How To Help Gun Dogs Train Themselves: Taking Advantage of Early Conditioned Learning Paperback – March 1, 2008

This book was one of two recommended to me by a member of the local NAVHDA chapter. Being a bird dog novice, I had contacted them for advice on how to condition my German Shorthaired Pointer for possible field work. It reads very well and makes a lot of sense, even if you are new to hunting breeds and the lingo of hunting sports. It emphasizes the importance of "conditioning" (as opposed to actual "training" which comes later) the puppy and young dog for its future job, and describes very clearly how to go about it. It also gives advice on what NOT to do to prevent having to retrain the dog later on.Regardless of whether or not you want to hunt with your dog, I recommend this to anyone who is getting a gundog puppy. It is a lot of fun to strengthen your pup's instincts in a gentle way, and fascinating to watch your dog grow mentally before your very eyes.

The book is easy to read and provides thoughts, insights, and practical exercises for a new puppy to reduce the amount of formal training needed as the puppy is older. The only negative to the book is how the content is arranged. I would prefer a step by step guide but the content flows together. However, there is a helpful teaching guide at the end which lists the skills you should be working on for each age. I highly recommend this book.

Highly recommend reading this before bringing home your New Gun Dog. I learned so much and learned what I did wrong the first time. It focuses on puppies to 12 months old. The appendix gives you a time table of the weekly training and skills that should be though. Easy to read, was done in 3-4 days.

This is an old school perspective on raising a gun dog. There’s a lot of newer information free online but this is a good supplement. You can’t beat a good trainer at the end of the day.

Buy this book as soon as you get the thought of buying a new hunting dog! She will guide you to making a good choice on your new dog which will make your life easier in the long run. This authors teachings of lots of positive's and direct but small negatives is a wonderful way to build any relationship, expecially one with your new hunting buddy. Buy this book, read it, and fallow what she says word for word and you will have a dog that will be dependable, loyal and obdient. Next book to buy, which Joan Bailey recommends, is Training Your Retriever by James Lamb Free. He will train you and your new hunting partner to be pros.

Because I have judged hunting dogs all around the US for the past 25 years, I have seem a lot of dogs with excellent potential, and sadly, a lot of owners/handlers who, if they had only read this book, would have great hunting dogs. It starts at "day one" with a puppy, and no serious hunter, (or dog owner), should have a dog without also having this wonderfully readable book under their belt. This, and the companion book, How To Have The Best Trained Gun Dog, also by Joan Bailey, make a wonderful gift and the payback in having a wonderful canine companion is ten fold.

This book is eye opening, gives the dog a lot of credit for figuring things out on his own, in my mind turns out the author is justified. Very satisfied, opened up my eyes on giving the pup a lot more leeway. After 8mo. I can say the system is sound, I used it on a rescue pup with some trust issues and at 1 1/2 yrs, 8 of those months with us, he had himself an awesome season. Started out a little slow, but as he went he learn, then he had one day where he just broke out and never looked back. Very satisfying to see where he came from, to where he is, I am convinced he would not have responded to heavy handed training.

This is an excellent book. We recently brought a springer puppy home bred from exceptional European stock. Since this is the first time we are raising a working breed from a puppy, I felt it was a good idea to do some research on early development. Unlike other "training methods" that depend on negative and sometimes harsh reprimands, this book focuses on establishing a positive and constructive dialogue between human and dog built upon mutual trust, love, and affection. Even if the human's objective is simply to raise a well mannered family member and companion, this book is a MUST READ.Both humans and dogs owe a debt a gratitude to Joan to committing her thoughts to writing and sharing them with the rest of us.