Cara,

You make some good points in your post, however I disagree with this. A good hunting dog will be good, regardless of its handler. In fact, with bad handlers, a good hunting dog will be good despite his handler. I've seen it more than a few times when a guy shows up with a 12 month old pup and he has absolutely no idea what he's doing. Despite that, the pup goes out and does his job flawlessly.

kdvollmer - I agree with the sentiment that you should just get the dog you want. As long as you socialize it well, you won't have any major problems.