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Water Dog: Revolutionary Rapid Training Method
The classic bestselling dog training book for the person with limited time who wants to train a working retriever fast.
Containing revolutionary scientific information on the mental development of your pet, Water Dog is a step by step training book with no extraneous material. It covers everything from the day you get your puppy to the finished dog, showing you the complete training procedures step by step in picture sequence.
It will show you not only what to expect of your dog but what your dog can expect of you. Full of information about using the right commands and utilizing the Dummy-Launch, a training device co-developed by the author, this how-to guide will make training easy, fast, and fun—for you and your dog.
“Anyone who wants to try turning his dog into a well-mannered retriever will do well with Water Dog .”— The New York Times
Containing revolutionary scientific information on the mental development of your pet, Water Dog is a step by step training book with no extraneous material. It covers everything from the day you get your puppy to the finished dog, showing you the complete training procedures step by step in picture sequence.
It will show you not only what to expect of your dog but what your dog can expect of you. Full of information about using the right commands and utilizing the Dummy-Launch, a training device co-developed by the author, this how-to guide will make training easy, fast, and fun—for you and your dog.
“Anyone who wants to try turning his dog into a well-mannered retriever will do well with Water Dog .”— The New York Times
- GenresDogsNonfictionOutdoors
192 pages, Hardcover
First published September 24, 1964
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 20, 2026
This book could be aptly titled “For Dummies: How to Train a Water Dog.”
Initially, I was torn between giving it a 4 or 5-star rating. If I had reviewed it in 2015, I would have given it a 5. However, after training several bird dogs and hounds, I’ve discovered that much of the information in the book is, for lack of a better word, “outdated.” If you’re looking to train a waterfowl retriever to its full potential or are starting a dog with hunt/field trials in mind, this book may not be the best choice for you.
If you’re a new bird dog owner who’s okay with a dog that excels in the field and behaves well in the home and public, but won’t necessarily be holding any hunt titles, this book is fantastic. It provides clear and concise instructions on how to train your dog to want to hunt for you. If you follow all the steps from day one and practice them daily, your dog will eventually hunt for you. The book emphasizes repetition and consistency, which are crucial for any dog training. Understanding these fundamental principles can be applied to any training method, should you need to switch to another approach in the future.
The first chapter on socializing your puppy is excellent, and I highly recommend that all dog owners and family members read it before bringing their puppy home and practice it. It’s worth the price of the book alone.
As someone who had never trained a bird dog at the time, I was able to use Wolters’ methods to transform my first lab into an obedient, bird-hunting machine. His system is simple, structured, and well-suited for the average bird hunter. However, problems arise when you encounter stubborn dogs, as I later did. You might find yourself doubting yourself, the dog, or the book. One of my dogs, whom I acquired at 7 months old without formal training, struggled with Wolters’ methods. I had to resort to Bill Hillman’s system to instill obedience in the field, rather than in the yard, as she only responded when there was the incentive of “the game” on the line, whereas most dogs are content with a quick praise.
If you have a dog you intend to participate in hunt and field trials, I suggest exploring alternative training methods, such as Freddy King’s courses. These courses provide comprehensive training for various dogs with diverse issues and problems that Freddy King has encountered and resolved. By observing these challenges and his approach to addressing them, you gain valuable insights, as every dog will encounter obstacles at some point. No single book can cover all aspects of training. However, Freddy King’s videos are exhaustive and require a significant commitment of time. You witness him taking multiple puppies and transforming them into extensions of himself over time, ensuring that no step is skipped in the training process.
Initially, I was torn between giving it a 4 or 5-star rating. If I had reviewed it in 2015, I would have given it a 5. However, after training several bird dogs and hounds, I’ve discovered that much of the information in the book is, for lack of a better word, “outdated.” If you’re looking to train a waterfowl retriever to its full potential or are starting a dog with hunt/field trials in mind, this book may not be the best choice for you.
If you’re a new bird dog owner who’s okay with a dog that excels in the field and behaves well in the home and public, but won’t necessarily be holding any hunt titles, this book is fantastic. It provides clear and concise instructions on how to train your dog to want to hunt for you. If you follow all the steps from day one and practice them daily, your dog will eventually hunt for you. The book emphasizes repetition and consistency, which are crucial for any dog training. Understanding these fundamental principles can be applied to any training method, should you need to switch to another approach in the future.
The first chapter on socializing your puppy is excellent, and I highly recommend that all dog owners and family members read it before bringing their puppy home and practice it. It’s worth the price of the book alone.
As someone who had never trained a bird dog at the time, I was able to use Wolters’ methods to transform my first lab into an obedient, bird-hunting machine. His system is simple, structured, and well-suited for the average bird hunter. However, problems arise when you encounter stubborn dogs, as I later did. You might find yourself doubting yourself, the dog, or the book. One of my dogs, whom I acquired at 7 months old without formal training, struggled with Wolters’ methods. I had to resort to Bill Hillman’s system to instill obedience in the field, rather than in the yard, as she only responded when there was the incentive of “the game” on the line, whereas most dogs are content with a quick praise.
If you have a dog you intend to participate in hunt and field trials, I suggest exploring alternative training methods, such as Freddy King’s courses. These courses provide comprehensive training for various dogs with diverse issues and problems that Freddy King has encountered and resolved. By observing these challenges and his approach to addressing them, you gain valuable insights, as every dog will encounter obstacles at some point. No single book can cover all aspects of training. However, Freddy King’s videos are exhaustive and require a significant commitment of time. You witness him taking multiple puppies and transforming them into extensions of himself over time, ensuring that no step is skipped in the training process.
June 18, 2024
Making Tex a good boy step by step
January 4, 2014
Fantastic book. If you are planning on owning a lab and taking it hunting this is the book. I purchased my first lab when he was 6 weeks old in June of 1994. When I took him hunting that fall he was amazing because of the techniques taught by Mr. Wolters. My dog was even able to do blind retrieves. Mr. Wolters writes very simply so any one following his techniques will have a well trained dog.
March 8, 2015
My boyfriend swears by this book, so I've given it 5 stars. He recommended I read it since we have a new puppy coming in a few weeks. He's used this book before while training labs as hunting dogs with great success. The book seems to me like it's an awesome guide to training. The language is clear and the technique seems like it will be a breeze to train the new dog. I will probably read this at least once more before we start training. I can't wait to try it out myself!
June 4, 2015
The novel Water Dog by Richard A. Wolters is a pretty good duck dog training book, in my opinion. I think this because, for me, it was a little hard to follow. I think this because I jumps around from one topic to another very quickly and not in orderly fashion. It also uses the non traditional duck dog training method making it hard to read while reading traditional gun dog books. It also uses very untraditional commands making the dog not as sensitive to these commands.
May 5, 2019
Classic. My 12wk old chocolate lab is already getting setup for success thanks to Wolter’s teachings. Any setbacks are user error, not due to the simple, straightforward directions found in this book. The author has a deep understanding of dogs and what makes them tick. The pictures and book structure provide easy to follow step by step lessons to enable any level of trainers to find success. Now he just needs to write a book on patience!
August 23, 2013
Best book on training a retriever I have ever read. My copy was my grandfather's, which was give to my dad, then given to me when I got my first retriever. Many a great duck dog were trained with this book.
July 30, 2008
Simple book on how to train hunting dogs. Hope to use this knowledge someday.
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September 11, 2009J635Wal
December 12, 2011
I love everything by Wolters and this one is working so far. Training a dog is easy, but I appreciate Wolters' instructions that specifically relate to using my dog for hunting and retrieving.
February 14, 2012
This book was really interesting, I am hoping to use many of the components for training our dog to be a water dog.
June 13, 2012
Good information to have in the ole memory bank if you work with retrievers.
March 9, 2013
Lots of information in Labs and how to train them
June 3, 2014
Prefer Training Your Retriever.
July 6, 2016
This was a very popular book in its time showing owners of water retrievers how to train their own dog for sport.
April 15, 2022
Very good! Taught me wonderful tips on training my dogs.
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February 28, 2020Very good instructional on training dogs from a puppy to an expert retriever. It walks through different training exercises for the dog to teach them how to advance their retrieving skills.
September 28, 2021
Dog water
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews