I'm blessed to have both a wirehaired griffon and a drahthaar. Unless you are a serious hunter of upland game, waterfowl and fur, with many days afield doing that, I would not go drahthaar. Mine is a hunt loving machine at 13 months and if he isn't running around my 5 acres, he would be a handful. I love him and he has passed his HZP already. They train easy and are wonderful dogs, but have to be hunted a great deal.
The griffon, he is 9.5 years old and way less wired for hunting. That may be a reflection of this particular litter, or perhaps my less strict training with him 9 years ago. Regardless, he has been a faithful and steady partner. Low shedder, very good with little kids climbing on him, and a favorite family clown. We love him dearly. For what the OP describes, I really think the WPG is the dog for him. They can have separation anxiety and we work from home so that was never an issue. Be best if they can be a part of the family though and if so, they are pretty special dogs.
As far as tracking in CO, they did change the law and a dog on lead can track wounded game. Again for those types of duties, nothing I've seen is going to beat a well trained drahthaar. I feel blessed to have both and would probably go all drahthaar if forced to pick one for hunting. But jogging, hiking with dog on lead, camping, kids, general goofiness, the WPG is great. As of right now, they are both sleeping on the couch with me, waiting for daylight and a run.
