Retriever Training: A Back-To-Basics Approach

by Robert Milner

Book Overview

If it seems like today's retrievers are becoming increasingly hyperactive and hard to train, well, they are, says Robert Milner in this new book on retriever training. And the fault is not only in the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572233915
• ISBN13: 9781572233911
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Ducks Unlimited
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Perfection!

It is very difficult for some to "think outside the box" with regards to training their dogs. Sometimes one needs to explore the results of the most popular training methods and realize the room for significant improvement. We trained our first dog using these familiar methods. She would retreive anything, anytime, anywhere. She would bring anything she could find to anyone who would throw it to her. She was as far from a "steady" dog as you could find. Now, using Mr. Milners techniques (which are very different than the "popluar techniques") we have an incredibly obedient and steady young lab. The difference is amazing. Both dogs came from similar lines (field trial)and they couldn't be more different. It works, and works well. Very easy to read and implement. You must buy this book! You will not regret it. Six stars from us!!

I Recommend This Training Guide

I bought this book soon after bringing home my lab six months ago. I don't hunt. But I figure that if hunting is what this dog was bred to do, I would spend some time giving him something of the experience. We do walk the forest preserves and farmer's fields frequently.The methods are based on understanding trainer and pup's behaviors, simple obedience commands, creating a steady dog, and training in habits that you want your dog to have. The lessons are set out as self-paced exercises. They are described concisely and clearly. I have found them to be easy and fun. My pup seems to like them, too.This book is very enjoyable to read. I have read the chapters over and over again, getting some new insight nearly every time. We still have a ways to go before we have mastered all of the skills, but we have the confidence to keep trying because Milner's book has produced successes along the way we've passed.

BEST BOOK ON DOGS YET!!!!

Milner gets you inside the head of retrievers and lets you look at things from their point of view. Having raised many other hunting dogs(beagles and walker coonhounds), my approach was much different with my new pup(Logan;) than with the previous dogs. My dog at three months is much better behaved and trained than any dog I have personally owned or seen. READ THIS BOOK LIKE IT WAS THE BIBLE!!! Everything works EXACTLY as he writes it!! The knowledge you receive makes pups a pleasure instead of a pain(cleanups, chewing, and wandering off on a destruction spree). This book starts with the basics and continues on to very advanced training. All of which, in an EASY to follow and understand way, relies on a building block method. YOUR DOG DESERVES TO BE TRAINED IN THIS EXCELLENT, NON-VIOLENT WAY!!! It will be the best money you've spent(except for your dog, of course)!!

Throw Out The Rest--This One's the Best!

This is simply the best retriever training book I've ever read, and I've read quite a few over the years. Move over Dick Wolters and Bill Tarrant. There's a new master at teaching us how to train our own hunting retrievers, and his name is Robert Milner.Rather than simply recycling old methods, Milner brings something totally new and refreshing to retriever training. This is a kinder, gentler training method based on the latest research in understanding how dog's have evolved and how they learn, as well as on the author's many years of training experience. Best of all, it teaches us how to use our own intuition and common sense in the training process.

Highly Recommended

Excellent! If you want to use your brain more and the whip less when training your dog, this book is for you. Robert Milner's new book shares the experience and insight of a lifetime of dog training and learning. It's not just a bunch of tips and trick, but rather an improved understanding of the relationship of human and dog. It is always refreshing to read an author's new book and find that they have been learning, not just getting older. I read Milner's first book, "Retriever Training for the Duck Hunter", fifteen years ago. It is a good book still worth reading. This new book has the same practical approach, but utilizes canine understanding and dog psychology more and rigid routines less. I don't think the author intentionally became "kinder and gentler", it's just that more knowledge and better understanding have brought about a more effective training method that requires less harsh punishment. I have been lucky enough to know several dog trainers over the years. I have invariably thought, at first, that they had a heavier hand than I was willing to use but I was aware that I was interested because they trained dogs better than I did and I could learn from them. Without exception, as time passed, they became better trainers and used the whip less and less. A perfect example is Robert G. Wehle in his first book, "Wing and Shot" and his latest book "Snakefoot". Read both of Milner's books and see what I am talking about. "Retriever Training" has excellent information about dog training, no matter what breed you have. Read this book! Your dog will appreciate your improved understanding.