Top Dog

In the course of flipping through channels I occasionally chance upon a hunting show wherein a dog is retrieving a duck from a lake. Until seeing this video, though, I had no idea that the training, discipline, and motivation necessary for such an act rivals that of Schwarzkopf preparing to storm the Gulf. Hosted by master trainer and good ol' boy Tony Hartnett, this tape's emphasis is on reinforcing lessons learned in previous MasterMind tapes (to wit, Water Dog [VL-3/97] and Game Dog), using an electronic collar. Via a complex combination of whistles, voice commands, ear pinches, crops, choke leads, and the collar, a serious hunter, hunt-tester, or field-trial trainer can teach a retriever a mind-boggling array of actions, including the swim by, the over, the remote sit, and the force fetch, to name but a few. The training sessions are well filmed, and the interview sections, though obviously scripted and oddly staged (Hartnett and his interviewer are wearing dog-training garb, but are ensconced in a fancy, floral living room), are solidly informative. (I especially like a video that doesn't gloss over potential problems, and addresses the "if my dog won't do Action X, what then?" issues.) For those that are seriously interested in training Rex or Queenie to retrieve that fowl, this tape is a fine choice. Recommended. Aud: P. (K. Glaser)