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English, Irish and Gordon Setters, English Pointer, German Short-haired Pointer, Golden Retriever, Labrador and Weimaraner.
RETRIEVERS
    Much of the work in developing the retriever breeds was done in England in the 19th century, although Germany had the Weimaraner, which was the sporting dog of the court of Weimar. Early last century the water dogs from the east coast of Canada were keenly sought by English shooters, who were looking for dogs to retrieve water fowl. One that impressed buyers was the long-coated Newfoundland, a relative of the Swiss St Bernard. Through careful breeding, a smooth-coated, water-loving dog called the Labrador Retriever was established, and named after the area of Canada close to Newfoundland.
    The Newfoundland was also crossed with setters and spaniels to produce the long-coated Golden Retriever. They were large, strong, intelligent dogs with a love of water, the will to work, a capacity to bond closely with their owner, and a gentle, tolerant nature, which has since made them enormously popular as pets.
SETTERS AND POINTERS
    The setters would ‘set’ the game by suddenly freezing, like a statue, in the presence of game. Setting dogs were recorded in England in the 16th century, but much of the development of the English Setter took place in the 19th century. The Fourth Duke of Gordon, who lived in Scotland from 1743 to 1827, is usually given credit for breeding the black-and-tan Gordon Setters. The Irish, or Red Setter, is a deep chestnut colour, and has the graceful, flowing appearance of its English and Scottish relatives.
    Like the spaniel group of dogs, the pointer is thought to have originated in Spain, where it became famous during the early 17th century for its ability to point to the bird with its nose, body and tail in a straight line. The earliest pointers were slow and heavy, but they were later crossed with different French hounds to produce the German Short-haired Pointer. An English Pointer was also bred.
SPANIELS
    In 1801 spaniels were divided into ‘starters’ and ‘cockers’. The larger starter was used to spring the game while the smaller cocker was supposed to hunt the woodcock. The English Springer spaniels were included in the former group, and they proved themselves good hunters and retrievers, and excellent in water. What they may lack in intelligence, they make up for with their even temperament. They love to attach themselves to a family, and to lie by the fire. The Cocker Spaniel is an equally popular pet and, like the springer, few are now trained to work with guns.
    A gentle nature is a characteristic of gun dogs. They needed to be soft-mouthed so that they could retrieve dead or injured game without bruising it. Some people equate their softness with brainlessness, or even a wimpish nature, but this is far from the truth. They need plenty of exercise because they were bred to hunt game by sweeping backwards and forwards across the paddocks.
Hounds
    The hounds include the Afghan, the Basenji, the Basset, the Beagle, the Bloodhound, the Dachshund, the Deerhound, the Foxhound, the Greyhound, the Harrier, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and the Whippet. All were bred to chase game, and to pull it down. They would chase until the game was holed up, or until they caught and killed it. They have good eyesight, are quick to detect movement and, in a domestic situation, they can want to chase other animals.
AFGHAN
    The Afghan is one of the oldest members of the Greyhound family, and, like the Basenji, the African hunting dog, it dates back thousands of years. Legend has it that the Afghan was the dog Noah took into the ark. Once known as the Eastern Greyhound, the breed is thought to have originated in the Middle East, but subsequently made its way to the mountains of Afghanistan, where it was used to hunt wolves, foxes, gazelles, deer and goats, and to guard and herd sheep. Its long hair protected it against the extreme cold of the mountains.
    The breed was imported into the US