He is brought along slowly because the hunter knows the dog will go before him for many years. And any yard training, such as heel, sit, and stay, is minimal since the dog does best what's required of him-hunt. In the duck blind the hunting retriever casts for marks but is not necessarily sent for long blinds. Instead, the handler may walk the bank getting the dog close to the floating duck and cast him from shore. Again, rigid performance is not required.
Bird dogs are somewhat the same as hunting retrievers.
They are taught to cast to objectives, use the wind, know bird activities relative to the position of the sun, respect the bird's scent cone, stand to wing and shot, mark both deadfall and covey relocation, and deliver to hand. Birds, as a matter of fact, are an absolute necessity in training a bird dog. Oh, yes, there can be a fishing rod with a bird wing for the pup, but that soon ends. So the handler must either have a coop for pigeons, a flight pen for bobwhite, a call-back structure such as a Johnny house for quail, or feed plots. The hunter can also purchase pheasants for training, as well as chukars, but not grouse or prairie chickens.