My brother wrote this advice for a friend of ours and I thought it verged on poetic:

What you have to make clear to the "boss" (wife/girlfriend) is that this is truly for the dog.  All the time spent serching for the right dog, money spent to buy the dog,  food, vet and other care products for the dog and October is for the dog.  No other time of year is more important to your dog than right now and when its gone, good bye till next year.  Oh sure you may say you'll get out around your area and that may actualy happen once or twice, but nothing and I mean nothing is more intense, more demanding, and more satisfing for your dog than to go for a week--day in and day out.

How much would you pay in vet bills for an emergency?  How long would you search thru the night if he were lost?  How many mountains would you climb for your dog?  So why not give him one of the most simple things he needs? Hunting. And what better hunting then on truly wild birds.  Birds that may have never even seen a person before.