THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO TRAINING GUNDOGS. By James Douglas.

(1985) later reprint. Large 8vo (174 x 241mm). Ppxii,172. B/w photographs, line illustrations. Black boards, spine titled in gilt.

This is a systematically arranged guide to training a gundog. Chapters include: Choosing the right breed - breed standards given for: Chesapeake Bay, Labrador, Flatcoated, Golden, Curly-coated Retrievers; English and Welsh Springer Spaniels. HPRS: German shorthaired pointers, Large Munsterlander, Hungarian Viszla, Wiemaraner, German Wirehaired Pointer. Choosing your puppy; The new puppy - house-training, parasites and pest, diseases and inoculations, sitting, introduction to the lead; Six to nine months - wlaking to heel, first training sessions, sitting to whistle, early retrieving, introduction to water, reward and punishment; Nine to twelve months - introduction to feathered dummy, introduction to shot, dummy launcher, distance controld with whistle and hand signals, distance hand signals, retrieving from water, dropping to shot, crossing obstacles, quartering, pointing; One year to eighteen months - directional hand signals, advance dummy retrieving, blind retrieves, advanced water work, bringing out the gun, dead game, taking a line; Eighteen months to two years - the rabbit pen, dropping to flush, bringing it all together; Going shooting - picking up, wildfowling, scents; Trials and trialling - preparing the dog, field test, spaniel trials, retriever trials, HPR trials; Bitches and breeding - seasons, to mate or not to mate, false pregnancy, spaying, castration, mating, the pregnancy, the new puppies, dew claw removal, tail docking, worming, claw trimming, selling the puppies; The years to come; Equipment and kennel design. James Douglas was the pseudonym of Douglas Mitchell, a well-known archer who died in 2002 following a freak accident with a bow.