Hiring a guide with a dog is a righteous idea, as a dog for sure is nice to have especially for cripples and I too enjoy watching them work. People can't guide on state managed land in SD (I am unsure about federally managed land there), so if you were to go that route it would likely be on private land. Some B&Bs actually rent dogs out to hunters, so there is another option for you. They're not necessary though and I think even a detriment sometimes with late season birds used to running from them. Once I am in a different living situation I for sure want to get another retriever but I have adapted to effectively hunting birds without them. When the crops are cut the birds are forced onto linear features such as fence lines, canal banks and borrow ditches, or the sections that have been conveyed to the state and left for habitat. I usually have no issue getting a limit when I do it the way I want to but it can take quite a bit of walking.
I have been known to glass for them to get an idea of where one is at before walking after it. For the bigger state sections where they're not in concentrated and in predictable spots, tracking them after a fresh snow is a way I have limited out many, many times over the years. Here again, a dog can actually be a detriment as the birds are used to running from them, but sometimes hold tight(er) for a person who is tracking them.
As for planted vs wild birds, I believe the state does plant some and I am sure they get mixed in with wild birds. I have accidentally shot a few of those in Idaho. They're usually easy to spot though as many can barely fly unless they were carryovers. Even if you were to get into some of those planters they're not a put and take kind of hunt.
