I bought my first bird dog puppy an orange and white Brittney in 1981. A great time to train a bird dog since our bird numbers were at an all time high.
I knew little about gun dog training but was eager to learn. I purchased Best way to train your gun dog. The Delamar Smith method written by Bill Tarrant. I recommend that you take a look at this book as It will assist you in bringing out the best in your dog and also teach you a lot about what you need to do and understand about dogs.
You should really consider what breed works for the type of hunting you will be doing, and just as importantly the breed of dog that best works for you and your family's situation.
Do some research and buy from a proven breeder. I like buying dogs from guys that hunt wild birds and trial their dogs with a history of having great dogs. The most expensive dog can be one that was free. That might mean waiting until a pup becomes avalible from the breeder, and even traveling out of state to get what you want.
Dogs like race horses need to have it in their genes. Thats not to say that a guy doesnt get lucky once in awhile and just happen into a great dog, but for most of us that are not proffesionals we may only have a dozen gun dogs in our life time.
After the initial purchase of a dog, they all cost about the same to feed and care for so I like to stack the odds in my favor.
Im from the school of thought you cant start them too young. They can start traveling on the truck when they are 8 or 9weeks old. Thats all part of training. Also nothing takes the place of birds. Find a good supply of birds, you will need it to train and finish you dog. Realize every dog and trainer is a little differnet.
What I do does not mean its the best way, just something that works for me.
2019 is not that far away, start reseaching for that guy that has great dogs. Do your home work now. When Planned breedings of proven dogs are done there is usually people with numbers in line waiting to take their pick from the litter.
Have fun and good luck finding and training your next Gun dog.
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