It sounds like you hunt with a few guys. If you are serious about working with your dog .. leave the gun at home and focus on your dog and go out with your buddies. If you happen to put up a rooster, you won't get caught up in shooting the bird .. you can focus on directing your dogs actions.

That being said .. he'll "probably" retrieve the bird. I'm guessing you have not shot over the dog, so it will be good if you can focus the dog on the downed bird.

Use real birds to practice retrieving whenever possible.