PeteM I have a GSP that will be 14 in June and I couldn't agree more. I was warned when I first got Molly at 7 weeks that GSP's were crazy and she would tear up my house. I lived in a 1300 sf condo (with no yard) for the first 3 years of owning her and never once was she destructive. She was a true Urban Gun Dog. I'm in IT and was lucky enough to work at home and being in Silicon Valley my employer let us bring dogs in to work when I had to go in the office. I taught my dog the whoa command on my coffee table. I would hide bumpers around the condo and tell her to go find them and she would bring them back every time. It was a daily exercise that she absolutely loved. But there is nothing like the drive she has to hunt. To this day once I turn down the dirt rd where we hunt pheasants she starts whining and running around back and forth in anticipation to get out in the field. I'm biased but I have never had a smarter dog, easiest to train, or one with such prey drive and intensity, but could turn it off in the house. I know there isn't much time left as she can't hear very well and she is getting slower but she still has the drive and wants to fetch tennis balls 24/7.
The only negative for the OP is that GSP's shed and it is a different type of hair so he may want to spend a couple days with one to test for an allergic reaction.
