Training the Versatile Hunting Dog

Loved his philosophy. A bit repetitive at times, and I wish he went slightly more in depth into specific training techniques, but if he did the book would be extremely long. All in all an excellent book. His examples with his own dog were very helpful. Highly recommend this book.

Purchased this book along with a few others. I wanted to train my dog myself. She just turned one year old and is having a blast in the field. Just letting her use her instincts as suggested in the book. I’ve taken her for grouse in the woods and pheasant in the fields. She has pointed and flushed several of each birds. She is 1/2 German Wirehaired Pointer and 1/2 English Setter. Versatile? I’ll say! Loves the water too. I chose this book due to her mixed breed seeing how many books are specific to a breed or just to water or just to the field. This summer, I will use the author’s techniques to hone her skills. And mine! I’ve never trained nor owned a hunting dog. Call it a midlife crisis. Enough already. Buy the book!

The booked arrived in a speedy time and in the condition stated in the description.

This was the first training book I purchased before I received my wirehair pup. Not only was the book very simple to understand, but Chuck suggests a very intuitive method of training your versatile hunting dog. His "self-development" approach really seemed to match my objectives for what I wanted in a versatile dog. Chuck mainly speaks about his hunting experience on western birds, but I've found his methods work similarly on Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock in Michigan.As I write this review, my pup is nine months old. I have seen variations of each developmental stage that Chuck outlines in his book as you follow the development of his pup "Camas". She is now finishing up her first hunting season. I am excited to continue to use Chuck's book and philosophy on her training this spring and summer.Chuck has always been available to chat with me on the phone whenever I call him because I'm nervous that the pup isn't "developing properly", or just to give him a status update. He always provides me with fantastic advise on what to expect and how to proceed. I do not know Chuck outside of the few conversations we've had on the phone, but from our limited interaction I can tell that he genuinely cares about versatile hunting dogs, and that hunters and dogs alike have a positive experience at home and in the field.

This book has prepared me in immeasurable ways for having a well trained hunting companion. I would not hesitate to recommend it to any prospective trainer of one of the versatile hunting breeds. Chuck's years of first hand experience with his dogs in the field, is reflected by the practical manner of his training techniques. His methods allow the dog's own natural abilities to develop with our guidance, not our interference. After reading Training the Versatile Hunting Dog, I tracked down the author's phone number and gave him a call one evening seeking his advice. He was kind enough to answer all of my questions that I had concerning selecting a specific breed of dog. We spoke for about a half an hour on the subject of versatile dogs. His enthusiasm and knowledge of these dogs is impressive.

I've read other books on methods for training dogs, but I had never found one that I thought would fit me perfectly. Until this one!Too often the methods are about the trainer telling the dog exactly what to do, rather than tapping into the inherent skills of the dog and allowing them to learn on their own. With this method there are no rigid timelines, no encouragement to dominate the dog, and no concerns about breaking their spirit when they are puppies through heavy discipline.If your goal is to unlock your dog's potential and have it become the best hunting dog it can become, this book is worth the read and may change your thoughts on what it takes to turn your puppy into an artful hunter.

A good read for someone looking to train a versatile hunting dog, and some principles that apply to training any dog. Most of the lessons are presented as case studies with the author's own dogs, and theories and techniques are cemented almost as if you were a dog - through repetition! Some technical points in here, though I would say most of it is encouragement of the right attitude to help your dog be it's best.

I've read this book 4 times and am working on the 5th as I train my dog. I've read several books on dog training and am using this one exclusively to train my German Wirehaired Pointer. The methods seem to make complete sense and so far I'm having nothing but success with my pup.I found the book so helpful, I purchased a copy for a friend who's looking at getting his first bird dog. The chapter(s) on selecting a breeder were so well laid out, he was easily able to step back and drop some of the less than perfect people he had already been talking to about a pup.I will continue to recommend this book to others.

This book is informative if you know nothing about pointing dogs, but did not help me out with step by step training of a dog to be steady to shot.