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Old 01-29-2019, 09:36 AM
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LandlockedIslander LandlockedIslander is offline
 
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Default Hunting dog training books?

Hey guys looking for recommendations for good hunt dog training books. Looking for a pup in the next year or so and wanna do some more studying up. Thanks for any info!


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Old 01-29-2019, 09:45 AM
flyon flyon is offline
 
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Recently purchased Tom Dokken's Retriever Training: The Complete Guide to Developing Your Hunting Dog. I think it's a good book with lots of solid info - not much on obedience or puppy info. Very much based bird training and drill practice. All reviews highly recommended it.
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Old 01-29-2019, 10:14 AM
Maxwell87 Maxwell87 is offline
 
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Gun dog by John Randolph. Had many experienced people tell me it’s as if the dog has read the book! And written by a Canadian he has a few other ones such as bird dog and family dog? Gun dog is mosty about ducks and focuses on labs but is fairly general
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Old 01-29-2019, 10:20 AM
Rackmastr Rackmastr is offline
 
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Guess it depends on what type of dog you'll be getting or what programs you'll be following (or just general puppy raising, etc).

I've got an 8 month old lab and have been training with Bill Hillmann's methods. Not as much for a 'book' option but some great info out there.

Jackie Mertens "Sound Beginnings" DVD is a great purchase for any new pup owner.
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Old 01-29-2019, 10:24 AM
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LandlockedIslander LandlockedIslander is offline
 
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Thanks guys. I’m thinking I will get a pudelpointer most likely. My wife has allergies and from what I’ve read they will be pretty great for my mixed hunting methods. More upland and pheasant than ducks. But occasional ducks as well.


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  #6  
Old 01-29-2019, 10:34 AM
Dave P Dave P is offline
 
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If you are in Calgary, I have a copy of The Training and Care of the Versatile Hunting Dog by Sigbot Winterhelt you can borrow to read through.

Dave
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Old 01-29-2019, 10:55 AM
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For a versatile I would start with The Joan Bailey Book “How to Help Gun dogs Train themselves” . It’s not really a training book but a way to mold the dog in the first year so that training later on goes smother. A vdog/pointer works with the hunter differently than a lab.

There are a number of systems
Perfect start/Perfect finish
Smith Silent system
Gorge Hickoxs
Training with Moe (This one is cheap and a good read regardless of the system you chose)

Joining one if the NAVHDA chapters is highly recommended it really helped me the club members were great and the process of getting my dog through the test got me a solid hunting dog in the end


If you got space get pigeons , homing pigeons are really useful especially during nesting season when you should not be bugging the wild birds
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Old 01-29-2019, 11:03 AM
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LandlockedIslander LandlockedIslander is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave P View Post
If you are in Calgary, I have a copy of The Training and Care of the Versatile Hunting Dog by Sigbot Winterhelt you can borrow to read through.



Dave


Thanks Dave I’d love that. I’m an hour outside but go there frequently. I’ll pm you next time I’m heading in?


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Old 01-29-2019, 03:04 PM
35 whelen 35 whelen is offline
 
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Default try this book

Try this one it's old but I train my dogs with it 30 years ago
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  #10  
Old 01-29-2019, 06:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aulrich View Post
For a versatile I would start with The Joan Bailey Book “How to Help Gun dogs Train themselves” . It’s not really a training book but a way to mold the dog in the first year so that training later on goes smother. A vdog/pointer works with the hunter differently than a lab.

There are a number of systems
Perfect start/Perfect finish
Smith Silent system
Gorge Hickoxs
Training with Moe (This one is cheap and a good read regardless of the system you chose)

Joining one if the NAVHDA chapters is highly recommended it really helped me the club members were great and the process of getting my dog through the test got me a solid hunting dog in the end


If you got space get pigeons , homing pigeons are really useful especially during nesting season when you should not be bugging the wild birds
This ^^^ is really solid advice. It will serve you well.

I will leave you with some very true words... you can't make a bird dog without birds.

Find huns.

Also, if you are gonna spend all that cash for a pudelpointer, dig a little deeper and get one of these. You will be glad you did.

http://www.canadiangundogsupply.com/...te-System.html
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Old 01-29-2019, 06:06 PM
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pikergolf pikergolf is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aulrich View Post
For a versatile I would start with The Joan Bailey Book “How to Help Gun dogs Train themselves” . It’s not really a training book but a way to mold the dog in the first year so that training later on goes smother. A vdog/pointer works with the hunter differently than a lab.

There are a number of systems
Perfect start/Perfect finish
Smith Silent system
Gorge Hickoxs
Training with Moe (This one is cheap and a good read regardless of the system you chose)

Joining one if the NAVHDA chapters is highly recommended it really helped me the club members were great and the process of getting my dog through the test got me a solid hunting dog in the end


If you got space get pigeons , homing pigeons are really useful especially during nesting season when you should not be bugging the wild birds
I was really impressed with Joan's book!
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Old 01-29-2019, 08:03 PM
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LandlockedIslander LandlockedIslander is offline
 
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thanks for all the info guys. i may have room for pigeons. and i will definetly be joining a navhda chapter i suspect. at this point im still researching and trying to learn as much as i can before the dog is actually here. figure a year or so yet. so keep those titles coming. thanks for all so far.
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Old 01-29-2019, 08:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sns2 View Post
This ^^^ is really solid advice. It will serve you well.

I will leave you with some very true words... you can't make a bird dog without birds.

Find huns.

there are lots right close to my house do those count?



Also, if you are gonna spend all that cash for a pudelpointer, dig a little deeper and get one of these. You will be glad you did.

http://www.canadiangundogsupply.com/...te-System.html

ya...... are these really necessary? seems like a lot of extra cash. i wonder if a club would have them. i would assume you would only use use them when training? and how many years does it take to train a gun dog?
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Old 01-29-2019, 09:48 PM
FCLightning FCLightning is offline
 
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Originally Posted by LandlockedIslander View Post
ya...... are these really necessary? seems like a lot of extra cash. i wonder if a club would have them. i would assume you would only use use them when training? and how many years does it take to train a gun dog?
So you use it to train your dog and then sell it to the next guy who is looking to train his young dog.

Not much is "really necessary", but some things sure make life a lot easier (although I would prefer the pigeon size unit).
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Old 01-29-2019, 10:08 PM
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LandlockedIslander LandlockedIslander is offline
 
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That makes great sense. I’ll look for a used one. Was t trying to disagree with the thought just recognize that with the pup there will be a whole new world of things that are needed.


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  #16  
Old 01-29-2019, 10:11 PM
coyote_man coyote_man is offline
 
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One of the best dog training books Ive read is Dave Walkers Bird Dog Training Manual.Just got a pup and the breeder sent Martha Greenlees book Training Tips Your Bird Dog Will Love which I think will be very useful.Read everything you can and pick what suits your needs from as many sources as you can.
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Old 01-30-2019, 06:23 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FCLightning View Post
So you use it to train your dog and then sell it to the next guy who is looking to train his young dog.

Not much is "really necessary", but some things sure make life a lot easier (although I would prefer the pigeon size unit).
If you are by yourself, and you really want a broke dog, you will invest in one. It makes your life so much simpler when you are on your own. PM me and I will explain why next to a kennel, it is the first thing I am getting.
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  #18  
Old 01-30-2019, 06:38 AM
tallieho tallieho is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 35 whelen View Post
Try this one it's old but I train my dogs with it 30 years ago
2x trained 2 labs & i chesapeake all 3 became great hunting dogs..
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Old 01-30-2019, 07:05 AM
elkhunter11 elkhunter11 is offline
 
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If there are Hungarian Partridges in your area, they are likely the best training tool there is. They are wary, and flush long before planted birds will. Just leave them alone during the nesting season. As to launchers, they have a purpose, just be aware of the regulations concerning shooting birds as they are released.
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Old 01-30-2019, 07:55 AM
Diesel_wiesel Diesel_wiesel is offline
 
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Tom Doken's
also if you go on the internet & get yerself a subscriptions to Freddy King meat eater, ($60 per year )retriever training
as well if you get yerself the DVD's from Bill Hillmann
and if you can find one
a copy of Butch Goodwin's Retrievers from the inside out
if you read everything and watch every DVD you can until you get yer pup
but the two best are Bill Hillmann and Butch Goodwin
as well Bill hill man does a blog on youtube and sends it out to yer email every Cpl weeks
when you get yer pup join a retriever or bird dog club and take obedience lessons with yer pup
you don't have to compete with yer dog but if you train with a group that does, you will have lots of help lots of knowledge , and you will end up with a great dog
you will enjoy the journey a hunting pup will take you on
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If you consider an unsuccessful hunt to be a waste of time,
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Last edited by Diesel_wiesel; 01-30-2019 at 08:03 AM.
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Old 01-30-2019, 09:25 AM
nsmitchell nsmitchell is offline
 
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Originally Posted by 35 whelen View Post
Try this one it's old but I train my dogs with it 30 years ago
I used his book called Game dog for my Goldens. Excellent material for what I wanted to do with my dogs and starts with picking out the pup from the litter to blind retrieves etc. Dogs picked it all up and were a pleasure to have in the field.
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  #22  
Old 01-30-2019, 09:54 AM
cohod cohod is offline
 
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I gave away a copy of The Training and Care of the Versatile Hunting Dog on Canadian Upland Hunting (https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanadianUplandHunting/) a while ago and couple others offered up copies as well maybe they are still available.

cohod
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Old 01-30-2019, 11:08 AM
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Two big advantages of pigeons for training unless they are carded or shot they don’t land on the ground, and if you muck something up and get the dog blinking birds it does not necessarily transfer to wild birds. But yes wild birds are best for polish

But look at the various systems once you pick one , that will dictate what you need.

How long it sort of depends, I have seen some very nice 18 month old dogs but they were trained by very seasoned trainers. Count on 2 or three seasons to get the bugs out but that sort of depends on when the pup is born. I hunted mine at 7 months but that was not really hunting he was gun broke but it was more walking your dog in a field with a gun he only gave me a couple of real points that season. The second season he was more useful but way too twitchy to sit in a duck blind between being born to run and really liking waterfowl it was too much trouble in a decoy set up, with age he has grown into a great goose/duck dog.

Be warned a hunting dog takes time, for the first 2-3 years mine needed 2 walks a day not counting formal training, now it’s only daily and only off leash counts. My only regret is why didn’t get a dog earlier take your time , do it right and you will not regret it in the long run.
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Old 01-30-2019, 02:52 PM
tikkataker tikkataker is offline
 
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I picked up a book called "sporting dog and retriever training The Wildrose way"

Our pup comes this spring. Seems to have lots of good information and techniques for training. They also have lots of videos on youtube.
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Old 01-31-2019, 07:35 PM
Springerman Springerman is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 35 whelen View Post
Try this one it's old but I train my dogs with it 30 years ago

I second this book, I have had great success training 4 hunting dogs with this book. First two were Labs and lately two Springers.
Good luck in your training, hope you get as much pleasure from your dog as I have enjoyed.
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Old 02-05-2019, 08:34 AM
Diesel_wiesel Diesel_wiesel is offline
 
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I searched the public library as well when I was looking for good books, it was a waste of time, they had a cpl
but didn't have the real good informative type training books ,
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If you consider an unsuccessful hunt to be a waste of time,
then the true meaning of the chase Eludes you all together
you only get a second
shoot where their
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Old 02-05-2019, 09:06 AM
Snm Snm is offline
 
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Most stuff from the author Joan Bailey. I used most of her methods aside from professional training and i am pleasantly happy with our progression to year 2.
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Old 02-05-2019, 05:14 PM
rugerfan rugerfan is offline
 
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I have a copy of Gun Dog by Richard A. Wolters, and Expert advice on gun dog training by David Michael Duffey. If anyone is interested send me a pm, I got them mixed in with some other books years ago and I don't intend to ever train a bird dog.
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Old 02-22-2019, 09:11 AM
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LandlockedIslander LandlockedIslander is offline
 
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Originally Posted by rugerfan View Post
I have a copy of Gun Dog by Richard A. Wolters, and Expert advice on gun dog training by David Michael Duffey. If anyone is interested send me a pm, I got them mixed in with some other books years ago and I don't intend to ever train a bird dog.


Thanks for the kind offer. I have this on its way to me from library but if it’s awesome I’d love to own a copy. I’ll let ya know. Love the goodwill on this site. Nice when we aren’t at each other’s throats about this or that. I think it’s this kind of community that can affect positive change in the perception of hunters and hunting.

Thanks everyone.


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Old 02-22-2019, 09:42 AM
elkhunter11 elkhunter11 is offline
 
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Another couple of months, and our NAVHDA chapter will start outdoor training, come out for a day, and watch the various breeds work birds in the field.
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