joedjr

I am getting a Braque Francais (French Pointer) puppy next month. Not only is it going to be my first pointer, it is also the first dog I will own. I want to start to learn the training procedures involved for hunting and pointing birds.
Can you please recommend a book and/or video that could help me out to get me and the dog started for hunting.
Thank You

Mite

The Smith method is excellent for beginners as it uses a light hand for training. The book is called The Delmar Smith method. It's kinda of old as the next generation Smiths does away with a few things but it's considered the bible for pointing dogs. The other is a puppy DVD I recommend made by Rick and the other Smith (forgot name). It conditions your puppy for later trainning. Do a web search for Smith Seminars.

There are other books mainly the Wolter's book. Wolter also trains retrievers. The Smith concentrate on just pointers.

Also, as I read it, the french britt needs a light hand.

porknbeans

I agree with Mite on the Rick Smith method for your dog. I utilize it to train my dog (also a pointer and my first dog). Rick's method builds off of his dads (Delmar) and he offers seminars all over the country to help you in better understanding his approach. Here is a link to his website for information on his videos/DVD's and seminar schedule.

http://www.ricksmithseminars.com/

I disagree with Mite though in that the method is only for pointers. I've gone to 2 seminars and there was a mix of both types of dogs (flushers and pointers). It is a common sense approach to dog training that utilizes sound building blocks that anybody can do. I highly recommend it and wish you the best of luck with whatever you choose.

One more thing. Although Wolters book is the old stand by, I wouldnot read it in a literal sense. His book is based on what a dog should be able to do by a certain point in a dogs life. I've seen first hand several people who have been overly hard on their dogs because the dog couldn't do what Wolters said it should do by a certain age. Each dog is different and so is it's development. Be patient! Some dogs mature faster than others, even within the same breed. Be patient with your dog for at a minimum the first year before you raise your expectations to the level of "a finished gun dog".

Here is a really good book that I read that also helped me with my dog for it's first year.

"How to Help Gun Dogs Train Themselves" by Joan Bailey

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=6A8B0IcBcx&isbn=0963012 738&itm=1

joedjr

Gentleman, Thank you very much for your responses and info. It is greatly appreciated. I now have Delmar Smiths book and Joan Bailey's. I really like Joans book, easy to read and understand. I also bought the Perfect Start and Perfect Finish videos from perfection kennels. I like those also.

tailcrackin

These are all great choices, Dave Walker made a video called meat on the table. These are all different styles of training, decide which one you feel you understand the most, and stick with it. No need in confusing dog or yourself. It is very easy, the biggest thing is patience!! We are all good bunch of guys here, I own a gun dog kennel in Kentucky, I train bird dogs and retrievers, lot of the other boys, seem to work and hunt hard with their dogs. Feel free to call if you'd like, Dave Jones "Jonesy's Gun Dogs" 859-985-2918. Thank you, Jonesy Life is good