By Carolee Anita Boyles,
Contributing Editor

For many kinds of hunting, your best partner isn't your neighbor, the guy down the street, or even (dare we say it) your husband. It's your dog.

A good hunting dog can make or break many hunting trips. A good hunting dog also can be your best buddy, your furry sweetheart, and your best comfort in bad times. The bond between a hunting dog and his owner is a deep and mysterious thing; until you've had a dog that can look at you and you look at him and know what the other one is thinking, you can't really understand what a joy it is to have that working relationship with a dog.

So how do you pick your best hunting partner? You won't find him at a pet store or where kids are giving away puppies in front of the local grocery store. Buying a good hunting dog is not an impulsive decision. You need to do your research, decide what breed is right for you, and then find a good breeder with a reputation for producing healthy, quality puppies.

Don't let a "backyard breeder" put you off. Many fine hunting dogs are whelped in people's backyards, spare bedrooms, basements, and garages every year. The key is not where the dogs are bred and born, but the care the breeder takes in terms of having the parents' hips and eyes certified, choosing a good genetic match, maintaining good nutrition for the dam both before and through her pregnancy, and providing the best possible care for the dam and pups after birth.

So which dog is right for you? It depends on what kind of hunting you're doing and what you're looking for in a hunting buddy. One note: be sure you are getting a dog from field or field trial stock and not show stock, since in many breeds there is quite a bit of difference in the two.

Retrieving Dogs
Retrievers are friendly, smart, usually easy to train (although you'll occasionally find one with no interest in bringing anything back to you), and generally make good family pets.
The two most popular breeds of retrievers are the Golden Retriever and the Labrador retriever. Many people keep them strictly as pets, which speaks to their good nature.

If you don't mind a shaggy, long-haired dog, a Golden is a wonderful choice. However, you're going to have "golden hair bunnies" everywhere, particularly in the spring. Goldens come from the palest yellow to a deep mahogany red.

Labs are much shorter haired, but their hair tends to be slightly oily, and they sometimes develop a mild "lab" odor that some people don't care for. They come in black, yellow and chocolate, and you may find all three colors in a single litter.

Your first impression of a Flat-Coated Retriever will be of a streamlined golden with a black or liver coat. There aren't many of these dogs around. They have a very small gene pool and breeders plan matings years in advance to ensure the dogs don't become inbred and produce unhealthy animals. Breeders are very selective about where their puppies go. If you decide one of these dogs is for you, expect a bit of an "adoption" process to get one; it's part of a rigorous effort to maintain a healthy gene pool in the face of very limited genetic diversity in the breed. Do not purchase a Flat-Coat from a litter that's not registered with the Flat Coat Society Retriever of America (www.fcrsainc.org), because you run a high risk of getting a pup with genetic or health issues.

The Curly-Coated retriever has hair that's short and very tightly curled (hence the name), and may be black or liver-colored. Curly-Coats are about the same size as other retrieving breeds-60 to 85 pounds or thereabouts. For more information about Curly-Coated retrievers, contact the Curly-Coated Retriever Club of America at www.ccrca.org.

The Chesapeake Bay retriever comes in a variety of colors, from a very light tan to a dark chocolate brown. These dogs have a "double coat," dense and wooly underneath, and wavy and oily on top, to protect them from the harsh winter conditions of the Chesapeake Bay region. They tend to be a bit more protective than other retrievers. To learn more about Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, contact the American Chesapeake Club at www.amchessieclub.org.

Compared to the other retrievers, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, or "Toller," is small. Males stand only 18 to 21 inches at the shoulder, and the females are even smaller. They have a double layered water repellent coat that can be any shade of red, and may have white markings on the feet, the tip of the tail, the face and the chest. Despite their small size, Tollers are able to handle ducks and even geese. For more information contact the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club at www.nsdtrc-usa.org.

Pointing Dogs
Pointers and setters are used mostly for upland bird hunting. There are a couple dozen pointing breeds with different characteristics; if you're into quail, grouse, or other upland species, one of these dogs may be for you.

English Pointers have long been used on quail plantations in the South. They're short haired and well adapted to hot weather. Although they have a reputation for being big running dogs, they can be trained to work with a hunter on foot.

The German Shorthaired Pointer, as its name implies, has its origins in several German breeds combined with the English Pointer. Another common breed on southern quail plantations, the German Shorthair is a strong hunter but a better family dog than the English Pointer. Other pointers include the German Wirehaired Pointer, the Vizsla, the Weimaraner and the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

Then there are the setters, all of which are long-haired dogs that are not as well adapted for the heat of the South as the pointers, but have thick coats and long "feathers" that protect them from cold weather, brush and brambles. Expect a lot of "hair bunnies" with these breeds.

The English Setter is one of the oldest gundog breeds, and comes in a variety of colors. The Gordon Setter is similar but hails from Scotland, and is black and tan.
We all know the Irish Setter, which his rich mahogany coat and playful, loving disposition. However, the Irish Red and White Setter is not nearly as well known. It's not just a color variation of the Irish Setter but is a distinct, and older, breed. Of the setters, this one has the shortest hair.

Hounds
Hounds are multi-purpose dogs used for many kinds of hunting. In some places in the South, hunters still can pursue deer with hounds; even where actual pursuit is not allowed, having a hound for trailing wounded deer can be a great asset. Small game hunters use smaller hounds to chase rabbits. Many hunters, again particularly in the South, use a pack of hounds for "baying up" a hog or treeing a raccoon, and in the West, hounds are used for trailing and locating mountain lions.

It's hard to pick out just a couple breeds of hounds and point to them as the most popular or the best for any particular type of hunting. In many southern states, where open land for dog hunting of deer is becoming scarcer and the tracts of land are smaller, deer hunters now are going to beagles because they have shorter legs than other breeds they've used in the past and can't cover as much territory as fast as the larger breeds. Of course, beagles have long been popular with rabbit hunters. Beagles also make excellent fox hounds, although they don't do too well on raccoons.

Black-and-tan coonhounds-used primarily for raccoons, as their name suggests-also are good for hogs and mountain lions. One characteristic of this breed is their distinctive, far-carrying voices, which makes them easy to follow even when you can't see them. Other popular hounds include the Redbone, Plott Hound, and Walker coonhound. And who can possibly overlook the big, wrinkled face of a Bloodhound, one of the best trailing hounds ever developed.

If you're into squirrel hunting, you can't overlook the Treeing Feist. This is a strictly American breed that originated from crosses between small hounds and terriers. Squirrel Dog Basics, written by David Osborn, provides a good overview of squirrel hunting and the feists that are used to hunt them.

If you're looking for a hound, one excellent resource on all the different breeds is Hounds of the World, written by David Alderton and published by Stoeger Publishing.

Versatile Breeds
Don't call a Brittany a spaniel; any Brittany owner within earshot will be quick to tell you that a Brittany is a pointing dog. There are two distinctly different Brittanies, the French Brittany and the American Brittany. Both are leggy, compact hunting dogs that can cover a lot of ground. The Brittany is mostly used for upland game birds, and can be trained to point as well as to retrieve both on land and in the water. The Brittany's temperament also makes it a great family dog.

Another breed we can't overlook is the Boykin Spaniel. If you've never seen a Boykin Spaniel, your first impression may be of a compact chocolate Labrador Retriever with a curly or wavy coat.

Boykins are used extensively for duck hunting. Because of their small size (25 to 40 pounds) they are "The Dog That Doesn't Rock The Boat."

The Boykin will fetch doves and ducks, flush and fetch quail and pheasant, and track wounded deer. The place Boykins really excel is in the dove field. They handle the heat better than most of the big retrievers, and they're more likely to crash through the briars to find birds.

This is just a brief overview of some of the breeds available for hunting; there are literally dozens of other breeds we haven't mentioned. If nothing here suits your fancy, do some more research; you'll find the breed that's right for you. Check the website of the American Kennel Club (www.akc.org) or the United Kennel Club (www.ukcdogs.com) to find out more about different breeds.