Sure makes it easier when they do. The GSP I hunt are trained to point, back, and retrieve. This is very usefull when the 28 wings a bird that lands and tries to run to the next county. You won't catch me taking a shorthair to the duck blind though. I have been known to take my Chessie to the Upland field. I used to think she had learned how to point but DOC E wrote something about Holding birds or Standing Birds, maybe that is what she's started doing. All by herself though, nothing I taught her. How do I tell the difference? All I know is it wakes me up when I see her stop which I am grateful for since it affords me a bit of prep time before the bird goes up.