Working Person's Guide to Training Your Pointing Dog

There are not enough adjectives to describe the experience of a pointing dog catching the scent of a game bird; locking up solid; walking in to flush the bird; making the perfect shot; and your dog making the retrieve to hand. This is what you had in mind when you decided to invest in a bird dog. Unfortunately, they do not come with owner’s manuals. So, the choice is to have the dog professionally trained or to take on that adventure yourself. If you choose the professional trainer path, then you do not need this book. But if you want to have the satisfaction and pride of transforming a bouncing ball of fur to a full functioning pointing dog, you have come to the right place.

Professionals in any field have forgotten more than the beginner will ever know. But therein lays the problem, those details which the pros take for granted can lead to a lot of frustration and end without the success which is sought. Having traveled that long and winding training road numerous times, this book covers the little details; shows why they are important, typically because of having experienced failure; and does so from the perspective of someone who spent a portion of their career as a corporate trainer and is a full-time faculty member in the business school at a major research university. The training methods depicted are simple, clearly explained, and have available alternatives if the recommended method does not work for you or your dog.

The subjects covered include: Necessary Equipment; Yard Work; Bird Work; Bringing It All Together; Understanding Your Dog: Hunting Your Dog; and All The Other Stuff. Training is presented in chronological order, using learned lessons as the foundation for the next lessons, and use teaching techniques proven in industry and academia, which include step-by-step; LEAN concepts; images to reinforce the written; and in-action stories that illustrate both failure and success, often from a humorous perspective.