Phys doc-I belong to a bird dog club (for 20 years) and personally own 3 field bred spaniels that I trained. I have some recommendations for you. I have also asked a club member who has GR's to recommend a field bred golden kennel.
First, I would contact breeders that only handle field bred lines. Ask them to share their pedigrees, which should show hunt test or field champs. From what my golden retriever friend tells me, dogs from this breed should be tested for a number of things before breeding...eyes, hips, elbows, heart and I am not sure I am getting all of the tests here.
When you settle on a prospective litter to buy a pup from, tell the breeder what exactly you want out of the dog, and ask them to pick a puppy from the litter that has the right personality for you. That might work, although pups change as they mature. It will assure that you get a pup that you can handle if you have never trained a dog.
What really worked for me was joining the bird dog club 20 years ago. That provided me with experienced training partner/mentors, and access to birds. Bird dogs need birds starting pretty young!
I'll post the recommendations I get from my contact here or PM you when I get this, probably this weekend...Good luck!
