Training and Hunting Bird Dogs: How to Become a Better Hunter and Dog Owner

by Scott Linden

With lessons on dogs’ desires, skills, and abilities to learn, care and feeding, health and safety, preparation, and shooting, Training and Hunting Bird Dogs is the ultimate guide to maximizing happiness and minimizing frustration whether out on the hunt or relaxing in the backyard.

“My dogs and I get along best when I hit the birds they produce for me. Putting the odds in my favor is the least I can do. Now, so can you.”

If you hunt for pheasants, grouse, quail, and other upland birds, forming a partnership with your dog can be a daunting challenge. Wingshooting USA ’s Scott Linden is here to help. Training and Hunting Bird Dogs fills in the blanks for the wingshooter and dog owner with solid advice that will improve dog and hunter’s levels of communication, respect, and hunting efficiency. Even better, Linden’s lovable, often hilarious tone makes taking advice on training, strategizing, and partnership enjoyable to human and canine alike.​

Don’t be a student at the school of hard knocks— Training and Hunting Bird Dogs advances an upland hunter’s skills quickly, creatively, and without any of the angst of more difficult methods.

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2013

Reviews

[Jack Nordick]

Helpful and pretty dang funny in an old-guy-who-you-know-makes-this-same-joke-to-all-his-grandkids-over-and-over kind of way

[Robert]

From dog psychology to human psychology, and training techniques to outdoor survival, Scott Linden’s latest book, “Training and Hunting Bird Dogs”, is a valuable resource not only for hunters, but anyone with an active dog or who enjoys the Great Outdoors.

As an author, writer, speaker, and host of “Wingshooting USA” - the most-watched upland bird hunting television show in the world - Scott Linden brings his experience and humor together in a single, comprehensive encyclopedia.

Beginning with psychology, Scott discusses what dogs want, how dogs think, and how to better communicate with your dog. From there, he discusses how to improve your shooting; training techniques and philosophy for both you and your dog; and how to become a better hunter. Your dog’s proper care and feeding are discussed; the NAVHDA Utility Test; and skills that every hunter (or anyone who enjoys the outdoors) should have. He finishes with tips from guides, outfitters, and trainers; an extensive Q&A chapter; a checklist of supplies for hunters (let me insert campers, hikers, etc.); and finally a glossary of terms. The final half-dozen pages are provided for note taking.

Having spent my life hunting, hiking and fishing, I still found the book full of “aha” moments that gave me a greater understanding of those things I already knew, along with many more that had never crossed my mind. Scott’s book also dispels misinformation that had been passed on by other hunters and trainers, some of which is potentially lifesaving.

Tips from Guides, Outfitters and Trainers is a chapter of bulleted items ranging from how to pick a puppy to moving cows off the road (it’s surprising how many people are killed by cows every year - more than either bears or sharks). Then there is aftercare. How you care for your dog following the hunt (or hike, jog, bike) determines how well and how long it takes them to recuperate. And yes, I see many hunters load their dogs into crates that are strapped in a pickup bed, whether blazing heat or bitter cold.

“Training and Hunting Bird Dogs” contains much more information than can be properly addressed in a review. The book is an easy read thanks to Scott’s amusing experiences and anecdotes, his conversational style of writing, and the lighthearted rebukes of his fellow man. Whether you’re a hunter or not, you are bound to be entertained and enlightened. I highly recommend “Training and Hunting Bird Dogs” as a book that no hunter, or owner of an active dog for that matter, should be without.