If you want a pure retreiver, you will not beat a lab. I have a freind who has a 2 year old lab that will blind retrieve a rock out of his garden. If you spend the time to train them right you can't beat them. Labs still have good noses, they might not be quite as good as some dogs, but they will definately go into the thick stuff and do a blind retrieve. It sounds to me like you want a lab.