Customer Reviews

Training Your Retriever

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Although geared toward training your dog to be a hunting retreiver, this book is a must use when training your retreiver, and I would venture to say, any dog. When used properly, this book can help you teach your dog skills which will make you and your dog much better companions. My dog once began to run out into the street in front of an oncoming car. Because he was trained to stop on command, he stopped running when I called, and he narrowly escaped death. This book will show you how to teach your dog these basic obedience skills, as well as skills you might not think very useful, but will come in handy later on. For example, it is essential to hunters that their retriever remain still and quiet when in a duck blind. I'll probably never be in a duck-blind, but this skill is useful when you need you dog to go lie down. I highly reccomend this book

I first used this book to train a retriever. At the time I had no prior experience training a dog. I applied Mr Free's rules and in two weeks the dog knew the bacic commands--sit, stay, come, heel, and quiet. Since that time, I have used Mr. Free's rules to train a Springer Spaniel and a Beagle. The latter had been to school and the owner could not walk the dog because of it pulling. I took the dog for a 15 minute walk applying Mr. Free's rules and returned the dog to the owner holding the leash with just two fingers!

Mr. Free's book is for those who want a HUNTING dog. If you're looking for a book to train Fido to do cute tricks for your friends like retrieve the paper go elsewhere. He trained dogs for field trials and intended them to be 1-owner dogs. I plan to train my next dog to be a more serious hunter than prior dogs I've owned. Even if you want a family dog that you can take in the field without being embarassed in front of your hunting buddies you can get several great methods from this book. Mr. Free stresses the importance of getting a good pup from exceptional pedigree to save yourself a lot of heartache down the road. I plan on using about 90% of what he recommends in this book. I own about six different retriever training books and this is by far the best. BTW if you plan on training anything other than a labrador retriever you may be put off by his obvious prejudice for this breed.

I first read this book when I was a teenager in the late 1960s. Now I am giving it to my father in-law as a Father's Day gift.

One of the other reviewers said that this was an outdated book about training a field trials dog. I don't know how dogs have been updated in recent years, but I do know that field trials are the graduate schools of dog training. It is true that this isn't the book for you if you have a wild or stupid dog. Mr. Free believed that some dogs just were not worth trying to train. You give the bad dog to someone who would love it and care for it (did this happen to you?); then you get a dog with potential.

That said, this is the finest animal training book I have ever read. Don't get lost in the field trials stuff; try to concentrate on Mr. Free's principles. I think you could train anything based on Mr. Free principles. Oh, and most importantly - it's a good read.

If you're even just thinking about owning a retreiver, you need to read this book--and more importantly follow the author's advice. My father and I have trained several labrador retrievers over 30 years in accordance with Mr. Free's philosophy; it works.

The book reads well; is not overly complicated in scope--and provides practical strategies and "fixes" for most dog problems. Although oriented primarily to training big water dogs, it's also an excellent reference for training dogs of any breed.

You'll probably want to keep this book on your nightstand through your dog's formative years-- and refer to it often.

Originally published in the early 1950's, this book was republished several times as evidence of its valuable content. James Free definitely has strong opinions...he may offend some of the more "90's thinkers"; however, his basis is sound. I would recommended anyone contemplating purchasing a retriever to read this book PRIOR to making their decision. I personally have purchased three copies of this book. The first copy was an early edition passed down through the generations and was lost in a move. The second copy was purchased for lab I had who liked the it so much, she ate it in her attempts to digest all the information she could. The third copy is on its way. Typical quotes include references like: "the only thing worse than a bargin dog is a gift dog." Free acknowledges that all puppies are cute, but recommends dogs properly bred for their hunting and sporting ability -- not cuteness. He's is not a strong supporter of dogs bred strictly for show but has an insurmountable respect for the working dog.

Throw away all those other training books! This is the only one you need to train your retriever. I checked it out from the Library, and have purchased two copies since reading it. A must have for the hunter. The authors no B.S. style is CLASSIC!

This book will take you from knowing nothing about training a retriever, to being a proud owner of a finished dog. You wont need to buy any other book or tape.

Training Your Retriever is a fantastic book, if it's measured in terms of tried-and-true methods of training a working retriever. If you do what this book tells you to do, you will end up with a hard-charging, field-ready dog whose manners are impeccable.

That said, this book was written a long time ago and times have changed, so I want to make clear, without being insulting or judgmental, that this book is not suitable for everyone. If you think of your pets as your children, talk to them in baby talk, or chat with them continuously as though they are holding up their end of the conversation, you probably will not like this book.

There is no doubt that Mr. Free loves his dogs, but never for a moment does he lose sight of the fact that they are animals, not people, and they are bred and trained for a purpose. It is true that his methods of discipline might sound harsh today, but the book really isn't about beating a dog into submission. He does discuss corporal punishment, but the book and the training methods don't revolve around it. It is one tool for correcting improper behavior, and he discusses how it can be done without doing harm to a valuable animal.

There is a great deal more to this book than punishment. But if you think those passages might be more than you can bear, I suggest something by Bill Tarrant. Mr. Tarrant is much more modern in his approach and attitude and offers up insight and reasoning that is very creative and effective. Personally, I like reading both. If Free is coffee that's strong, hot, and black, Tarrant adds the cream and sugar.

My dad used this book when he started with Labs many many years ago. I followed the book to the letter while training my first curly-coated retriever. She's well-behaved and a good hunter!! Book is detailed with wonderful old photos. Highly, highly recommended to train any dog!!!!