Although there are a lot of similarities between bird dogging and beginning wholesaling, they are definitely not the same. The largest difference between them is control, especially over who has the buyers.
Let me explain. Bird dogging basically is finding houses (or buyers) for another investor who buys and then sells or keeps. It is the same as finding a deal and assigning to another buyer (i.e. wholesaling). Beginning wholesalers do a lot of this, but usually the bird dog does not make nearly the kind of money that the wholesaler earns.
When I started I was bird dogging houses for some investors. It allowed me to become really good at one part of the business. I became super good at finding deals but had no idea how to sell properties, i.e. to find buyers. That is where wholesaling becomes different. A wholesaler must become good at all aspects of the business: finding deals and finding buyers.
When I was bird dogging I thought I was making good money - 500 to 1000 bucks a house, and I was finding 5 to 10 deals a month for other investors. When I decided to go all the way and find my own buyers, my income increased significantly - I could get 3 to 5k on every deal doing as many deals a month as before.
Now that I really got to wholesale houses strong, I am using hard money and I close on all my contracts. Only occasionally would I do an assignment. You really begin to see the difference in bird dogging and true wholesaling as your business grows.
Despite the apparent similarities, once you dig deep you see that the bottom line difference is control. I work for myself not depending on the big dog wholesalers and investors. I have a group of buyers that I sell to on a monthly basis, and I have people that want to bird dog for me. I may pay them 500 or 1000 for their work while I make 5k just sending the deal they found to my buyers list. Can you see the difference?
Bird dogging is a great way to start. You may never want to go any further, but if you are planning get in this business full time (and being able to do it in any market), you need to try to get into wholesaling as fast as you possibly can.