Congratulation! Your new pup is home, giving you cute puppy looks, and quickly making itself part of your family with it's big round eyes, soft feet, and puppy breath. Your plan has been set in motion, and soon you'll have a companion to point coveys of quail, or retrieve banded waterfowl, or bounce and bay snowshoe hares across the frozen north woods. Perhaps you've set your sights higher, and plan to pursue a Master Hunter title, or see your pal as being the next dog to wow the crowd at Ames plantation. Whatever your motivation your now committed.
So? What next? This is the question that many new puppy owners face. If you've got means to send a pup to a pro trainer for most of the year, it matters little. If you're the type that relishes the challenge of training your own dog, you may feel a little bit of panic start to set in. Truthfully, what's next is a question that should be answered long before the pup arrives at your home. I believe that one should have a general training plan in place before getting a pup, and advocate reading at least two training books, and watching at least one training DVD set before getting your pup. I enjoy dog training, and find myself reading about different training methods frequently. I try to look at each method as a whole system, which they are, and try to understand how each step relates to the next. This ensures I understand the "whys" of the system, and better understand what the pup may feel, and how it advances.
Recently I did a quick survey, asking the members at Upland Journal, a web forum filled with a very serious membership, what training references they value, and use. Here are some suggested reading, based on the replies.
Spaniels
"Hup" by James B Spenser*
"Gun Dog Training Spaniels and Retrievers" by Kenneth C Roebuck*
"Working Springers and Cockers" by Mike Smith
"The Working Springer Spaniel" by Keith Erlandson
"Field Training Your Springer Spaniel" DVD by Ben Martin
"Making of a Gun Dog" DVD by Mark & Sophie Haglin
"Training the Upland Flushing Dog" DVD by George Hickox
"The Working Cocker" by Peter Jones
"Urban Gun Dogs" by Anthony Z Roettger & Benjamin H Scheider III
"Complete Springer Spaniel Training Series" by Buccleuch Gundogs featuring David Lisett*
"Training Spaniels" by Joe Irving*
Pointing Dogs
"Point" by James B Spencer*
"Great Beginnings" DVD by George Hickox
"Gun Dog" by Richard Wolters*
"How To Help Gundogs Train Themselves" by Joan Bailey
"How To Have The Best Trained Gundog" by Joan Bailey
"Perfect Start/Perfect Finish" DVD by Jon & Cindy Hann
"Training Pointing Dogs" by Paul Long
"Training With Mo- How Maurice Lindley Trains Pointing Dogs" by Martha Greenlee
"Practical Education of the Bird Dog" by J A Sanchez Antunano
"The Burnt Creek Method of Dog Training" by Jim Marti
"Modern Breaking- A Book About Bird Dogs" by W. A. Bruette
"Bond Of Passion" by Web Parton
"Bird Dogs and Field Trials" by Jack Harper
"Pointing Dogs- Their training and handling" by Earl C Crangle
"Gun Dog Training- Pointing Dogs" by Kenneth C Roebuck*
"Basic Gun Dog Training (and Then Some)" by Bob West*
Retrievers
"Hunting Dog Know How" by Dave Duffy
"The 10 Minute Retriever" by John & Amy Dahl
"Training The Hunting Retriever" by Jerome B Robinson
"Smartworks For Retrievers Vol 1 & 2" by Evan Graham
"Total Retriever Training" DVD by Mike Lardy
"Sport Dog and Retriever Training The Wildrose Way" by Mike Stewart
"Training Retrievers To Handle" by D.L. & Ann Walters
"Retriever Training Drills For marking" by James B Spenser
"British Training For American Retrievers" by Vic Barlow
"The Labrador Shooting Dog" by Mike Gould
"Retriever training-Back To Basics Approach" by Robert Milner
"Retriever Training For The Duck Hunter" by Robert Milner
"Hey Pup, Fetch It Up" by Bill Tarrant
"Tri-Tronics Retriever Training" by Jim & Phyllis Dobbs with Alice Woodyard
"Training with Mike Lardy- Volume 1" by Mike Lardy*
Note-*indicates items in my library
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