The Gundog - A Hunter's Best Friend

When it comes to the sport of hunting - the gundog is definitely a hunter's best friend. Gundogs have been used to assist man since the days when survival crucially depended on hunting skills, not only for food to eat, but for clothing and shelter provided by the hides of the hunted animals and to this day bird dogs still play an important role in hunting for sport.

Originally bred with the intention of assisting game bird hunting, the characteristics of gundogs have, over the years, been strengthened by further breeding with animals already displaying the necessary traits for hunting. Gundogs (also known as hunting dogs or bird dogs) are intelligent, active and alert breeds, easily trained for a variety of sporting uses such as hunting game birds and waterfowl, showing the hunter where the game birds are
located, startling the birds into the open for the hunter and retrieving the shot or injured birds and taking them back to the hunter. These hunting dogs love being around humans, and they require a great deal of attention and strenuous exercise. Some hunting dogs are used specifically to work in water, some only on land, whilst others are capable of working in both of these environments.

Gundogs can be divided into three categories, the retriever, the pointer and setter, and the flusher dog and listed below are the roles played by each of these types of dog.

The Retriever Dog

Ideally equipped with their water-repellant coat and webbed feet, the Retriever, as its name would suggest, will find the bird and take it back to the hunter. The Retriever is particularly suited to work in water. Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and Irish Water Spaniels are popular breeds for the Retriever category.