[blake_mhoona]

i have finally finished reading it and i'm interested in knowing what yalls impressions (if any) are of it? any thing it leaves out? anything you'd do different?

i liked the way it was set out. rough guideline on age associated with each type of training, treat training all the way to obedience and basic retrieving all the way up to advanced handling. CC and FF. upland if your into that.

seemed like a good read and easy to follow. just never seen it mentioned on here? i saw some of the videos associated with it on sportdog's website and then i saw that puppy kit that gundogsupply.com carries and the book was included in it so i bought the e-book on my ipad for 9.99 and finished it in about 3 days. lots of full color pics and big letters:mrgreen:

edit: if this too is considered a no-no type question just let me know via pm. still testing out the waters as a grade A noob

 

[blake_mhoona]

i guess no one has used or knows this book?

well let me ask you this i live in an area where upland hunting is nonexistent. basically sitting in lawn chairs next to a field that has a powerline near waiting on dove to take off for the line is the extent of our upland hunting.

is it necessary to train for upland (like dokkens book suggests) or not? i thought the master hunter test had an upland portion but then i thought i saw a thread on here where its no longer tested for?

 

[BMan]

I read his book a while back and have suggested it to puppy buyers that wanted to train on their own - that and waterdog are simple to read and follow - with either you should be able to get the basics down - I dont think you will get much further - it is a nice step by step explanation with the timelines (age) making it simple to follow and pace.
Brian

 

[blake_mhoona]

I read his book a while back and have suggested it to puppy buyers that wanted to train on their own - that and waterdog are simple to read and follow - with either you should be able to get the basics down - I dont think you will get much further - it is a nice step by step explanation with the timelines (age) making it simple to follow and pace.
Brian

so are you suggesting his FF, casting, and blinds training guides as less than adequate? or are you including these skills as basics and there is more training that isnt covered in his book?

 

[minnducker]

I’ve known Tom Dokken since he was 20 years old and started training dogs. His first dog was a female black lab that he trained without an e-collar or FF. He ran some informal trials, then progressed to licensed field trials and I think he got an Open win with the dog at a young age. He sold the dog to a doctor (from Kansas city I think) for around $5000 which was a small fortune to him back in the 70’s. The dog became an FC shortly after. He never got the field trial “bug” after that. He worked as a trainer for Jim Kappes at Reo Raj Kennels for a few years, and then went on his own, and specialized in training hunting dogs. This was before there were Hunt Tests. He has a deep understanding of retrievers and the hard work it takes to get the job done. I have never viewed his tapes or read any of his books but I know if he’s got his name on it, there’s nothing in them that is wrong or would be incorrect, or would hurt a dog or it’s future progress.
Generally speaking, IMO he prefers a little slower and gentler approach than the big name FT guys whose programs are talked about more often on this site. No one can say if his approach is better or worse than the others, because he has chosen not to compete in FT’s these many years. I can only guess at why this is, but to my knowledge he has never done anything to “ruin” a dog or put too much oressure on a dog. I would think that no matter your ultimate goal, his information would be an excellent guide for any dog up to a year or a year and a half, and maybe all it’s life. At that point, if you have an exceptional dog, and have the $ and desire to run FT’s, you’d want to follow Lardy or similar to learn and understand the FT unique aspects of advanced training for that venue.

 

[BMan]

so are you suggesting his FF, casting, and blinds training guides as less than adequate? or are you including these skills as basics and there is more training that isnt covered in his book?

No My mistake it has been a while since I read it and didnt remember him taking it that deep -

 

[blake_mhoona]

any answer to the upland question? are they or are they no longer tested on this in HT or FT?

 

[Jeff Huntington]

any answer to the upland question? are they or are they no longer tested on this in HT or FT?

HRC has an uPland test seperate from HT except grand has uPland as last day if u get that far you can train for it overnight

I previously suggested Akins duck dog basics for what you were wanting and it's still beneficial get with a training group

Akc does not have a HT upland

 

[blake_mhoona]

HRC has an uPland test seperate from HT except grand has uPland as last day if u get that far you can train for it overnight

I previously suggested Akins duck dog basics for what you were wanting and it's still beneficial get with a training group

Akc does not have a HT upland

thanks for the info

i still have duck dog basics and find it very beneficial when it comes to visual ques. it just seemed that there was some parts missing. specifically the day brought home up to actual training. the other parts (handling) seem to be coming on the next movie.

also some things needed to be more in depth than a 5 min segment rather than 15-20 pages in the book.

when it came to the actual training they were very very similar. pressure on/off etc. i think because both of them our sponsored by same people (sportdog) and i've seen them on youtube training together that their programs are so similar for a reason. kind of puts out a central idea that they both think is best for us as trainers and for the dogs

but i do plan on incorporating some aspects from both as they are so closely related (for those that might not agree with getting info from diifferent sources i urge you to watch both and disagree with me that they are very very similar)

 

[Ray Kirkpatrick]

HRC has an uPland test seperate from HT except grand has uPland as last day if u get that far you can train for it overnight

I previously suggested Akins duck dog basics for what you were wanting and it's still beneficial get with a training group

Akc does not have a HT upland

Can't let that go... "Train for it overnight"?
You can train a dog to sit to flush and wait until sent after bird hits the ground, overnight?

That's pretty good. good.

 

[road kill]

Can't let that go... "Train for it overnight"?
You can train a dog to sit to flush and wait until sent after bird hits the ground, overnight?

That's pretty good. good.

I know of at least 1 dog that took more than over night!!!;-)


stan b