Hunting Dog Breeds

We love our hunting dogs!

Hunting dogs are smart in the field but gentle with their people as family pets. Many may find it surprising how many popular breeds were originally established to hunt. These working dogs have high energy, strong prey drive, and good endurance, making them some of the best hunting dogs.

Breeds that help their hunters in the field have been developed over centuries to find, flush, retrieve, and tree different types of game. The American Kennel Club (AKC) has organized hunting dog breeds into two different groups: the sporting group and the hound group.

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Sporting Dogs

Sporting dogs are considered some of the first developed hunting breeds in the world. There are three main categories of sporting dogs, which shows how versatile this group is:

Pointers

These dogs point out their quarry to their handler.

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Retrievers

These dogs retrieve the quarry for the handler.

SETTERS

These dogs pin their quarry to the ground to wait for their handler.

 

From chasing small game in the woods to retrieving waterfowl to flushing upland birds like pheasant, grouse, and quail, sporting gun dogs have helped hunters in the field for centuries.

The official AKC list of sporting dogs include:

  • American Water Spaniel

  • Barbet

  • Boykin Spaniel

  • Brittany Spaniel

  • Chesapeake Bay Retriever

  • Clumber Spaniel

  • Cocker Spaniel (American)

  • 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 Red and White Setter

  • Irish Setter

  • Irish Water Setter

  • Labrador Retriever

  • Lagotto Romagnolo

  • Nederlandse Kooikerhondje

  • Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

  • (English) Pointer

  • Spinone Italiano

  • Sussex Spaniel

  • Vizsla

  • Weimaraner

  • Welsh Springer Spaniel

 

Hounds

Hounds are known to be gentle and affectionate family dogs at home but fierce and agile in the field as hunting companions. This group encompasses a wide range of dog breeds, some sharing the characteristic of trailing scent to pursue animals (scent hounds) while others are known for their speed (sight hounds).

All hounds have been used over the centuries to pursue quarry either by sight or sense of smell. While some hounds like coonhounds tree game like raccoons or mountain lions and keep them there with their bay until the hunter arrives, others like the Borzoi show great athleticism by chasing their quarry down with their speed.

The official AKC list of hounds include:

  • Afghan Hound

  • American English Coonhound

  • American Foxhound

  • Azawakh

  • Basenji

  • Basset Hound

  • Beagle

  • Black and Tan Coonhound

  • Bloodhound

  • Bluetick Coonhound

  • Borzoi

  • Cirneco dell’Etna

  • Dachshund

  • English Foxhound

  • Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen

  • Greyhound

  • Harrier

  • Ibizan Hound

  • Irish Wolfhound

  • Norwegian Elkhound

  • Otterhound

  • Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen

  • Pharaoh Hound

  • Plott Hound

  • Portuguese Podengo Pequeno

  • Redbone Coonhound

  • Rhodesian Ridgeback

  • Saluki

  • Scottish Deerhound

  • Sloughi

  • Treeing Walker Coonhound

  • Whippet

Bird dogs and hounds have been by our side as hunting partners and best friends in the field for centuries. Let’s keep it that way.