Dennis,
I was without a dog until about 6-7 yrs ago here in your area...southern California. My first dog was a Lab. I chose a Lab not because I do waterfoul (yes, "foul")
, but because I didn't have a clue on how to train and how to handle a dog, nor what I wanted or expected from the dog. An overwhelming number of hunters suggested this was the way to go. I don't think you can go wrong with one. But you'll have to realize that in this area of the country, the heat can easily limit a lab for upland hunting. I won't take mine out if it's above 70F. The beauty and partnership formed of hunting with a lab is also their limitation. A trained lab will hunt very close so as to be in gun range all the time. That means you'll see them get birdy and work a bird up. That also means that you have to walk a lot to cover a lot of ground. If you hunt open country, you and a lab only cover a bit of it. Labs have physical limits that become apparent quickly in the heat and terrain of the southwest open country. But it's a very close and personal way to hunt upland that is pleasant and rewarding.
A couple years ago, I decided I wanted a more athletic pointing dog that could cover more ground and was more suited to the warmer climate of the southwest. I quickly narrowed my list to the German Shorthair and English Pointer. I had hunted with shorthairs and thought they were a good way to go. But after taking some classes with a well known trialer and trainer, I went with a English Pointer, because of their athletic abilities and because I don't waterfoul or fowl. I'm only a year into owning my pointer, but I can see it's starting to pay off. My pointer can cover more ground than any dog I've ever hunted around. Last year, that wasn't necessarily a good thing as AmarilloMike can attest (more like make fun of
). She was busting birds half a county away
. This year, she's really coming around and paying off. Last weekend, I had her out on wild Valley quail. She covered the entire side of a large steep hilly area about 10 acres, just on my whistle commands and her drive to hunt, then found a covey on a downwind track and turned to point it. It's a different way to hunt for sure, but I'm starting to really enjoy it because the southwest can have very sparse upland bird populations that required a lot of ground to be covered. My observation is that an English pointer will hunt faster and cover more ground, ranging further, than a German Shorthair, by a bunch in most cases. But I have seen one brace of GSP's that would give most EP's a run. But, I think it's more the exception than the rule. The kennel I visited up in Idaho in Sept trained all GSPs but is now moving to all EPs due to their athletic ability. It's sure a big jump from my lab to a EP. Probably the extreme ends of the upland dogs.
For a first dog in SoCal, I think a GSP would fit your bill of a bit of waterfoul and upland and do it well enough that you'd be really happy. The GSP's I've been around were excellent companions as well.