I have two german shorthair pointers that are a little over a year old and are also litter mates.I have had them from 8 weeks old so the advice i would give you speaks from my personal experience.

1)Love the dog until there is no end in sight...you want the dog to be your best friend . So this means praising the puppy as much as you can.Handle the dog as much as possible by putting your fingers in its mouth and holding it upside down like a baby.Find a treat that it absolutely loves as a reward for doing the right things.

2)Expose the dog to many different things such as small children,shopping malls,noisy environments,other animals,ect...

3)Make sure the dog looks at you as the dominate figure in its life...dogs are a pact animal and strive to be the "top" dog.

4)Make sure you have the basic commands down such as "HERE"..."WHOA"..."HEEL"...ECT.... before going to birds as well.
last but not least....BIRDS,BIRDS,BIRDS,AND MORE BIRDS.

I have looked at raising bird dogs aslike raising children because they both have many things in common and are alot alike.They will have good days and bad days like we do so i take that into consideration.

There are many other tips i would like to help you with but the ones i have listed are just the basics i go by for the first 4-5 months.I would recomend buying a dvd such as George Hichox training video which helped me out alot.

Take a quail,grouse,or pheasant wing....tie it to the end of a fishing pole and tease the dog with it a few times.The dog should point if it has it in it.You should see the dogs dimeaner change as well.My dogs are hyper but when they smell a bird it seems like they mature 2 years all of a sudden.

As you see below my dogs are very spoiled but make great family dogs!
If you need any more help just shoot me a PM.
GOOD LUCK!!!