There's nothing better than a breed argument. everybody has a favorite

I love a good GSP. Wonderful dogs. You will certainly be happy with your new buddy.

But I tend to agree with the majority on here. If you want a dog to retrieve your dove and ducks it seems rather logical to get a retriever. This could be any type of retriever. Labrador, Golden, Chesapeake... or maybe even a spaniel or boykin. You could probably get the square peg through the round hole if you work long enough at it but why not buy the round peg to begin with? Would you hunt dove with a .270? I bet you could get one every now and then but it would be a challenge and you may go deaf.

But you also said you have three labradors and not a single one retrieves or swims. Now THAT is bizarre. Don't really have an answer for that one.

"""But you also said you have three labradors and not a single one retrieves or swims. Now THAT is bizarre. Don't really have an answer for that one."""
He said they were rescue dogs----- that explains it -----

Reinforces my point about predisposition vs nurture.

The same dog I hunt quail with, is my duck and goose dog. Not a GSP, but a vizsla. If a vizsla can sit in a duck blind, and lay in a goose field, I would think a well bred GSP could do the same.
I use him for a tower shoot one day, and a walk hunt the next. I've even did both in the same day.

I live in Texas. Not like it get's cold enough here to matter. I too use a Vizsla. I have owned a Lab before and if I only hunted Waterfowl, I might own one, but I prefer a Vizsla for other reasons. Been on a few Dove hunts in recent years when it was so hot and dry that persons I was hunting with left their Labs at home. My Vizslas sat by my side happy as a bug on those days, handled the heat just fine, and retrieved my birds. The coats on my dogs get thicker in the fall and I do not overly bath them so not to remove any oils in their coats. I have been on quite a few hunts where my hunting partners left their Labs at home because they thought it was too cold for them. My Vizsla's retrieved those guy's birds and mine just fine those days. A GSP is not much different and would make a fine versatile dog for pointing or retrieving. I would not buy one for a dedicated retriever if that was all I did, but if that is the breed of dog you prefer, it will just take a little more work and time than a Labrador or other retrieving breed to get one trained where you want it for bonus sit at your side retrieving work. But then to be honest if most of my hunting were Texas Dove hunting, I would take the extra work of a Dove retrieving GSP over a Lab any day due to the breed being able to handle the hot weather better.

If my Vizsla's can do this with, a GSP can do this.

So I have read everyone's post, and feel I need to kick this dead horse a bit. If you truly are looking for a dog for retrieving then It might be easier on you and your wallet to research another breed. BUT, if you want a GSP, get a GSP. They can do it all, but look into getting help with training. If you have not trained many dogs it would be wise to seek outside help at some point. I've owned 4 GSP so far, only one was trained to hunt dead. And only one liked getting in the water. That's why I carried my Springer Spaniel with me if I needed a retriever. If I remember, and completely of subject, there was a feller that posted that he wanted some insight on training his pitbull to blood trail wounded deer. Of course everyone started to give him their opinions about why he needed this dog or that dog. trying not being disrespectful towards the folks that responded, but It's simple, he liked the breed of the dog and wanted to it to have a job. Anyhow back to the point, if getting a GSP makes you happy then pick out the flashiest pup you see, nothing wrong with a good looking working dog.
I wish you the best of luck and hope that the dog turns out the way you want it. After all, it's your dog.

Catch Dog presents some great points. I would add if a dog is to be used for retrieving, you want to look for a pup from a line known for retrieving. But then this goes for retrieving breeds as well.

In the early 1980s I was on a TPWD experimental drawn hunt for Pheasant at Granger WMA. It was hot. Over 100 degrees F. A pair of dogs died on the hunt before ours. I ownded what I considered a decent Britany. Assigned to the same compartment as us was a couple guys from South Louisiana with a Pit Bull. At the gate I questioned and made fun of their dog. Less than a minute later that Pit stopped still and the Cajuns shot the first Rooster of the morning. My Brit struggled with scenting birds in the heat and wind while we watched that Pit find and point and or flush blocked birds. The Cajuns limited out that day. We got nothing. We all shared a campfire that night. I apologised for my comments at the gate about their choice of dog. Asked how they trained a Pit to hunt birds, the Louisiana boys simply said "you can put a whoa on anything".

My gsp, she's a duck and dove machine, she also points. Gsp are high energy, if u start em young they ll do whatever u want em too. I work w my dog even if it's just throwing decoys about 3 times a week. The dog will run like there's no tmrw and want more. Just work w em train em young for what you want and keep em busy. You ll get what your after

Interesting story John about the pit bull So was the pit bull scenting birds on his own

Sure did seem to. It kept finding the needle in a haystack that hot weekend. Those guys from Louisiana shamed all us Texans and our bird dogs with that XXmn Pit Bull. It was that experience that sent me on the path of versatile dogs. I also had Walker Hounds and night hunted about three nights a week long after my Brittany was gone. I had one runt hound that I used for daytime rabbit hunting around Texoma where family had a place. That dog busted a covey of Quail one day which got me to thinking. Remembering my experiences on the Granger hunt I started keeping my day hound reeled in closer, working with him on birds, and shooting flushed Quail in front of him. He hunted different than a bird dog or flusher in that he ground tracked the quail mostly. He did not retrieve and was still hot on fur. He was my one bobcat dog for night hunting, fast, and fearless. He pinned a cat trapped by water on a horseshoe bend of Hickory Creek once and got so cut up I had to carry him out around my neck bleeding all over me. Knowing what I know now looking back, I honestly think rather than a bobcat he tangled with one of the mountain lions known to live along there at that time north of Copper Canyon. That dog was bat crazy and I eventually had to find a new home for it started attacking my other hounds at the tree. Not to mention the birds got more and more scarce where I could hunt. But man what a neat dog to tree fur by night, and run rabbits and flush Quail by day. As my hunting grounds grew houses I had to get out of night hunting and hounds. Now having owned and trained a Lab, Brit, Redbone and Walkers, my Quail hunting Walker, and remembering those Cajuns who can "put a whoa on anything" I wanted to attempt to train a single dog that I could take with me for any kind of hunting I want to do. Three years waiting for the right breeding of size and versatile hunting ability a pup finally found me. My experiment with my Vizsla Blaze was more successful than I could have ever hoped. Blaze's nephew Dash is an even better Pointing dog, but just as versatile. He was treeing Squirrels with me over the weekend and in a couple weeks will be by sitting by my side while Turkey hunting. All thanks to a Cajun, a Pit Bull, and a Limit of Pheasants. By the way back when in School I had worked with some rats as part of a science project. On the side I trained one of them to do various tricks including retrieving. But I never "put a whoa on it".