DUCK DOGS: ALL ABOUT THE RETRIEVERS. By Richard A. Wolters.

1990 1st edition. 8vo (167 x 234mm). Ppxvi,240. B/w photographs, illustrations. Brown boards, spine titled in silver.

"Retrievers are the loyal and hardworking companions of the waterfowlers in our bays and marshes and the hunters of upland birds in our fields and forests. Here is the colorful and authoritative history of these magnificently skilled dogs and the people who have bred and trained them over the years." The author "shows whence the Golden, Chesapeake Bay, Flat-Coated and Wavy-Coated Retrievers came, as well as the Irish and American Water spaniels, the Boykin Spaniel, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, and others. He relates his own experiences in field tests and hunting adventures on both sides of the Atlantic. [His] research shows that much about these dogs has been both misunderstood and mistakenly reported. ... [He] corrects many misconceptions and discloses many facts never before published." Wolters historical interests are purely practical and provide the underpinning for th e very extensive practical element of this book." Chapters include: Some background; A touch of the Queen; Where did they come from?; The American scene; Retrieving on the American scene; Looking out for our American retrievers; Training and where it starts.