1. The Keys
• How to use this book
• The dog we want to own
2. How Dogs Learn
3. Universal Rules
4. Choosing Your Puppy
• Breeds
• Checking on Breeders
• Field tested stock
• Test results - statistics
• Temperament
• Age of pup
5. Getting Ready for Puppy
• "Average" pup
• Who is boss?
• Sleeping quarters
• The dog crate
• The breeder and the crate
• Fenced yard or kennel run
• Naming your dog
• Finding a good veterinarian
• Collar and leash
• Collar on or off?
• Vacations - boarding your pup
• Summary - things to do before pup arrives
6. D-Day! Your Pup Arrives
• Shipping - Airport pickup
• Arrival in pup's new home
• Pup's first day in his new home
• Food
• The crate as bed and nest
• The traveling dog crate
• After the first day
7. Day-to-Day House and Yard Conditioning
• House-breaking
• Pup's bathroom
• When to teach a pointing dog to sit
• Feeding
• Come
• No!
• Chewing
• Digging
• Jumping
• Off limit places
• Children
• Other dogs
• Around town conditioning
• Leash conditioning
• Cat conditioning
• Camping
8. Day-to-Day House and Yard Conditioning II
• Preliminary "WHOA" conditioning
• Retrieving conditioning
• Force retrieving or natural retrieving???
• Using dummies and dead birds for retrieving conditioning
• Some don'ts for retrieving conditioning
• The training table - a valuable tool
• Training table conditioning
• Preliminary gun conditioning
• Boarding kennel conditioning
9. Field Exposure I: Learning to Search for Game
• Finding the right fields
• Water areas
• Getting pup started in the field
• Other conditioning
• Your behavior in field and forest
• Establishing the special one-on-one connection
• Whistles and calling your dog
• Continuing the one-on-one connection
• No talking!
• Reinforcement of "COME" during field and woods exposure
• Searching for game
• Barbed wire
• Gun conditioning in the field
10. Field Exposure, Part II: Pointing and Retrieving
• What to do when he does point
• Avoid planted birds like the plague
• Avoid using a fly rod with bird wing attached
• Never shoot a bird that the young dog doesn't point
• Retrieving conditioning in the field
11. Water Conditioning
• Introduction to water
• What to do if the pup won't go in water
• Water conditioning for duck hunting
• Preliminary gun conditioning at the water
• Shooting over dog in water and working with live ducks
12. The First Hunting Season Read this chapter...
• First bird shot over pup
• Introduction to upland hunting
• Waterfowl hunting conditioning
• Variety of game
13. Getting The Most Out of Your Gun Dog
• Understanding your dog
• After the first year
• The slow bloomers
• Contact members of your breed club for help
• Finishing off the rough edges and fine tuning
• Good luck with your gun dog

Informal Schedule for Pup

APPENDICES

• The Awkward Age - This To Shall Pass
• Equipment and Testing Organizations
• Training Table and Quail Recall Box
• Retrieving
• More About How Dogs Learn

Afterword: Emotional Development of Puppies