We went to a hunt clinic this past Sunday held by the Gateway Vizsla Club.  They did several demos of what a master hunter could do and then split us into two groups.  We were in the puppy group with my even year old and wife handling our Vizsla, Copper, and myself and my nine year old were handling Rocket.  We were in a 10 acre fenced field with a triangler path cut through the field.  They had eight quail tied to horse shoes at different locations along the path.  The odject was to walk the course with your dog and get them to point at as many birds as possible.  Then we would toss the bird up in the air and praise the dog.  It was a lot of fun.  By the third time around the course Rocket nailed every single bird.  She was doing so good that they actually had us positioning her to make her point look better.  Then they sent us up to watch the more advanced dogs.  Very pround of my little girl.

The U.P.  !  

That's the grouse capital I have heard !

One thing they showed us that we could do on our own was working with pigeons and a bird launcher. They said to load a pigeon in the launch and put it out in a field. Call your dog over and when they go on point you praise them and then launch the bird. It's a way to get your dog to associate you with the birds so they stay with you when you're hunting. They also did a little lecture about gun safety, shot gunning, and then we got to shot clays. I have to brag a little. My boys were doing pretty good. They brought their own 20 gauge pumps but, my 9 year old was doing good with a 410 side by side they had there. My 11 year old swapped this pump for a Belgian made Browning auto and was taking out clays. It was awesome hearing them yell pull and taking the shots.

I would seek another source of information for developing your dog.

of course, only my opinion
 

Pixie, could you explain what isn't right about that method.  There's always a chance that between watching my boys and hanging onto my dogs I heard/understood something wrong. 

It's not that it's not right, it would depend on what type of bird dog you ultimately want.

Maybe I misread or didn't read enough into what you posted.
I didn't read that the dog was allowed to search and come across the scent cone on its own,rather the pup was being led to it and everyone staring at the pup for it to go on point.

The methods you described do not necessarily promote a dog who hunts close, the methods are more likely to promote a dog that has little confidence and hunts too close.

What promotes a dog to work under the gun is cooperation and experience with the hunter shooting birds the dog produces.

I like to promote free ranging dogs,cooperation,exposure and obedience.

Launchers can be great, but there are better ways to use them.

Anyway, just my opinions.