The foundation for a good hunting season is laid well before the opening days are circled on your calendar. Truth be told, it’s a continuous journey of conditioning, training, and a lot of sweat equity. For those who dream of bird dogs ripping up rolling hills of prairie grass and locking down that first covey of the season, that preparation includes ensuring those four-legged hunting partners are in peak physical shape, mentally sharp as a tack, and ready to roll.
I’ve lived long enough to get a rambunctious pup, embark on the training roller coaster, bank some damn good memories in the field, and lay him to rest among a few other good ol’ dogs under an old oak tree on the family farm. While these bird dogs continue to impart wisdom on this ol’ wingshooter, I’ve picked up a few things along the way to set up my team for success and make the days afield even more enjoyable. The following are a few fundamental elements we lean on to get us primed for each upland season.
Nutrition is the Foundation
Nutrition is the critical ingredient in the recipe to cook up a strong and healthy hunting partner. Like any high-performance athlete, bird dogs need the best fuel to build lean muscle, stretch their endurance, and increase their overall health for peak bird-finding prowess in the field. More importantly, I contend that improved health reduces the risk of injury and improves recovery time when those dings and scrapes unfortunately happen. I’ve tried many dog foods over the years and somewhat recently settled on the Pro Plan Sport blend from Purina. It seems to be providing the most consistent results across my pack by maintaining healthy weights with reasonable inputs. It’s readily available on the road, has a history of quality, and the dogs consume it.
Additionally, while once a skeptic, I’ve become a firm believer in supplements to help my bird dogs stay healthy and ready to roll. After seeing immediate improvement in recovery time with K9 Athlete’s New Dog during the season, I’m now leveraging their Probiotics year-round and K9’s Hydrate & Recover during those warmer training and early season months. Countless marketing dollars are infused into the dog world annually, and influencers across social media jockey to peddle the latest and greatest trend to the masses. The best advice I can offer is to do your own homework, be willing to explore different options, make educated decisions based on those results, and find what works for your dog.
Endurance Wins the Race
Our season gets rolling across the western prairies in September, chasing grouse and partridge. If the upland gods smile, we may get after some chukar and mountain grouse as well. From there, we’ve been known to hit the big woods for woodcock and ruffed grouse and wrap October up with a pheasant opener in the Midwest. Our duck zone opens in November while bobwhites keep calling, and late-season pheasants often keep us hunting well after the new year. After we wrap up a long hunting season, I give my dogs a bit of well-earned rest to recover from any dings, let their pads heal up a bit, and simply be dogs around the house, spending time with the family.
Endurance is built during the off-season, and it doesn’t take long before we’re prepping for the annual September bird camp and a season full of different landscapes, a sampling of species, and unpredictable weather conditions that follow. I lean heavily on my bird dogs and, in turn, feel the responsibility to keep them in shape and ready to go to work. My approach to conditioning is a multi-faceted strategy that’s targeted to allow dogs to clock miles, use their noses, subtly work on handling, and have a bit of fun.
I’m fortunate to have a decent chunk of farmland available through friends and family which comes in pretty handy for letting bird dogs stretch their legs. Public lands and generous neighbors would be my first considerations otherwise. My first objective each spring is to simply give them consistent free run opportunities to build stamina and maintain a sharp edge. Free runs emulate hunting, serve up tons of smells to keep their noses working, and provide agility training while traversing terrain. The variation in landscape and cover will keep their pads calloused and conditioned–an aspect that can’t be valued enough in any off-season regimen.
As summer grinds on, the climbing mercury ushers in different challenges but serves up the opportunity to ensure bird dogs are primed for those early-season adventures. I target training grounds that have ample bodies of water and plan our routes accordingly. Water work mixes things up while keeping retrieving skills polished and further conditions my pack, even during sweltering heat. Proceed with a watchful eye, make sessions short, and always be mindful that heat can quickly be dangerous. I contend that a dog conditioned to the AC and out of shape is an extremely dangerous cocktail when hitting the fields early season.
Takes Birds to Make a Bird Dog
The last leg on the stool to make certain my dogs are primed up heading into each season is putting reps in. This leg of the journey can be an absolute grind for man and beast. Training drills, handling exercises, heel work, retrieving bumpers in the backyard, force fetch, and all the other usual drills can get monotonous. It’s a necessary evil in many ways, but some creativity will help get you through it, further solidify your bond as a team, and pay huge dividends down the stretch. It’s not easy and no one really loves this part of the larger journey, but it’s the pressure that puts on the polish and will bring more smiles than frustrations for many seasons to come. Invest now, and enjoy cashing those checks in the field later.
The old adage, “It takes birds to make a bird dog” is a proverb spoken by upland prophets since men first went afield with bird dogs by their side. It certainly is just as true today as it’s ever been. I’ve found pigeons to be my training birds of choice for the day-in and day-out routine of training. If you look around in nearly any environment, from abandoned towns to New York City overflowing with people, you’ll find pigeons calling these areas home. They’re easy keepers, can take a beating, and once homed to a coop, can be used over and over for countless sessions. With a bit of creativity and planning, pigeons can work for the vast majority of upland hunters and can be an absolute game changer in a training program.
In addition to pigeons, our crew keeps a few bobwhite quail around to spice things up at random and keep the dogs honest. While nothing can simulate wild birds on the rise, shotguns popping off at covey flushes, and dogs returning with mouths full of feathers, it’s good to get a glimpse of why you’re working so hard along the way. Making room for a Johnny house full of quail or a pen viable for game birds isn’t realistic for many uplanders, but it’s worth exploring opportunities in your area to mix things up and get your dogs square downwind of a massive scent cone. I’ve visited some game bird pay-plant-shoot farms in the past, not because I consider that “hunting” but because it’s a solid way to knock dust off and get a few reps in pre-season without having to raise, house, and deal with birds on your property.
No Regrets
Never underestimate the value of quality nutrition, the benefits of spending time growing as a team, and the motivation live birds will have on a good ol’ bird dog. When you enter the field next season, watch a bird dog on the horizon slamming into a rock-solid point, and bringing that first feathery prize to your hand…you won’t regret the countless reps, fighting off the bugs all summer, nor the sweat lost during those summer training sessions. Invest now, reap the benefits for a season.
Published in Western Hunter Magazine - June 2025