The one thing all the great hunting dogs have that each poster has mentioned is drive and some training. I would venture to say that if your bird dog whether it is a pointer, setter, flusher, or retriever has both of these things, you can put birds in the bag anywhere you go in the world. Sometimes the temps are hot, sometimes there cold. Sometimes we pick a bad spot to go hunting. Sometimes we pick the honey hole. Sometimes birds will hold, sometimes they won' t. Some dogs have bad days. Some hunters have days when they can' t hit there butts with there hands. Through it all, the good days and the bad days, the praises and the insults I would have to say I still made a good choice in hunting dogs. I have no regrets about owning a Lab and hunting upland birds with her. I don' t regret hunting waterfowl with my little 33lb. springer that thinks a 17lb. goose is just an overgrown fetching dummy. Someday I may own a pointing dog, but today I don' t and I do not regret that or feel that I have lost any birds because I don' t own one.
You may feel the same way about your dogs. Thats great!! I know my dogs aren' t the best in the world. But I tell them they are, and they believe it. I hope you all have a productive season this year. Mine starts on Sep. 1st. and ends on Jan 31. I don' t plan to miss much of it.