Don’t try to make it something it’s not

When choosing any dog, there is an absolute labyrinth of information and questions you need to ask. Different breeds have different requirements, energies and suitabilities and even varying diet needs. But what about gundog breeds?

The most important and obvious question for any gundog owner to ask is “what job do you want the dog to do?” This will give you a good idea of which breed is best suited to you. There is nothing to say that any of the spaniels, retrievers or hunt, point, retrieve breeds cannot do any of the jobs within the gundog world. You can never say one particular breed cannot do a certain job because there will always be one that proves you wrong. However, it makes sense to select the dog that has the best programming, so to speak, for the role you require.

If you want