fowldawgs is a good book Eric, Hammer an E-collars are a tool just like a heeling sticks, ear pinch, toe pull, what ever. my pup is a 1 on his collar all the time, but when we FF'ed him we had to call sportdog to reporgram the collar to make it hotter, he just did not want to go to the ground to pick up a bumper. i have seen dog trained with no collar and allot that have, it a tool and they work. you just have to proper collar condtion the dog and they are great. they also work great when you start handle Back-Fecth-Nick or Over- Fetch-Nick. i love a Force Fetched dog.

Lenny

[Kevinwwings2]

What a wealth of knowledge and experience here.
I have ordered a Sportdogs 1825 Collar. I have read 2 books and have decided a puppy is not in my near future. Going to work with my 6yr old Black Lab and just try to break some of her bad habits and let her true self shine through. She has been hunting a few times and considering her training she does very well. Really the only thing I need to break on her is her breaking early. The Collar is more to break some other habits she has gotten away with and off leash there is no way to re-enforce, and to be sure we can bring her back in the marsh. I always head for the duck with her, just love watching her work, not to mention she loves it. I wasn't sure how much she really liked it, but after bringing home a few ducks from trips she satayed home, she gets mad at me for not bringing her.
My main reason to not get a puppy right now is I don't have enough time to dedicate to it and my girlfriend who is too busy at the moment to be much help. Things should be settling down within the next year or so. It will come, just not quite yet.
Thank you everyone for the info, and none of it is being over looked, in fact I am printing this out and going to keep it around for future reference.

[filter]

Kevin get a hand held launcher if you dont have one, that way you can make it as close to hunting as you can, the loud report and the bumper fly high and far.

[Kevinwwings2]

Lenny I already have one. That was one of the first things I bought. I took her to Michigan last year and Pheasant hunted over her, and she got a little gun jumpy.. Can't realy call it gun shy. With the Launcher all she does is get more excited when she hears the bang now. As for Pheasant hunting she did great on the Hen's, the Roosters were out running her as she was afraid to get more than about 30 maybe 40 yds away from me. Can't say I blame her when she is a whole new area, new guys with her, and nothing like she is used to.
She was born on a farm where she was abused and treated pretty poorly, fortunately Annette came along and brought her home at about 5.5 months old. She now has THE LIFE. OF course I think she is half the dog she is, because she knows how bad life can be and how good she has it now. I bet she is in laying on the couch right now, if not she is for sure in HER chair.

[fishnbilly]

Lenny I already have one. That was one of the first things I bought. I took her to Michigan last year and Pheasant hunted over her, and she got a little gun jumpy.. Can't realy call it gun shy. With the Launcher all she does is get more excited when she hears the bang now. As for Pheasant hunting she did great on the Hen's, the Roosters were out running her as she was afraid to get more than about 30 maybe 40 yds away from me. Can't say I blame her when she is a whole new area, new guys with her, and nothing like she is used to.
She was born on a farm where she was abused and treated pretty poorly, fortunately Annette came along and brought her home at about 5.5 months old. She now has THE LIFE. OF course I think she is half the dog she is, because she knows how bad life can be and how good she has it now. I bet she is in laying on the couch right now, if not she is for sure in HER chair.

Kevin,

Ruger is 6 yrs old and we have been hunting for approx 3 yrs. I waited late to train him and he was almost 3 yrs old when hunting was introduced to him. Approx. 18 months ago I made the BIG mistake of taking him when we did some close quarter tactics with 14" barrel AR-15 and I never realized that he would become afraid of the noise and the sight of a gun from that day. I spoke to a trainer and he instructed me to go around the house and bang stuff around him and reassure him right afterwards. Started with mild things and then worked up to pots and pans and he over came that noise. We then worked with leaving a pellet gun next to his crate to sleep next to it and then graduated to carrying the pellet gun on our walks.

Finally trips to walk the line at the skeet & trap range where he was re-assured all during the shooting and he got less and less gun shy. I even got permission to have him within 5 feet of a shooter and when he shot I would launch the dummy for him to retrieve. Fast forward to this season he is back in the blind and not a bit gun shy and is the " old buddy" I had.

Patience and don't over do it. Once he gets bored we quit and do something he likes and then go back to where we left off.

Good Luck and the BEST