I waited just over a year to write this review to really see what we had in our dog. Its hard not to rate any puppy with their cute faces a 5/5 in the first six months haha. Our dog Diesel is from Roscoe and Liesel. First I will start with family life, then field life, the breeder, then training and how we have found to keep him happy.

Diesel is a fantastic animal. At home he is gentle and kind with our children, he is obedient and a great family dog. He is not food or toy territorial with our children and other dog. He is outside a lot as he has access to our yard at all times, and is a pleasure in the yard. We have neighbors that have dogs that constantly bark, Diesel is not a barker. He does have a bark, and it a big deep bark, but he does not use it often. He will use it as a protector, which is perfect, because that is a dogs roll in my mind. He was quick to potty train, is crate trained, and continues to be in his crate for sleeping. We walks on a leash great and most of the time I have him off leash but in the heel command and he stay with me throughout the neighborhood. He is also trained to release from heel so when we get to the field he doesn't just take off. He has to be released from heel. Once you do, he is a rocket and its neat to see how fast he is. Place trained so when need him to calm, or when we are eating, he is in his place. He loves other dogs, and other people, and does well meeting new people/dogs. He still gets excited but for the most part able to contain it. Again he is just barely one. He loves to play fetch with the kids, chase dragon flies in the back yard, play hide and seek, and just sniff the air if out by himself, etc. Just a great family animal.

In the field, he shines. Again he is just over a year, so he isn't fully polished yet, but he is ready for his first bird season come fall. Where he is in his training given his age, he is right on track for where were expect him to be. He whoa's on command, hold whoa, points, holds point, honors other dogs point and retrieve, he retrieves very well, is confident and bold, has no issues going into thick brush/water and is just at home in the working field. He has a strong nose, and has learned old vs new sent. He has a great range gauge and does not go to far and consistently checks where you are moving and moves with you in the field. We do use a dog colar with tracking just in case, but when toned (not vibrate or shock) he comes right to you. He has zero gun shyness, and once we pick up that shotgun, he is all business. He loves to be in the field working and hunting.

Training Diesel has been a pleasure. He really tries to please. He is a quick learner, he is smart and gets things in a few reps, then just needs reinforcement to drive it home. Once he realizes what the expectation is and what it is you want him to do, he is quick to adapt. We have trained him diligently, and we moved when he was about eight months old, so during our move we didn't want to lose any ground so we did send him for training during our move. When we picked him up to quote our trainer, "thats a lot of dog, its been a while since i have had a good one like that." Now I didn't know if he was being kind and says that to all his clients, but when he asked if I would be interested in breeding Diesel (not that that is my intention at all) because he "has all the right stuff" I believe he truly meant it. He has been a gun dog trainer for greater than 20 years and came highly recommended.

Idaho Hunting Dogs: The Breeder
It is obvious that Cherly lovers her dogs. She has high character, and expects her dogs to go to great homes. You can tell she cares about the sire and dam, and also the puppies born. She has full body examinations completed on the parents, and guarantees a clean bill of health for the pups. With that there is the expectation of proper nutrition and vitamins given to the dog by the new owners. She is a responsible breeder, and in the contract it outlines expectations of care for your new pup. She was great to communicate with and it was fun watching the dogs grow up on camera while we waited to take ours home. She has been doing this for a long time, and it shows.

Overall, Diesel has been an amazing dog. We love him to death. he is a great family/house dog and a workhorse in the field. His only limitation in performance is really our limitation as trainers. We are very excited to have him in our home and working fields with him for as long as we can have him. He is just the best.

This next part is for those who are new to GSPs as we were and we did a lot of research before buying the breed. We did so with the intention of having a great family dog that is also a great hunter. Diesel fits the bill on both accounts. He needs his exercise, and a good dog is a tired dog. So with any GSP, make sure you have the time to exercise and train you pup because they have all the potential in the world. We typically take Diesel out in the morning for about an hour (escalated to this as he tolerated while growing. First we had him it was 10-15 min). Half training, half just having fun (training should be fun too). He has our second dog to wrestle with and five kids to keep him busy the rest of the day. Usually after work I will also play fetch with him for 20-30 min. I have been told you are not supposed to wrestle with your gun dogs, but I can't help it and we typically have a wrestling match at some point during the day. (We do not play tug of war as that can lead to bird delivery issues). These dogs have energy for days. Not only do they need the physical stimulation, but the need the mind stimulation as well. This breed is absolutely amazing, and we plan on getting another GSP from Idaho Hunting Dog Kennel in about a year when Diesel is fine tuned. They are amazing dogs, and we are so happy we got Diesel and a GSP breed, but they have taken more time (not slow learning, but need the exercise, thus extra time) than other breeds we have had. Please consider this when selecting the breed. They will reward you with tons of love, joy and performance but it takes time and investment on your part as the dog owner.