By Richard Sprayberry

As the owner/operator of Mountain View Hunting preserve in East-Central Ala., I often get asked the question, what kind of bird dog do you like? My answer to this question is always the same. I like good ones! Now I ain’t trying to straddle the fence and I sure ain’t trying to be politically correct, I’m just telling the truth. I like good bird dogs and it doesn’t matter what color they are or what breed they are as long as they are what I consider good dogs.

Nothing can make your hunting trip more enjoyable than watching a good bird dog as he works a field, hits his birds and holds tight on his points. On the other hand, nothing can spoil your trip as quickly as an out of control dog that is running up birds and has the handler constantly screaming at them to whoa or to come here.

A good dog to me is one who first of all enjoys hunting as much as you do. You can tell a good dog by the way he acts when he is on the ground. How does he carry himself, does he have his head up and ready to go, or is he scared and timid acting.

My father was the best Bird Dog trainer I have ever been around and he always told me that they either had it in them or they didn’t and if they didn’t, you were not going to put it in them! The “it” in this statement is the desire to hunt and there is nothing that takes its place. This is the one thing all great birddogs have in common.

Secondly a good dog is easy to handle. What I mean by this is when you give the dog a command he obeys. Remember when you tell a dog to whoa or to come to you, you are not asking for a favor, you are giving a command, and there is a big difference. A dog that has been properly trained will react immediately to the command that has been given.

I like a dog that has a good personality, one who gets along with other dogs and is not going to fight or try to bite your hunting partner who tries to take a downed bird from him.
Last on my list would be the dog’s ability to find birds. Now I realize that the desire to find birds for us to shoot at is why most of us have bird dogs to start with, but the dog with the greatest nose ever born ain’t worth a hill of beans if he won’t get out from under your feet and hunt, or if he is completely out of control and running up every bird in the country.

The solution to these problems 99.9% of the time is proper training. If you want to train your dog yourself, there are several really good training videos and books available. If this is the route you plan to take, be fair to your dog and to yourself and make sure you have the time to devote at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week for training time.
Your other option is a professional trainer… ask for references and check them out. Make sure they are what they are presenting themselves to be. A good trainer will cost from $350.00 up per month to train your dog. In most cases this is the best choice.

The best option is to visit a place like Mountain View Hunting Preserve in Delta, Al. where we make sure you have world-class bird dogs to hunt with and plenty of fast flying birds to shoot at. All you have to do is show up with a big appetite and plenty of shotgun shells.

If you would like more information or to book a hunt at Mountain View Hunting Preserve, please call 256-488-9442.