Summer is a great time to combine regular non-slip training with more casual upland work Photo by Clay Connor.

“Jim,” Howard Brickley said, “why don’t you just let that dog hunt?”

He said this during a mid-summer training session many years ago, when he saw me teaching a golden retriever to quarter in the uplands. The late Howard Brickley was something of a guru among dog folks whereabouts. He had done it all: pointing dogs, retrievers, and especially spaniels; field trials, obedience trials, and whatever else was available. So whenever he spoke, I listened. Thus, I ceased teaching that golden, or any retriever, “flat-pattern” (windshield wiper) quartering.

Sure, it can be done, but each dog can absorb only so much formal training before his brain’s overload light begins to glow. Marking and especially the endless complexities of the blind retrieve pretty well fill the typical retriever’s capacity for regimented learning.

Happily, any retriever that is well-trained in these skills can be turned into a journeyman upland flusher without additional training. True, he won’t have the slash, dash, and polish of a well-bred, well-trained spaniel, but he’ll get the job done. All you need to do with such a retriever is, as Howard Brickley said, “just let him hunt.”

How It Works
If your retriever understands a release command, obeys the Sit-whistle and the Come-in whistle and is accustomed to gunfire, he already has all the formal training he needs for this quite informal kind of upland work. With your release command (Okay or whatever), turn him loose to hunt. When he flushes a bird, shoot it, and let him retrieve it. After a couple such delightful experiences, he’ll understand and love this new game. For him, it’ll be pure pleasure, with no additional pressure.

Controlling him will be easy. When he pushes too far out, stop him with the Sit-whistle and make him wait until you catch up. When he swings too far to either side, bring him back with the Come-in whistle; when he’s again within your comfort zone, release him with Okay. When he gets too far ahead while trailing a runner, stop him with the Sit-whistle until you catch up, and then release him to continue trailing.

Such stop-and-go trailing, typically through light to moderate cover, usually results in a flush within 20 yards of you. When he chases a fly-away (a hen or a missed bird), stop him with the Sit-whistle, and call him back with the Come-in whistle.

It’s that simple. Granted, he won’t be steady to flush like a proper spaniel, that is, he won’t sit immediately after flushing a bird and wait until you send him to retrieve. If you want that refinement, you’ll have to train him for it. (For information on how to do this, see my book, HUP! Training Spaniels the American Way, available from the Gun Dog Bookshelf.) But do you need it? If you hunt mostly pheasants, you really don’t.

Pheasants usually flush and fly high, so a chasing dog almost never interferes with the shooting. If you hunt birds that often skim the cover, like quail, you should either steady your retriever or expect to pass up a few shots. It’s your choice.

Why A Summer Warm-Up?
Clearly, you can start hunting your retriever in the uplands next fall with no additional training. He’ll catch on after he flushes a couple of birds. However, during the off-season, working him in the uplands in this informal manner with planted birds can be almost as much fun as hunting for both of you. You get to shoot birds and he gets to flush and retrieve them, a win-win situation.