Another point to consider is the eight or so months of the year that you are not hunting pheasants. Will you keep it in a kennel outside or will it be in the house with the family? How good of a house dog does your choice make?Do you have little kids around - toddlers love big dogs, but they can get knocked around quite easily. People with nice size GSP's attest totheir little ones getting knocked aroundallthe time - young dogs are unmeaningly rambunctious (sp?). Do you have the room for a bigger dog? A Lab is an awesome upland dog, but nobody considers that otter tail of theirs in the house. (those of you with labs know what I'm talking about - don't set a drink down on the coffee table!). What kind of cover do you hunt? Is it wide open CRP that a pointing breed would be good at covering a lot of unproductive cover or is it pockets of bramble/bushes that a flushing dog would be perfect getting under it and rousting those roosters out? Is it tree lines, creek bedsor is it cattail sloughs where apointing dog wouldn't be that visible? Is it corn, sorghum or milo (food plots)? Do you want to flush the bird while the dog stands pretty outside the messy cover or would you rather have the dog do the flushing up under that crap? Do you hunt alone (with maybe one other friend/family member) or do you hunt with a party of people?

When you consider all of that - small enough to fit in the house, great with the kids, the type cover hunted, awesome pheasant dog, does pretty good on ducks, even games to play in the off season- sounds like a field bred Springer or Cocker fits the bill to me.