A bird dog that's bred right doesn't require much training. So says Bob Sanderson of Fryeburg, Maine, who for more than 35 years has been breeding English setter gun dogs that instinctively point birds and don't chase them or run off to hunt by themselves. Sanderson never uses an electronic collar and shuns brute force. In practice sessions I use a check cord to teach them to come when Bob Sanderson's dogs are naturally close hunters.
Training merely reinforces their inclinations.
If one dog's ancestors mostly preferred pointing birds over chasing them, and stayed in contact with their handlers when hunting instead of running off to hunt by themselves, that dog will produce mostly others that instinctively behave the same way. Forceful training techniques have evolved in order to forge gun dogs out of animals whose genes want them to be something else. You don't need to use force on dogs that are bred to behave the way you want. That's a tough proposition. You're working against the dog's natural instincts.