Good Hunting & Hunting dog training recommendations

[Stressfire]

Hi all,

As I've mentioned a few times in other threads, I am a librarian

I am currently in the process of updating our AV collection and am seeking some recommendations on good DVDs or DVD series on the following topics:

Hunting - Bow, Gun - Game would be NE Ohio - deer, various rodents, raccoon, etc.

Youth Hunting (teaching them, as i understand it is illegal to hunt youth)

Hunting dog training

Any suggestions are appreciated, looking for newer production or older that have stood up to the test of time and technology.

Thanks all

[Jack O'Conner]

These books were very helpful to me when I trained our springer spaniel.

Jack

[PawPaw]

When you say Hunting Dog, you've really got to narrow the field. There are lots of hunting dogs, retrievers, pointers, the chase hounds, springers, all used for different purposes. It's sometimes possible to train a dog across lines, for example, I once knew a wonderful Labrador retriever who would also flush pheasant, but I've never known a beagle that would retrieve a duck.

[Scorch]

Youth Hunting (teaching them, as i understand it is illegal to hunt youth)

Darn! And I already had the grill warmed up! Oh, well!

As PawPaw pointed out, you need to have an end result in mind before you start out training a dog, as very few dogs can be taught to "do it all". Richard Wolters wrote a series of books (Water Dog, Gun Dog, Family Dog, etc, now available on DVD) on dog training, and although the style is a bit dated, they are very good books, and are generally available from pet supplies stores and libraries. They will take your dog from shoe-chewer to very well-trained gun dog in a short period of minimal effort. I have used the books to train several dogs with excellent results.

[Stressfire]

Well, Scorch, it doesn't look too dated - might be a good fit for the collection, and is available through my library's distributor. So that series might be a good start for dog-training.

The books look pretty good for us as well, may have to see if those are available in a newer printing.

Thanks for the suggestions thus far!

How about sport shooting or hunting for those with youngsters? Any dvd type instructionals out there you would recommend?

[Hansam]

The late Mr. Wolters' information is actually quite up to date for the average home trainer. Most of what he has written is for the average hunter and is geared toward what someone would need to do if they wanted to raise and train their own hunting dog. While the results are not exactly what a professional trainer would accomplish (the methods are somewhat watered down and Mr. Wolters even said in his books this isn't meant to replace professional training for a test and trial dog) the results are good enough for most hunters' needs.

Many "modern" trainers who are being fed the "positive only" kool-aid say that his methods are outdated and barbaric however the methods he outlines are simply softened versions of the methods that successful professional hunt trainers have used and still use today to create champion hunters.

I do warn you though that if you delve into the training methods that professional trainers use you'll have to be able to clear your mind of the "positive only" and "soft" training that is being force fed to the general public. These methods are not used by successful trainers (they don't provide good results consistently and on a good time line).

Now with all that said I would like to echo what PawPaw said regarding hunting dogs. There are many types of hunting dogs and you will find that professional trainers will specialize in the type of hunting dog they train. I personally work with flushing retrievers - I train duck dogs and upland flushing retrievers (pheasants and other upland game birds). Other trainers train for ONLY duck dogs or ONLY flushing upland retrievers. Others yet will only train for pointers (some pointers retrieve, some don't and there are trainers who train one way or the other). Then there are various specialties in the earth dog field of hunting dogs. These are the coon dogs, rabbit dogs and other dogs that are trained to hunt small game. They are trained (by specialization) to find, flush, bay and tree, kill, retrieve, go to ground (follow the game into a burrow) and any combination of the above. Generally trainers do not cross specializations.

So when you ask about hunting dogs you have to be clear about what sort of hunting dog you are referring to.

[blriber]

For pointers: http://www.gundogco.com/collections/...ction-vols-1-4

For Upland hunting: http://www.gundogco.com/collections/training-supplies/products/upland-hunter-dvd-collection-vols-1-3

For Retrievers: http://www.gundogco.com/collections/...-training-book