Hunting with dogs is a controversial sport in today’s world, and there are some specific types of dogs who hunt either better than others or better “at” certain game, making the art of hunting with dogs a popular sport with many. There are no specific groups in the AKC registry for hunting alone other than maybe the hounds, and this one is of the largest group that have a wonderful hunting nose—with the hounds seeming to have a dominant amount of breeds in their group who do hunt with an ancestral background in their lineage, with the most known hunting traits. These traits vary, such as scenting ability, baying when the scent is found, or excessive stamina to follow a trail or scent for excessive periods of time, with the breeds known as Beagles, Norwegian Elkhounds, Basset Hounds, American Foxhounds, Dachshund, English Foxhound, Bloodhound, Black and Tan Coonhound, and so on.

The AKC Sporting group is a large group of hunting dogs for those who enjoy hunting with dogs, and that specifically enjoy the water and the woods–the American Water Spaniel, Brittany, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Clumber Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel, 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 Setter, Irish Water Spaniel, Labrador Retriever, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Pointer, Spinone Italiano, Sussex Spaniel, Vizsla, Weimaraner, Welsh Springer Spaniel, and Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

The exciting things about dogs, especially noticeable when we are hunting with dogs, are that each breed has their own natural behavior. The best breed for being a total workaholic out in the field is the Border Collie when herding livestock or children. And the terriers are something else, believe me–they were originally developed to hunt small game, and kill vermin, and nothing had EVER get in their way! And then we have the hunting dogs, maintaining a continuous drive to confront some form of prey or another, to the point if you don’t have the time or energy to train and go with them—don’t buy one, as without proper socialization or training, severe problems will definitely develop. For the hunting dogs that have a high predatory behavior, the word “challenging” doesn’t even come close to the experience of training them.

Hunting with dogs is not an easy task to accomplish by the time they are ready to go to the field—and that is when the quality of training will show up. Because if not, spaniels, retrievers, pointers, and so on, that have a naturally born predatory behavior that has to go somewhere and do something—and if the family has small children, small animals like cats or guinea pigs, they will instantly become game for their hunt that is natural born to them.