Customer Reviews

The Labrador Shooting Dog: Training the Labrador Retriever as an All-Around Sporting Dog

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mike shows the most precise ways of proper obedience and retrieve training. His training techniques are certainly useful and make more sense than most trainers techniques. However, I believe that Mike starts his pups with obedience training way to late. I attempted Mike's "late" obedience training and found that my dog was already going through the "I'm the boss" stage.

Water Dog, by Richard Wolters shows how and why obedience should be started at 7 weeks old. A dog goes through many stages during growth just like a human (example: the terrible two's). Wolters shows exactly how to overcome these stages by starting the training early and immediately.

Mike, you can't take a dog hunting if you're not the boss. Dogs are naturally very competative. This comes from years of ancestery of living in packs. Try to show an untrained 6 month old dog who is boss. Your obedience training must be quite frustrating.

Even though Mike Gould's book is mostly for upland training and Richard Wolters book, Water Dog is for water training I would suggest that both be read if you plan on having a good hunting dog. Both present very good points and training techniqes. However, the best way to train your dog is by combining the two's techniqes together.

This book is sometimes a little disturbing to those dog enthusiasts who insist on having constant control over their dogs. You know the type...the guys who are constantly tootling on a whistle to get their dogs to quarter 25 yards away from them. Those are the same guys who strap a shock collar on their dogs before they even let them out of the kennel. Mike's training methods are difficult for those fellows to understand. For them, a perfect day is to flush and kill every bird that they see. After all, with their insistence on total control, they may only see three or four birds in a day.

Mike sees it in a totally different way. For him, the perfect day is to flush 40 or 50 birds, pass up shots on a dozen or more, and put two or three in the bag. He will often let his dogs range as far as 300 or 400 yards away, and yes, he gets plenty of shooting. He loves dogs and he loves nature. He would much rather form a team with his dog so that the two of them work in concert with one another, with rarely a word spoken or a whistle blown...and certainly not a knock-down, drag-out battle with the handler screaming at the dog and jolting the hell out of an unwilling dog with a shock collar. Not that Mike lets his dogs run wild. Far from it. His obedience techniques are without peer.

If it sounds like fun to you to spend a lot of time with your best friend--your dog--and do it in peace and quiet, then this is the book for you. Just be willing to open your mind and try Mike's revolutionary training techniques. It's a lot of fun.

I've been doing a lot of research on different breeds in an effort to determine one that would best suit my needs. To accomplish this I had amassed a large library of training books and videos among which was Mike Gould's book The Labrador Shooting Dog. I had thought I was purchasing another book on dog training when I acquired the book and it therefore sat on the shelf for reference for a period of time until I met a dog named Annie and her friend and hunting companion Rob. Annie worked hard for three days in some of the nastiest winter weather that December in North Dakota offered and in silence and in cooperation with Rob rewarded this tag along with some impressive dog work. It was Annie and Rob who enticed me to read this book and I owe them a debt of gratitude for doing so. This book is so much more than training and is a must read for anyone who values the true experience of man and dog working together in the enviroment that we have been blessed with and too often take for granted. If you are interested only in a quick route to a mechanical or robotic performance from your dog do not buy this book. If you love your companion or wish to develop a relationship that will reward you for a lifetime this book is a must read if not for yourself then certainly for your dog whichever breed it may be.

Mike's books are amazing. This book in particular is great. I dont enjoy reading as a past time and was given the book by Mike when we took our dog, Wyatt, to get trained by him. While Wyatt was with Mike I read the book to get an understanding of what Mike would be doing to train Wyatt. When I started reading the book I had the same old attitute...this is going to be boring because it's a training book. Boy was I way off. This book is amazing. Mike is wonderful storyteller that captivates you into wanting to read more and more and more. This book and all of Mikes books would be an asset to your collection. We have shared this book with many and all have been very impressed. Mike takes you into understanding your dog, the land, basically your life and makes you want to be a better person as he has learned to be from the dogs. In over 30 years in working with dogs Mike has not lost his passion. He is truely an inspiration. Keep up the great work Mike.

If your looking for a book on step by step training methods this is not the book you want. The author spends alot of time on his opinion and philophy of what a dog is capable of and how to get the maximum from your dog. I find this very refreshing in a dog training book, it does make you think about what you and the dog are doing when you are when you are working your dog.

This book is brilliant. It takes you all the way from your new puppy to an happy active shooting dog. The training program explained in this book I've seen in person. IT WORKS. Mike is the most brilliant person I've ever met around dogs and with people he's genuine and sincere. I encourage everyone to read this book and take in as much of this progam as possible.

This is a very good book for training your Lab for any hunting situation. One thing you might want to remember is that not every situation might apply to your needs. Another good book is Tritronics Retriever Training even though it is no longer in print. I used Water Dog on my first Lab 15 years ago and found some good tips but also developed problems with Richard Wohlers techniques. The fact that Mike Gould wants to let your pup have a free reign is to instill the necessary drive. Basic obedience should still start when you bring your puppy home at 8 weeks. I've talked with several top East Coast Hunt Test Trainers and none of them will take a pup for retriever training till 6 months old. I wish this book had been around when I got my first Lab, so I could have spent more time enjoying hunting with him and less time yelling at the top of my lungs.....

I felt that Mike Gould's book was a positive move away from the majority of the other training books I have read on the subject. The author makes a point to establish confidence in your dog while at the same time building the dog's confidence in you. After reading this book, I realized that I was asking the dog for too much control and I was teaching the dog to act against its god given insticts. I wish I had read this book earlier in my dog's training, but I still found it very useful for an already started dog. I use my dog as both a waterfowler retriever and as an upland flushing dog and I felt Mr. Gould did an excellent job in training for the all-around hunting dog.

I think Mike Gould hits the mark training dog's with out shock collars or harsh discipline. His approach is easy to follow and very informative. His concept of building layers is true to life as well as training gun dog's. The only thing I see wrong with this book is that Mike tells a few to many stories and side tracks during a few training issues. All around this is a pretty solid book that I would recommend to any one who wants to train a hunting dog!

Mike Gould has the way to train. I will never train another dog any other way. He opened my eyes to a new world. I trained a dog this way after I read his book and have NEVER built such a strong, trusting, and loving relationship with a dog in my life. Within a few weeks, I think my dog was more excited about training than I was. Anybody that knows about dogs, knows and trusts what Bill Tarrant says, and when that man says Mike is the best.... He is. Bill, I couldn't agree with you more. Mike, my hats off.