tudurgs- I suspect that you're onto something. I am almost a complete neophyte when it comes to good dogs (mine have been mostly pets and mutts). So, this is a brave new world for me. What helps is having a 9-year old campaigning (almost daily) for another dog, and....it would be very nice to have one that is dual-use. This allergy thing really limits my choices, but I figured that if there was any collection of folks who would know something about upland bird hunting dogs, it would be the denizens of this forum.