What gundog training should I expect to do with my [insert your breed of dog]?

If you’ve ever watched Crufts, you might have noticed that the Kennel Club officially recognises 38 different breeds of dog within the gundog category.

Thanks to social influences and different types of shooting, over the decades, the preference for breeding dogs with a narrow range of highly specialised traits that excel at particular roles in the field, has allowed us to further break the gundog group into four distinct subcategories - retrievers, hunting retrievers (aka spaniels), hunt, point, retrievers (HPRs), and pointers and setters.

Having a full understanding of these different roles and subcategories (even if you don’t wish to work your dog on a shoot) will help give much-needed context to your gundog training and a deeper understanding of why your gundog automatically wants to do things in a certain way.

If you have just started gundog training, you might have noticed that your puppy or foundation class includes a mix of all breeds and that basic training is pretty much the same for them all. 

No matter what breed, this is the stage at which you want to focus on building a connection and developing your relationship with them. It’s when we teach them how to focus in environments with lots of distractions and scents. As well as recall, heelwork, some self-control and steadiness, plus the early stages of hunting and the retrieve.

As our gundogs develop, however, so too must our training adapt to suit what they’ve been bred for. This is why our advanced gundog group classes can then be split into breed categories to ensure we can focus on nurturing and progressing breed-specific behaviours.

To guide those who are just getting started with gundog training and would like to better understand the bigger picture, in this month’s blog, we’ll explain the four main categories of gundog, the Kennel Club registered breeds which fit into these, and the breed-specific training you can expect to do with your dog once you’ve progressed past the foundation stages.

What are retrievers?

While they can be used for flushing game while rough shooting and in the beating line on driven shoots, the retriever breeds are mainly used for picking up game, an activity they will willingly and tirelessly work at all day long. 

Retriever breeds examples:

· Chesapeake Bay Retriever

· Curly Coated Retriever

· Flat-coated Retriever

· Golden Retriever

· Irish Water Spaniel

· Labrador Retriever

· Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever 

The role of the retriever is relatively simple. They must be steady and remain in one place, usually at their handler’s side, until they are sent to collect shot game.

It is very important that they only retrieve on cue and must be able to wait patiently for long periods of time while accurately marking and remembering the location of any shot game.

Retrievers are also expected to be able to find game they didn’t see land by taking direction from their handlers. They should be able to run a straight line away from their handler and work at considerable distances, being able to stop and take direction to an area of fall before hunting tightly.

In terms of hunting and game-finding ability, retrievers need to learn to use air scent to locate a hidden bird or a bird that has dropped out of sight, as well as ground scent for locating a running bird that has been wounded but not killed outright.

They are also bred for retrieving in and over water, and most retriever breeds are strong, confident swimmers with webbed paws and double ‘waterproof’ coats.

Training a retriever is often considered to be more straightforward as you don’t have to cover quartering, pointing or the stop to flush. However, more accuracy is expected in behaviours such as heelwork, steadiness and, of course, the retrieve chain. 

What are Hunting Retrievers

Also known as flushing dogs, these dogs perform excellently in dense cover and woodlands. They are not wide-ranging and are worked in close proximity to their handler, making them ideal rough shooting companions or beating dogs on driven shoots.

Hunting Retriever breeds examples:

· Cocker Spaniel

· Clumber Spaniel

· English Springer Spaniel

· Field Spaniel

· Lagotto Romagnolo

· Spanish Water Dog

· Sussex Spaniel

· Welsh Springer Spaniel

The role of the hunting retriever is first to hunt up and flush game, stopping on the flush while it is shot and then retrieving it on cue.

Our hunting retrievers, aka spaniels, have been bred to work closely. They use air scent initially and then make the transition to the ground scent to locate the quarry and not run over it.

They will work across the wind in a quartering pattern, holding their head low to locate the scent around 5 metres / 15 yards away from their handler. 

This distance is important and specific because it is based on half the average range of the shotgun.

When the ground scent is located, the hunting retriever will then run around busily until the game is flushed. If the working distance were any greater, the success of the Gun would be reduced.

Spaniels need to be taught to quarter in different wind conditions, and a great deal of emphasis is placed on steadiness after the game has been flushed. 

Unlike HPRs, hunting retrievers are not expected to stop still in acknowledgement of the game. They just continue to flush, stop on the flush, or shot, and then either retrieve or continue hunting. 

Like retrievers, they should also be able to mark and remember where shot game has fallen and be directed to game they have not seen fall. However, unlike retrievers, spaniels are not expected to retrieve at long distances. They are also not expected to wait around for considerable amounts of time or heel for extended durations.

What are Hunt Point Retrievers (HPRs)?

Known also as versatile gundogs, the hunt, point, retrieve breeds (HPRs for short) are all-round dogs that have become increasingly popular, particularly with rough shooters, over the last few decades.

HPR breeds examples:

· Bracco Italiano

· Brittany

· German Longhaired Pointer

· German Shorthaired Pointer

· German Wirehaired Pointer

· Hungarian Vizsla

· Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla

· Italian Spinone

· Korthals Griffon

· Large Munsterlander

· Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer

· Small Munsterlander

· Weimaraner

The role of the HPR, as the name implies, is to hunt up game, point to it, and finally to retrieve it on cue.

HPRs use the air scent to locate their quarry when hunting. They will carry their heads at about shoulder height, dipping or lowering as they ‘taste’ the air or the conditions change. 

Their beat is far greater than that of the hunting retriever simply because of the development of the pointing behaviour. This is the ability to remain still on the location of the game, which gives the Guns time to position themselves close enough in order to be able to make a successful shot. 

HPRs need to develop the skill of identifying the ground scent, reading its message, and then moving back to the air scent to firm the location and point.

Like hunting retrievers, they will need to be taught to quarter in different wind conditions. They will also need to be steady to shot, mark game, and retrieve game they haven’t seen fall.

What are Pointers and Setters?

While easily confused with HPRs, pointers and setters are grouped in their own separate category and have very different roles from the hunt, point, retrieve breeds. 

Pointer and Setter breeds examples:

· English Setter

· Gordon Setter

· Irish Red and White Setter

· Irish Setter

· English Pointer

The role of pointers and setters is more specialists as they are bred to set or point on game birds. Rarely used for beating or retrieving, these breeds are mostly used in upland and moorland areas on heather and are often worked in a pair (called a brace).

What if my dog isn’t listed in the gundog examples? 

This blog was designed with the aim of providing handlers (particularly those new to gundog training) with a greater understanding of the different roles our gundogs have been selectively bred for, and how gundog training should be developed in different ways depending on the breed and what you plan to do with your individual dog.

It is really important to note that the breeds listed for each of the gundog subcategories are only to give some examples. We have only selected and included breeds that are officially recognised in the Kennel Club’s gundog group and have cherry-picked breeds we see most often. It is not a definitive list of gundogs. 

It is not possible to include every single breed. There are plenty of other pedigrees and crossbreeds which are not recognised by the Kennel Club, and even more still that excel at gundog training and field work even if their breed is traditionally used for another purpose.

If your dog’s breed has been missed off, it was not intentional and does not in any way imply that they are not a gundog or wouldn’t be able to enjoy gundog training. 

Any dog is capable of being trained for the hunting and retrieval of game. The species collectively share a multitude of common attributes like the instincts to hunt, chase and capture prey and there are many owners we know who successfully work their Poodles, Dachshunds, Terriers, Dalmatians and German Shepherds, to name just a few.

Equally, if you would like to go beating with your retriever, picking up with your spaniel, or want your HPR to join you on the peg, then these gundog subcategories should not stop you.

If you are new to training, the best place to start is with our Puppy or Foundation Gundog classes. We will cover the basics and can help you decide whether you want to train your dog as a retriever, hunting retriever or HPR.

If your dog is under 8 months old, please click here. 

If your dog is over 8 month old, please click here.