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

Author: Jerome B. Robinson
The Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut
ISBN: 1-59228-161-3
Copyright 2000

What kind of dog training book do you get from a 30 year veteran gun dog editor of both Sports Afield and Field & Stream? What you get is a whole collection of good magazine articles on dog training. You get this idea right away reading the titles of the different chapters, such as: Your Kid Can Be Your Best Assistant, Don’t Let Your Hunting Companion Ruin Your Dog, and A Trick That Makes Him Whoa with a High Tail.

The book is a series of forty-three 1500 word articles (chapters) that are ready for publication in a general sportsman’s magazine. Robinson covers a broad variety of topics in the book, from picking your puppy to getting the dog steady to shot, however, most of the chapters are somewhat superficial. They cover the ideal, but don’t get into the realities of training situations. This was especially true in the chapter on force fetching a dog.

The book was published in 2000, but many of the photos look like they were taken in the 1970’s. Some of the methods and training tools discussed are similarly not current. The e-collar chapter was inserted in the front of the book as an afterthought, and is seldom mentioned in the rest of the text.

That said, I did buy myself a copy of the book, because of the breadth of issues covered. There are lots of good training tidbits and things to consider in the book. And it is apparent that he has spoken to a lot of dog trainers over the years about different aspects of training a bird dog. It may be important to note that this book is primarily written for pointers, not flushers or retrievers. 

Title: How To Help Gun Dogs Train Themselves; Taking Advantage of Early Conditioned Learning

Author: Joan Bailey
ISBN: 0-9630127-3-8
Swan Valley Press, Hillsboro, OR

What does a woman know about training hunting dogs?
Answer: A lot! As one of the entry pages states, Joan has been a versatile hunting dog field judge for 29 years, editor of Gun Dog Supreme for 25 years, and the winner of 13 awards from the Dog Writers Association of America (who ever they are). So, she’s been around, she knows her stuff and is a good writer that’s enjoyable to read.

I particularly like Joan’s method of training. That is, start with proven bloodlines, then keep the dog with you as much as possible, take it everywhere, especially the first year, expose the dog to everything. Teach the dog through learned conditioning; “conditioning is learning in such a way that the dog thinks he invented whatever you want him to learn.”

This book is a great read for someone about to get a puppy or is in the first year raising a gun dog. Joan give simple, clear advice and lays out sound principles. For example she gives the following five basic rules:

1. The first and most important concept to remember is that a dog is a pack animal. This means that there is always a leader and the rest are followers. You have to be the pack leader.
2. Always be consistent.
3. Keep your commands simple (one word)
4. Use a command only one time.
5. Never give a command that you cannon enforce.

I have not seen any earlier editions of this book, but I assume that the old (1970’s vintage) photos were from the first printing, nevertheless, the material has been revised and is up to date and right on. This book is not a dog training book per se, but rather a way of thinking about raising and conditioning dogs over their first year to become wonderful companions and great gun dogs. I though it was a great read.