Updates?

Personally, I would purchase a pup (7-8 weeks old) at the end of winter as mustad recommends. It gives you just enough time to do yard training, collar conditioning (if used) and gun conditioning before the start of the season. The perfect situation should be yard training to field training to intro to hunting without months long breaks in-between or over train a dog. Sounds funny, but a young dog will quickly shutdown if you spend too much time in training.

A few pointers:
1. Read up on training to get a handle on the terminology so you can understand what dog people/handlers are talking about. When they say 'stake out' or 'table' they mean a tool with a specific configuration. 'Collar' usually means electronic collar, 'barrel' means a stationary barrel, etc.

2. When visiting the kennel, look at the condition of the kennel. Does it look clean? Dogs watered daily? Are they there for the longterm (kennel solidly built, or scrap wood)?

3. Ask to see the parents. Confirmation will tell you alot about how the athletic ability. Are the parents in good condition? Lope or glide when running, trotting? It won't tell anything about their hunting ability but it'll show how long (hours per day, how many years) you will able to hunt. Bad, when hunting after a couple of hours, dog becomes a boot licker. Worse, dog pulls a tendon then you can only hunt with them for a few hours weekly (heartbreaking). If you can, ask to see how the parents hunts. Most kennels will have enough open land + a few birds on hand for training.

4. A second breeding is sometimes better. With a second litter, you can contact owners of the first litter and ask them concerning the kennel and the pups. Any reputable breeder will gladly give you references. A second breeding will usually be very close to the first.