Sporting Breeds by Group:
AKC Gun Dog Breed Standards

Sporting Breeds

This group of fairly active dogs is composed of a wide variety of sporting breeds, which were developed to aid hunters by finding, flushing out and retrieving game. Members of this group all need a fair amount of exercise but you don’t have to be a hunter to own one of these dogs. Many breeds in this group are usually very good with children and include the: English Setter; Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Welsh Springer Spaniel, English Cocker Spaniel, and Flat Coated Retriever. Dogs in this group range in size from small dog breeds like the American Cocker Spaniel up to medium to large dog breeds with the setters (English, Irish and Gordon) and the Weimaraner being the largest. The two most popular family dogs in the world are the Labrador Retriever and the Golden Retriever.

This Group of Sporting Breeds includes the following:

American Water Spaniel
Brittany
Chesapeake Bay Retriever
Clumber Spaniel
Cocker Spaniel
Curly-Coated Retriever
English Cocker Spaniel
English Setter
English Springer Spaniel
Field Spaniel
Flat-Coated Retriever
German Shorthaired Pointer
German Wirehaired Pointer
Golden Retriever
Gordon Setter
Irish Setter
Irish Water Setter
Labrador Retriever
Pointer
Sussex Spaniel
Vizsla
Weimaraner
Welsh Springer Spaniel
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Naturally active and alert, Sporting dogs make likeable, well-rounded companions. Members of the Group include pointers, retrievers, setters and spaniels. Remarkable for their instincts in water and woods, many of these Sporting Breeds actively continue to participate in hunting and other field activities. Potential owners of Sporting dogs need to realize that most require regular, invigorating exercise.

The top ten most popular Sporting Breeds in the US are the following.

#1 Labrador Retriever

Labrador Retrievers are the most popular dog in the US (#1) and one of the best family dogs in the world. The Lab is gentle, loyal, intelligent and extremely reliable with children. These large-sized Retrievers are not apartment dogs but can adapt well to city living if they are given sufficient exercise. The Labrador is good natured and eager to learn and can be easily trained to do everything from competitive obedience and field trials to becoming a "seeing-eye" dog for the blind.

#2 Golden Retrievers

This Retriever is a good hunting dog, seeing-eye dog, obedience and agility competitor, and outstanding family dog. The extremely popular (#2) Golden is a gentle, confident and loyal dog that is cheerful, trustworthy and responsive to training. This breed makes a wonderful family dog that is friendly with everyone – both human and other animals. This large-sized Retriever does very well with children but toddlers should always be supervised as young untrained dogs can be over exuberant.

#3 Cocker Spaniels

The American Cocker Spaniel is smaller than its English cousin – the English Cocker Spaniel. This beautiful spaniel has a luxurious thick and silky coat. These small- to medium- sized gun dogs can be used for hunting and retrieving but is best loved (#15) as a companion and show dog. Cockers get along extremely well with children and strangers and can adapt to apartment living if exercised twice daily.

#4German Shorthaired Pointer

The German Shorthaired are very athletic gun-dogs that doesn’t belong in the city. This large-sized dog is loyal, intelligent and eager to learn and can be trained for field, agility and obedience competitions. This breed (#20) but needs to be challenged both mentally and physically. The breed makes a good family dog but may be too exuberant for toddlers and small children.

#5 English Springer Spaniel

The cheerful medium-sized English Springer Spaniel is the progenitor of the English hunting spaniels and the largest of the spaniel dog Sporting Breeds. Spaniels make both excellent hunting retrievers and good family dogs that get along well with children. Some Springer bloodlines have shown some aggression and dominance so early socialization and obedience training for males should be a priority.

#6 Weimaraner

The (#30) Weimaraner is a large-sized hunting dog breed. This high-energy Sporting Breeds dog needs an athletic family that can satisfy his demanding exercise requirements. The Weimaraner needs an experienced owner who can manage and control this headstrong breed and provide early socialization and on-going obedience training. This dog doesn’t do well with children unless it is raised with them. Weims need to live indoors and spend a lot of time with their families. Well trained Weimaraners are a delight but poorly trained dogs can be destructive, rambunctious, have a high prey drive and try to dominate other dogs.

#7 Brittany

The Brittany Spaniel is an active medium-sized dog that is intelligent, loyal and easy to train. It makes a terrific hunting dog or family pet and requires very little grooming and does very well with all children. This breed (#30) needs lots of exercise and makes a fairly good watchdog.

#8 Vizsla

The Short-haired Vizsla is a (#44) medium- to large-sized hunting dog breed with an elegant bearing and strong and muscular appearance. The Vizsla is lively, sweet, affectionate and somewhat sensitive. These athletic, sporty, and agile sporting breeds need lots of exercise and lots of human companionship. Vizlas must be socialized and trained early to build confidence and prevent neurotic behavior. This is not a city dog and it needs to live with a very active family.

#9 Chesapeake Bay Retriever

The Chessie is the strongest and most powerful of the sporting breeds. This large dog loves hunting but also is a great family dog and gets along well with all children. This intelligent breed is (#49) somewhat distrustful of strangers and makes a good watchdog. These Sporting canines are not city dogs and need a lot of regular exercise and love to go swimming.

#10 Irish Setter

The (#67) Irish is an exuberant, happy-go-lucky, goofy, kind, charming and intelligent dog. This breed has no aggression and welcomes everybody. These Setters can be somewhat independent and easily distracted but are intelligent and eager to learn and therefore can be trained fairly easily. The Irish is a superb hunting dog and must have lots of exercise with challenging field and retrieval exercises. If these dogs are given early obedience training, they adapt very well to older children. However these sporting breeds are so lively and impulsive that if untrained could knock toddlers over.

Gun dogs, also called bird dogs, are a category of dog breeds.

Gundogs are divided into three primary classes: Retrievers, flushing spaniels, and pointing breeds.

Method of Work for Pointers and Setters

Upon reaching the field, the handler often will cast or direct the gun dogs in a wide circle. Experienced gun dogs will search the edges of the field knowing that birds are usually found there. This wide run helps to burn off the dog’s initial exuberance and may help the dog establish its bearings and form a "background" upon which game smells will be processed. The gun dog then begins working back and forth, starting near the hunter and slowly ranging out. The dog repeats this process as the hunters move through the field. How far a handler allows the gun dogs to range is a matter of personal preference. When a pair of dogs works as a team, one works close in while the other ranges out in larger circles. If either dog becomes birdy, the other dog works its way over to assist. Good bird dogs are alert to their handlers and to the disposition of other gun dogs in the field. They should readily comply if the handler casts them to an area of particular interest, such as a brush pile or shuck of corn.

When game is detected, a dog freezes, either pointing or crouching. If other dogs are present, they also freeze, "honoring" the first dog’s point. The pointing dog remains motionless until the hunters are in position. Handlers give the command whoa, instructing the dog to remain still. What happens next depends on how the dog has been trained. Some trainers train the dog to stay motionless while the hunter steps forward and flushes the game. Other trainer’s direct gun dogs to flush the game with a command such as get it! Pointing dogs excel on covey type birds such as bobwhite quail and grouse as these birds will hold in position well allowing the hunter to approach and get into position. A well trained pointer is truly a magnificent sight representing the combined efforts of generations of hunters and breeders.

If a bird is downed, the dogs are instructed to search for it with the command dead bird, or simply dead. The dogs then search for and retrieve the downed game.

Sporting Breeds

Method of Work for Flushing Dogs

When hunting upland game, flushing dogs (spaniels and retrievers) work much more closely with the hunter. Flushers will not cover the same amount of ground as a pointing dog as the flusher must be kept within shotgun distance. Flushing dogs are often used on birds which run from the hunter. On such birds, such as pheasant, an aggressive flush is necessary to spring the bird to wing. Flushing gun dogs excel on these types of bird because they do not point the birds, giving them little time for escape on the ground. Pointing breeds are used on such birds, but must be well trained to know when the bird pointed has moved.

Once a bird has been flushed, the dog will sit or "hup" to watch the flight of the bird and mark the fallen birds for retrieval. The dog which does this successfully is referred to as steady to wing and shot. Steadiness is the referral hallmark of the finished spaniel.

When a bird is shot, the dog should mark where it fell and wait until given the command to retrieve. Once so commanded, the dog will race to the point of fall, pick up the bird, and return it to the handler.

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