[wisbill]

hey i am new to dnd and had a question about the skill animal handle. I have googled it but have not had much luck, so i am bring it here.

page 74 phb skill handle animal

rear a wild animal has a skill check of 15 + hd of the aniimal.

my question is: is hd just the dice or the total hit points of the animal?

for example if i wanted to rise a black bear would it be a skill check of 15 +d8 or would it be of 15 +3d8 +6 where 3d8 +6 is the hit points of the bear.

question 2 upon a succesuful check how long do creatures take to rear?
question 3 is their a book that explains these rules better than the phb?

thank for you're time and help on this matter