Customer Ratings:

• A good place to start. As a first time soon to be owner of a gsp,i found this a worthwhile place to start in getting to know the breed in more depth.As another person commented this should not be the only book to read on the subject, but that holds true of any book on any subject.Mr layton obviously knows the breed inside out and gives many insights into the breed fron puppy selection to the history in the U.K. . And although i myself do not hunt the hunting information should be taken into account as this is the sole reason the breed exists,so surley has to be taken into account regarding your dogs wants and character......
• A good quality book for novice. I purchased two books as a start to my research into GSPs. The first was very much a pet manual and put the dog on a pedestal that I could not relate to. By contrast, The GSP Today was a brilliant oversight of all aspects of owning a dog with, what i consider to be, a healthy spattering of the author s opinions on various parts of the subject. I have to disagree with the reviewer who talks about not understanding the thrill of shooting living creatures. I myself am a keen hunter but only in the pursuit of food for the table, I do not get a thrill from killing something for the sake of killing it: I wonder if they themselves eat meat, or indeed have any sort of conscience regarding the origins of the food they feed their dog? I value the fact that there are breeds of dog like the GSP, bred for hunting and, for me, the corollary of their breeding is that the breed should continue to display those abilities which in part relate to size etc. If a person does not mind what sort of dog they have, simply content to have a pet then why own such a specialist breed?
• Essential reading for a Western viewpoint. I am a UK resident and have owned, shown and field trialled GSP s for some 18 years. Although this book is not of sufficient detail to be used as the one source of information regarding the rearing and training of your shorthair, it covers a broad spectrum of topics with some super photos. I always recommend this book as an essential buy to all my future puppy buyers, and advise them to read it cover to cover. If they find any of the topics of particular interest, they can then buy a book that specialises in this field alone. I see David s book as a little like the All Purpose Gundog he is writing about, perhaps not the best in every field but well worthy of ownership.
• Excellent - the definitive work on GSP s.. A high quality well written book with a wealth of photographs. The author clearly knows his subject inside out and any GSP owner (new or old) will learn something from this. Whether your interest is in shooting, falconry, field trials, showing or simply having a GSP as a pet the book will prove to be very useful to you.
• Okay for a beginner who needs basic info regarding training.. Unfortunately, the paper is of a much higher quality than the information or organization of the book. There is very little information regarding American field trials. The scant info included is primarily about a few midwestern GSP trainers and owners. There is no information regarding NAVHDA field trials. The training book published by NAVHDA is a much better more systematic guide to training a verstile hunting dog such as the GSP.

  Most of the info on kennels and breeders is focused on show kennels and show dogs. For those readers interested in history of the GSP and current trends in breeding in a much more comprehensive manner, I recommend Der Deutsch-Kurzhaar. It costs 3 times as much but is 20 times better.

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