I think either can learn to handle running birds although few dogs of any type handle them perfectly all the time. My shorthair has become pretty adept on ringnecks and scaled quail. I think flushers are a little better on the birds that have hunkered down while the rest ran. I think competent pointers can sometimes pin runners that the hunter with a flusher would never have caught up with. I think decently trained pointer is easier to whoa on a hot trail, although certainly a flusher can be trained to stop also. Many learn to point, relocate, point in such a manner that you can catch up to a running bird without spooking it into flushing out of range.