Introducing Our Gun Dog Hall of Fame

A gun dog is a product of its training, but these 20 breeds are in a class of their own.
Ranking hunting dog breeds is really an impossible task, as each is so unique.

Every hunting breed has an area in which it excels, and typically some kind of weakness or drawback to go along with it. The key is finding a breed that best meets your specific needs, rather than trying to force a dog to be something it's not.

Meet the inductees.

THE POINTERS

These are your upland heroes. All sporting dogs are exceptionally cognitive creatures, but the pointing breeds are easily the most methodical. While retrievers and hounds have a process by which they work, it's safe to say no other bird dogs actually do as much as pointers.

1. German Shorthaired Pointer

2. Brittany Spaniel

3. English Setter

THE RETRIEVERS

These are most often your waterfowl ride-or-dies. While plenty of duck hunters will go without a dog, most believe the implementation of a dog is half the experience.

There are hunters here and there who swear by retrievers for chasing pheasant and grouse, but no one will argue with the notion that they rule the marsh.

1. Labrador Retriever

2. Chesapeake Bay Retriever

3. Golden Retriever

THE FLUSHERS

Most of the breeds that fall under this category are on the smaller side of the gun dog spectrum, but each brings a ton of personality to go along with its unique bird hunting technique.

Also popular among upland hunters, flushers can serve a number of purposes. Unlike pointers, flushers typically work to push a bird rather than stalk it. So instead of finding the bird, pointing and holding, a flusher will run around the other side of it and force it toward the hunter.

1. Cocker Spaniel

2. English Springer Spaniel

3. Boykin Spaniel

THE HOUNDS

This group is stands apart from the rest of the sporting breeds. There are a number of reasons they're so different, starting with the quarry they're employed to hunt. The majority of gun dogs out there hunt various game birds, whereas hounds hunt four-legged critters, such as deer, squirrels and rabbits.

1. Bloodhound

2. Beagle

3. American Pit Bull Terrier

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