The Training and Care of the Versatile Hunting Dog

Originally published in 1973, the "Green Book" (as it is affectionately called by NAVHDA members) is a very concise yet complete training method for training a versatile hunting dog. A versatile dog is one who points upland game and retrieves it on land and in the water. The concepts in this book have been used for over 30 years to train literally thousands of hunting dogs to very high levels of refinement. Numerous photographs and diagrams make it easy to grasp techniques that would be difficult to describe in words. This book introduced the concept, revolutionary at the time, of the training table as a non-coercive method to get and hold the dog's attention during training (and it's easier on your back). Variations of the training table are common in many modern hunting dog training methods. The Green Book was edited in 2001 to incorporate some modern, more informed training techniques. However, very little needed to be changed and the second edition remains faithful to the original. The Training and Care of the Versatile Hunting Dog is now on its 13th printing. Chapters include: Introduction - History of the Versatile Hunting Dog, Purpose of this book, How to use this book. Chapter 1 - Training for behavior at home and walking at heel. Chapter 2 - Whoa and Come. Chapter 3 - Retrieving on Land. Chapter 4 - Retrieving from Water. Chapter 5 - Tracking. Chapter 6 - Sitting and Staying. Chapter 7 - Searching for Game. Chapter 8 - Pointing, Steady to Flush and Shot. Chapter 9 - The Down. Chapter 10 - Flushing on Command. Chapter 11 - Care of the Versatile Hunting Dog. Chapter 12 - Twelve Rules of Training. About the Authors.

Book deals with the care and training of the "Versatile Hunting Dog. A "Versatile" dog is a dog that possess all of the hunting skills and will find, track and retrieve game. Written by very knowledgable authors who are authorities on Versatile dogs. It provides step by step methods to train a "pointing" dog breed and is helpful to the first time owner as well as experienced dog trainer. Book is often recommended by dog breeders and is well known to hunting dog enthusiasts. The contents are straight forward and to the point. In fact the authors state that it is "textbook and meant to train people to train their dogs". Contains 12 chapters and covers Basic Behavior Training, Whoa ( aid to helping dog develop pointing instict), Pointing, Retrieving, Tracking Game, Seaching for Game, and Care of the Versatile Hunting Dog. It does not contain "hunting & super dog" stories. If you are serious about training your Versatile Hunting dog this book can be a great aid.