When we first adopted Rocky at 12months old, I would have to be outside with a chuck-it tossing him tennis balls for 1hour and half. Then go down and throw a load of wash in and head back outside for another hour ball toss session.  Pretty much got nothing serious done in my house till after 1pm when Rocky would lay down and take a snooze. Well we signed up for our first manners dog class when Rocky was 15 months old. I scheduled my self off of work and did nothing but outside dog activities : ball toss, dog park walks ect to wear Rocky out so he would be good in class. Rocky's sit stay commands were 10 seconds and 15 seconds while the rest of the dogs in class were 3 and 5 minutes GSPs are high energy active dogs that need their pants ran off everyday or they will be destructive. As others have said, a tired GSP is a happy GSP  Best wishes with your new active 8 month old GSP and enjoy high energy

So after all day of playing outside today with Mom, Dad and earlier visiting brother MIke. Rocky is laying down outside. Something he never did as a younger GSP. Just like an Angel

A word of caution to the owners of dogs who are chewing power cords.  My brother had a black lab that did this and one day he bit into a power cord and was electrocuted.  He went into cardiac arrest and quit breathing from the shock and would have died had my brother not been home.  My brother knew CPR and although he had never done it on a dog, he did it on his lab and was able to resusitate him.  He took him to the vet and luckily there was no permanent damage.  For some reason dogs are tempted by power cords. I teach mine early and watch them like a hawk to make sure they do not chew on the power cords.  I have three GSPs and they are not the least bit interested in power cords because my bark is allot worse than their interest in the power cord.  I am not mean to them, but I scare them to death as a puppy when I see them thinking about a power cord. It usually only takes one time and that is enough.  I will yell, growl, and pounce and grab them by the scruff.  They get the message really fast.  Hopefully no one ever sees me as they would think I had lost my mind. So long as the dogs get the message, I don't care.

Further to what Francine said, Bo (at 18 mo) is in his crate when we are not able to be with him (he LOVES his "home". I think we would have likely gone nuts without his crate during his first few months. He did not get the concept of down time and unless we were able to devote 100% of our attention to him, he had to be crated.

Now, he's out when we are home during the day (since he is a pretty good groggy dog from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.). At 3 p.m. it seems a switch is thrown and he becomes super-energy dog until about 9 p.m. We give him a half-hour nap after his evening exercise (he goes in his crate and we go away) so he can calm down for his last hour or so before bed-time.

They require constant attention and time which seems to be the one thing that is not stressed enough about the breed. Mine are 7 and 5 and still get into trouble if Dad hasn't spent enough time with them.

Charlie has attachment issues with me if I am gone he is very upset.  In fact he got mange from attachment anxiety when I left on my first deployment.  He is slightly better now but still won't leave my side if I pack a bag or take the gun out.  In my experience who ever is the primary care giver is irreplaceable to them no matter what. Laila could have cared less about me until I was home with her after her knee surgery now she practically knocks me over when I get home from work.  You definately have to set aside pup time even as mine get older I still have to set time aside with them or they get cranky and start trouble to get my attention. If you are not willing to sacrifice your time then you really don't need to have a shorthair but if you want the most loyal loving dogs then shorthairs are for you.

Ditto what lugmastro said.  Even if I leave for just a few minutes, when I come back in the house I get a greeting like I have been gone for hours.  I also never lack for a dog to cuddle with or a companion to go do something with.  They are always up for whatever as long as it involves spending time with me.  Since I got my first GSP back in 2003 I now plan week time (usually dog training every night and playtime during the day), weekends (usually hiking, swimming or biking in the area), and vacations (trips to hike the back country in Colorado and New Mexico or beach time on the Texas coast) with the dogs.  I don't really like vacations that take me away from the pack anymore.

usschris - Your dog is at the age where they get what I call the puppy stupids. They are doing great seem to be learning and getting everything and then shazam it all goes out the window.  It will pass.  It is a different length of time for each dog, but it doesn't usually last that long.  My advice is to keep doing what you are doing with exercise, training, etc and keep your sense of humor as best you can.