Agility Training for You and Your Dog: From Backyard Fun to High-Performance Training

This is a very good book for all those who really want to excel at agility. My daughter is a beginner and there was a lot of foundation info in the book for her to learn. The book covers obedience basics which is very important for anyone wanting to do agility. There are good photos to back up the text. This is not just a beginners book though. My dog and I compete at the Masters level in USDAA and Excellent in AKC and I picked up a lot of useful information in the book. The book covers necessary psychological concepts such as operant vs classical conditioning, clicker training, shaping and targeting. They do a good job of covering groundwork and the diagrams are very useful. There is some extensive info on jump training including jump circles and drills. There is coverage of all the obstacles. Contact training is included but most of the info is for the 2 on 2 off method. One of the authors, Ali Canova, has a very good Running Contact DVD out but none of that info is really in here, they just mention running contacts. I have the DVD and Running Contacts for Dog Agility by Ali Roukas Canova recommend it too. There are two sections on weave pole training which really cover it all. The first is weave pole introduction and the second section is the advanced weave pole system. This really helped me a lot as we had problems at shows weaving. One of the authors , Joe Canova, has a World Class Weaves DVD out World Class Weaves for Dog Agility by Joe Canovaand the book is a very good companion to that.
Overall I highly recommend this book for anyone new who wants to learn properly from the start as well as serious competitors who want to excel at agility.

There is not much out there on the subject of dog agility. My dogs and I started at a local club here in Fla. We learned quite a bit of the beginning essentials but wanted to learn more. There are other books on the market but primarily very very basic stuff. I wanted a book by a high level trainer so I could get to the next level. This book did not disappoint. Although the beginner instruction is in there, there is way more in addition to help someone who wants to go further. The pictures are very nice (although I'd like to see more mixed breeds) and the drawings were very helpful to someone as visual as me. I would highly recommend this book. I intend to buy the dvd's by these authors as well and will write a review on those after getting them.

Great starting point if you are considering Agility training but not sure if your doggie is in to it and you don't want to waste money on long term agility training courses at the local courses. With the aid of this book I was able to set up a course in my back yard that my dog can run thru daily for fun and exercise.

Richard Wolters understands how to train a retriever. More importantly he understands that retrievers very much want to retrieve, not be pampered friends. The key to the successes found by using his book is his focus on "fun" training after 7 weeks and the enforcement of those lessons in future weeks. Making lessons fun and practicing in repetition is everything and Richard Wolters recognized that fact.

Another critical aspect of dog training is that point in a dog's life where they test their owner. Richard Wolters makes it clear, if you are not willing to spank, "stop reading the book". I have found that it is critical to develop a balance between punishment and praise. I quickly reprimand the dog and then follow-on with the lessons. If the problem persists, I stop and start again later. Richard Wolters understands that the desire is there, in the dog, to please its owner. This has resulted from the attention paid to the dog in weeks 8 through 12. But never let the dog "win" by playing the part of a "sensitive dog".

As my comments focus on the first weeks of training a dog, I am convinced that Richard Wolters has written the "Bible of Retriever Training" because he understands that those weeks after a dog is taken from the breeder at 49 days are the most critical. It is where the dog gets "started" and allows the dog to *learn how to learn*. WATER DOG is a timeless reference on training a retriever.

Wolters is very precise on telling and showing one of the ways to train a water dog. He is simply right about starting the training as soon as you bring the pup home and he shows the proper way to achieve success with the pup. Starting the training at 7 weeks is something that other trainers find hard to overcome.

Being I use my dogs for both water and upland I also read The Labrador Shooting Dog, by Mike Gould. I find that Gould's training techniques are alot better and make more sense than Wolters. Gould is more precise with training techniques for the retrieve. However, Gould doesn't start the formal training until the dog's approximatley 6 months old.

If you want to learn how to properly train a hunting dog then read both Water Dog and The Labrador Shooting Dog. You will learn from both Wolters and Gould how to train a pup starting at 7 weeks old and the proper techniques for training.

This book is by far the best book I have ever read for training your retriever. I have used Richard Walters method for over 10 years and have had nothing but success. I have even written him once about a training problem and he wrote me back! with the answer to my question. This is a time proven book and method. You cannot possibly go wrong if you follow his method!