Training a Young Pointer: How the Experts Developed My Bird Dog and Me Review

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(More customer reviews)First, this is NOT a training book. There are many such books around which are far better for that purpose. It is, rather, the short story of a total novice who gets the totally wrong dog for himself, a big-running field trial-bred Pointer to hunt grouse in the Northeast. Fortunately, he gets steered to some good professional trainers and after at least three long stays with them for his dog, gets things mostly worked out.
It is an interesting book, but the training is not done by the author; moreover, he has no knowledge of what he's done wrong, either in training or initial selection of his dog, so can't make suggestions to others. It isn't at all impossible to train a bird dog yourself, but you have to do your homework and be more sensible than Healy. Well-written and worthwhile book, though, if you don't expect too much. 3 1/2 stars maybe, especially if you are WAY over your head and want to use a pro trainer. But NOT a training book.

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The story of a bird dog's early years, showing how an owner selects a pup and finds a trainer
Tips on housebreaking, socialization, basic commands, field training, whistle training and ranging methods, types of training collars, using a check cord, release and fetch commands
Interviews and insights with longtime pointing-dog owners, trainers, and other experts
Author Joseph Healy brought his first bird dog home at ten weeks old but had no idea how to start grooming her to be a hunting companion. Conflicting advice from fellow dog owners and books that delved in-depth into the aspects of training an older dog led him to seek his own path. Healy shares his personal story of raising his pointer, Reilly, through their third hunting season, recording the process of training his dog, first by himself and then with a professional trainer so that he could learn how best to train a hunting dog. Entertaining and informative reading for all who want to own and train a great bird dog.

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