Gun dog?

A lot depends on how well disciplined you want your dog to be. I have buddies that have trained their dogs themselves, and are great retrievers and pick up a lot of ducks. However, they won't go on 200-300 yard blind retrieves, which can be pretty hard to train a dog to do if you aren't experienced in training dogs for that. But both sides (training yourself or sending dog of) both have their pros and cons.

I have had a good dog I trained and later sold and hunted over many that were taught in the back yard. If they'll pick up a duck you knocked down and bring it back, that's 75% of the battle and good enough for most hunters.

If you want one you can send, whistle, make him sit, and send a different direction with a hand signal... Send it to a professional trainer.

Even with those, it seems a lot of dogs regress and just become comfortable with the blind, surroundings and handler and pick up the majority of the ducks. The hand signaling, force fetch, etc. go out the window for more practical actions. In other words, if you knock down 2 or 3, most hunters will not complain if the dog brings the first one back, drops it, and heads back without a command or holding the bird until the handler takes it and sends him back.

I'd much rather hunt with that handler and dog, than the guy who yells at his dog, slaps and beats the shite out of him every 5 minutes for not sitting perfectly still or holding the bird until he says give.