Bird Dog: The Instinctive Training Method

Rating:
Summary: Nice addition to dog training library
Review: Ben Williams is an excellent author and story teller. He passes along his 40+ years of experience of training, hunting and generally living around bird dogs. His insight into bird dog behavior and their various personalities is invaluable.

However, this book is not a how-to guide for the common bird dog owner. Mr Williams has a large kennel, ample training area and hunts 100+ days a year. I need training advice and tips for a single dog owner hunting and trialing about 30 days a year.

Rating:
Summary: Not a "How to book"
Review: I read several critics reviews before making the purchase and was very excited about an instinctive method book. I read it from cover to cover over a weekend. I then went out Monday evening, full of warm and fuzzy feelings about dog training, to apply what I thought I learned and found myself staring at the dog not knowing where to start. I understand that the books overall theme was not just about yard work but I found the book more philosophical about the method and fell short where the rubber meets the road. I did use some of the material to tweak others teachers methods (Tarrant, Long or Smith). The book reads like a compilation of magazine articles that are loosely related and rambles a little to much for my taste(side bar information about his favorite dogs). It is a good winter fire side read and I highly recommend it as that, but not as an owners first hands on training reference.

Rating:
Summary: Not a "How to book"
Review: I read several critics reviews before making the purchase and was very excited about an instinctive method book. I read it from cover to cover over a weekend. I then went out Monday evening, full of warm and fuzzy feelings about dog training, to apply what I thought I learned and found myself staring at the dog not knowing where to start. I understand that the books overall theme was not just about yard work but I found the book more philosophical about the method and fell short where the rubber meets the road. I did use some of the material to tweak others teachers methods (Tarrant, Long or Smith). The book reads like a compilation of magazine articles that are loosely related and rambles a little to much for my taste(side bar information about his favorite dogs). It is a good winter fire side read and I highly recommend it as that, but not as an owners first hands on training reference.

Rating:
Summary: Excellant Bird Dog Training Book
Review: This book is a great read for anyone who enjoys training bird dogs and wingshooting. Mr. Williams knows bird dogs and how to train them. He never sweats the small things or mistakes dogs make. He is very patient and kind. Once I started to read this book, I couldn't put it down. Thanks for the wisdom.