A successful bird dog needs to learn the right things in the right order. Handling, running a forward pattern, backing, stopping to flush, and standing steady to wing and shot are skills that dogs can master if they’re given the guidance they need to learn them. For a dog’s skills to continue to improve, his or her handler must understand how to help them along after the dog leaves our string.

I’m John McIltrot and I’ve been following bird dogs around for the past twenty years. I train and run pointing dogs on the prairie near my home in central Montana. Each summer I work dogs on native sharptailed grouse, gray partridge, and pheasants. I love dogs and horses, and consider it a privilege to spend each day with them.

We train dogs for hunters and field trial competitors. Our program consists of helping young dogs build confidence through success, conditioning for peak physical performance, using a logical progression of steps to teach “whoa”, “here”, and bird manners in a controlled yard work setting, and finally, finishing dogs in the field by training from horseback on wild gamebirds.