I had a GWP who was an outstanding Pheasant dog. For whatever reason, I just could never get her to swim. She now resides with my son and his family where she is loved and fussed over by my Grand-daughters.
Because I am now primarily a duck hunter, I wanted a breed that would take to water like a duck, retrieve, and flush the occassional upland bird. Because I wanted a smaller breed, I settled on an American Water Spaniel. He is going on 3 now and we have had a blast together. Loves to hunt. Loves to train. He has a nice, tight coat which causes no allergy problems for me or my wife. Whenever burrs get stuck on his ears, I spray a little PAM on the comb and out they come. He weighs about 40 pounds and has handled everything from quail to geese. I have also rediscovered retriever hunt tests, which is an added bonus of fun.
Tough to find, as they are somewhat of a rare breed, but the good news is almost all that own them are hunters so they have not been split into "field" and "show" types, yet.
Anyway, something to consider. Good luck. I like them all.
