i'd say, that maybe you need not to train quite that long. when the dog does the command right, stop and work on the next command. ALWAYS, stop on a good note and put the dog up before he gets tired of the training and while his tail is still wagging. for birds, maybe you could use some homing pigeons. it doesn't take much to keep afew in the back yard, and you can reuse them over and over when you are trying to work with a pup. i use pigeons some.