Special Gundog Group Information

Although dogs have long been used in relation to hunting it was the advent of the sporting gun which caused gundog breeds to be developed. It was now necessary to locate game before being scared off by the hunter and, when found and brought down by the gun, it had to be collected.

Locating game
All dogs within this group were developed to help man with his gun, although some breeds are really all-purpose dogs, whilst others have particular duties in the field. Some locate the game, some put it up so that a sportsman can shoot at it, whilst others retrieve it later. Certain breeds are noted for being particularly adept in water.

It is primarily pointers and setters which locate game. They work in front of the guns, indicating exactly where it is to be found, the pointers standing rigidly, often in that familiar pose with one foot raised in mid-stride, carrying out their tails in a straight line. Setters tend to sink down when they have discovered game. Spaniels move the game, either putting birds up in the air or forcing ground game to run, as such they hunt vigorously in front of the guns, yet never causing the target to move out of range.

In general, the larger, stronger breeds are those which retrieve game once it has been killed. These dogs have excellent scenting powers and are able to mark fallen game, watching birds fall and fetching them with little help They can make their way quickly over rough ground and through difficult cover.

Some, as has been said, are capable of performing all functions whilst there also some specialists, such as the Irish Water Spaniel which was developed especially for use in lakes and estuaries, necessitating protection from wet and cold. Gundog people are highly enthusiastic about their breeds, all of which have benefited from generations of training to obey commands. They are also great companions for man.

The sight of the Irish Setter at work with the sun gleaming on its deep, red coat must surely be one of the delights of working in the field, as is the elegant pose of the pointer at work. Coats, their color, length, texture and the amount of care they require varies substantially, but all gundogs are soft-mouthed breeds whose temperament should be thoroughly reliable. None within the group is exceptionally large, and none very small, with the American Cocker Spaniel and Cocker Spaniels at the bottom end of the scale in overall size. However, some are very substantially built and work more slowly, while others are lithe and capable of good speed. Each dog within the group has a subtly different method of working, and today many are kept for work as well as for use in the show-ring. A large percentage of the dogs ate also kept purely for companionship. Of all breeds, in Britain the Labrador Retriever is the most popular, with numbers well in excess of the second most popular breed which is, incidentally, the German Shepherd Dog.