There is nothing quite like the partnership between a hunting dog and his or her master. This relationship goes back tens of thousands of years when man and dog depended on each other to provide crucial protein for both. Today the relationship still exists, although the importance of it has waned. All kinds of hunting dogs have been bred over the ages to perform certain functions depending on the game. Some possess only one skill, like hounds that chase and bay quarry for the hunter. Others, like Labradors and German shorthairs, are multipurpose dogs that excel with several talents such as retrieving, pointing, trailing, and flushing.

No matter the type of dog or game pursued, one important element in this hunting partnership is knowing where the dog is at all times, both for success and for safety. Little bells attached to the collar are an excellent and low-tech way for the hunter to keep track of his canine hunting buddy. With flushing dogs, needed for pheasants and other birds, the dog should never be far away so the bell can be heard as the dog courses through the underbrush or corn fields.

The hunter then knows where to expect a bird to flush and where not to shoot. At a certain distance though, the bell cannot be heard and a high-tech solution comes into play. For canines with a tendency to range a bit farther, many hunters do not use the bell anymore and instead rely on GPS collars. These collars can pinpoint a dog out to several miles, which is handy for coon and deer hunters, as well as for errant bird dogs that know better.