I've got an ESS pup, just under a year old, reasonable field trial lines. He's primarily a pet, but I'd like him to be at least a rough hunting dog. We live in a remote area full of grouse, woodcock, rabbits, and deer. We got him at 13 weeks, and he started retrieving in the house as soon as he got used to being in our home. We progressed to fetching outside during the winter (very cold and snowy winter here) and he would fetch tennis balls as long as I was willing to stand in the weather. He showed early natural quartering to find objects that went into soft snow-banks, etc. so all looked
