I’ve been reminded lately of a trait that good bird dogs have. If yours has it, you’re lucky. If not, you’re probably training for it, whether you know it or not.
It’s your dog’s “working to the front.” In most cases, you’d have to agree a bird dog working behind the hunter is little more than well, a loyal four-legged hiking partner. A dog earns its kibble by covering ground the hunter hasn’t already covered, questing to whatever distance both parties agree to, and searching out birds that haven’t been walked over – or walked past – by the human.
It’s been a source of wonder these days out on the desert where I run Flick. Being young, easily distracted by ground squirrels and chipmunks, he tends to dawdle where they dwell, despite my forward progress. I’ve been known to hack him in, whistle him to me then cast him off again in the direction I’m headed. Or give him the high sign or a yell so he knows which way I’m headed. In his younger days, I’d hide periodically so he would look for me, thus keeping in contact enough to figure out which way was which.
A NAVHDA judge decades ago told me a well-bred dog will usually work to the front instinctively, keying on his handler’s bright face as a beacon. Made sense then (thanks Phil Swain) and still does. Some dogs learn that if they’re not exploring the new territory ahead, the likelihood of finding birds is diminished.
And then there’s Flick. His age, boldness and curiosity (remember the rodents?) mean he’s often a dot on my GPS receiver rather than a gray-brown streak in front of me. But he’s got the right DNA, so lately I’ve just powered ahead and let him learn his own lesson … sometimes, the hard way.
I’ll watch on the GPS, and can almost predict his epiphany as he exhausts a particular chipmunk chase and wonders where I am. How he determines which direction to go to catch up to me is a mystery – does he track my scent? Vector in the same way a homing pigeon does? What do you think?
Whatever skill or instinct it might be, he’s polishing it. He’s learning that a foray into tiny critter territory is seldom worthwhile … because when we’re training, the birds are with me.
Scott Linden Outdoors 
When training a young dog I plant a bird at the end of a tree line to encourage and reward him to go to the front.
Great plan. The spaniel guys do much the same thing, to the side.
All dogs do not develop at the same rate, as you know. In younger dogs, I have used varying techniques to 1) work to the front 2) queue off the handler and 3) continue to move forward. In the latest youngsters, I had a young female that was doing well, but would quarter left to right about 40 yards, but would run across your feet. The trick that worked for her was running together with one of the older dogs, and she learned that she would find birds that way. It was great to see it click. I have another youngster that is easily distracted. We set up training situations where we overwhelmed him with birds, and we saw marked improvement in his focus. It is very rewarding seeing these types of improvements.
Just like kids … each learns in a different way.