Training the Hunting Retriever: The New Program [Hardcover]

Bill Tarrant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1991

America's foremost gun dog authority and pioneer of the hunting retriever movement offers an expert text for hunters who wish to develop a naturally performing retriever able to collect both birds and trophies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Howell Book House; 1 edition (November 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876055757
• ISBN-13: 978-0876055755
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #952,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent training method with reduced use of force., March 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Training the Hunting Retriever: The New Program (Hardcover)

Most methods of dog training rely heavly on the use of
force. This method is an excellent alternative.
The techniques are simple and effective, but will require a lot of hands on work for the handler.

This is not a twenty minute program that will have you walking with a perfectly trained pooch. Rather a life time of commitment by you and your buddy.

Mike Boehm

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Methods, but not Necessarily Humane, July 7, 2002

By 

Robert Oswald (Carroll Valley, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Training the Hunting Retriever: The New Program (Hardcover)

My heart was filled with joy when I began reading Bill Tarrant because I had found an author who does not believe in using physical abuse to train a dog. However, as I read further, I discovered that some of his methods lean toward emotional abuse, which is just as bad. How can a man consider starving his dog to gain obedience a sound, humane method of training(Chapter 4, Pg. 74)? And then to turn around and call the electronic collar inhumane?

I like Bill Tarrant's style for the most part, and I like his writing, but I think some of his methods border on torture. He may shy away from the physical abuse, but he is not shy about being cruel.

Why, oh why can't someone write about a training method that lies somewhere in between? I have a GSP who I have trained myself, and I have combined the methods of Bill Tarrant with those of others to get my desired results. I do not beat my dog, nor do I stake her in the yard putting her on a water-only diet, and she seems to be responding just fine. This is a good training book with solid ideas, but it is a stretch to call it humane.

7 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars vey helpful book, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Training the Hunting Retriever: The New Program (Hardcover)

this is the best book on training a retreiver i have ever read. i agree wholeheartedly with the author's views on the use of force in dog training, and most other methods dictate that some force be used. mr. tarrant has helped america one step at a time to become better trainers and better friends to the dogs that share lifes. very well done.