My buddy has had 3 Brittany's I've hunted with. All great dogs, listened well and never ranged too far. He always bought females. He thought they were better than males. My inlaws farm was a bird factory back in the day. The habitat is still there but no the birds. My father in-law blamed the decline on coyote hunting with dogs. He said when they ran and killed coyotes the quail population was awesome. When they stopped the numbers dropped drastically. The last time we hunted there coyotes came running right up to us and the dogs. A couple left with bird shot in their back ends!