Boldness, pizzazz, style and energy are all part of a dog's personality. But how does emotion comes into play while they're hunting pheasants with you?

Essentially, the emotional makeup of a dog, or the personality of a dog, should be that it easily forms a friendship or even a family bond with its master. Rooted in this bond are the realistic expectations that you have for your dog, and what the dog can expect from you.

Do you want a hunting dog that is people friendly, and one that is eager to please its master? Well, of course you do, and to achieve this you have to tune your training intensity (especially in terms of obedience training) to the personality of your dog.

For example, my American water spaniel has what I would classify as a sensitive personality. Because of this, I've never been heavy-handed in my field or obedience training with her. Golden retrievers are another type of dog that are sensitive in terms of personality, and don't respond well to being treated harshly.

Can the personality of the dog be modified or taught? Yes, but remember, education or training does have limits depending on how much adaptability the dog has and how good of a teacher/trainer the dog's owner is.

Intelligence
Intelligence just might be the most important trait that defines a good pheasant dog. The ability of the dog to understand what to do in certain situations and to listen to its master (at all times) is essential. When a dog is trained to perfection, its performance becomes an art form.

When pheasants are running from dogs (i.e., not flushing), good pheasant dogs, through their cognitive skills, know how to cut them off with a J-hook maneuver, such as the one I described earlier. Some dogs learn that when they hear the report of a shotgun something is about to fall out of the sky, and they're going to be dispatched to retrieve it.

Not all hunting dogs are going to be geniuses, and conversely, not all hunting dogs are going to be dummies. On average, all of the hunting breeds that are used for pheasant hunting can be trained well enough to do a good job in the field.

How does a hunter determine how intelligent a dog is? Most humans learn by repetition when it comes to learning tasks. So it is with dogs. If a dog owner were trying to teach quarter left (i.e., maneuvering the dog to the left part of a field) using a hand signal, and the dog grasps the signal after two repetitions, this would indicate the dog is quite intelligent.

Generally speaking, the fewer the repetitions needed to teach a skill or command, the better (higher) the intelligence level of the dog.

BASIC TRAINING
Here's a look at five training steps that will help your dog improve his hunting ability.

Obedience Training
Regardless of breed, a good hunting dog will always be under control. In other words, it must be obedient to its master, and be a positive influence in helping its master find and kill pheasants.

This is especially true when the hunting action gets hot. It is frustrating to have your flushing dog get too far ahead and watch helplessly as he bumps birds out of range. It is equally frustrating to have a pointer that won't hunt where you want him to or that bumps birds prematurely.

Work with your dog on obedience for 20 minutes each day, if possible. Reinforce the basic commands of sit, come and stay.