Got a question...

[123fish]

Lot of knowledgeable dog guys on here so I was wondering what percent of having a lot of contact with wild birds versus a dog being well bred makes for a good hunter?

[Todd Caswell]

A balanced combination of both...

[gspman]

The answer is yes.

Buy the best bloodlines you can afford and then hunt the daylights out of the dog.

[ESSGuy]

I train springers with a group for field trials, all of our dogs see birds all year from pigeons and chukars to pheasants. There is nothing better than getting a bird dog on birds. All dogs are different, Ive saw dogs from top notch breeding that just don't have the drive and dogs from less than top notch breeding that are awesome. It really can be luck of the draw.

[Ufatz]

You are about on it.....but an abundance of birds can make an average dog better I think. But if they just don't have the fire and drive and hunting instinct in them there isn't a lot you can do.