The book is hardcover, good binding, average quality paper, standard font size but the good layout making for easy reading. A substantial book, with 500 pages.First published in 1979, Bill Tarrant was well ahead of his time; he's been using praise & reward training methods long before the expression "operant" became vogue.
Primarily directed to training retrievers, Tarrant's method & style is so honest - almost anyone wishing to train any breed will find the book useful and enlightening ... If there is one consistent message that comes through Tarrant's book, it is - NEVER HURT THE DOG!
Perhaps what makes this different from many others - is it becomes patently obvious even after a few pages that Tarrant is not teaching anything he has not tested & tried, he is himself unafraid watch, learn and try different methods.
Consisting of 20 chapters, the author takes the reader from how to choose a pup to training the first fetch, from how to transport a dog to emergency first aid, from housetraining a puppy to teaching the dog to force fetch. When & how to introduce a dog to water? ... How to train for a soft mouth? ... Gun-shyness, what to do? ... Tarrant deals with all and more ...
The book lays out training methods & schedules and offers potential solutions to difficulties & problems that may be encountered. Tarrant has developed his own training methods and procedure - some of which are rather novel. For example, he advocates using puppies to teach each other the beginnings of how to `stay' and to give to the lead.
Each topic is explained in-depth; each stage of training dealt with in detail.
Written with wonderful humour, the book is filled with anecdotes and stories collected from a lifetime of training & living with dogs, the book is both entertaining and educational. More than just a training manual, the book teaches us how to better appreciate our dogs, respect the individual spirit within each animal and have better understanding of our canine friend.
A wonderful read.
