The AKC sporting group is made up of some of the oldest and most popular breeds registered by the AKC. Many of the dogs in this category were bred for hunting. Specifically, they were bred for either one or two of the following purposes: to point, retrieve, or flush game birds. That is why the sporting group is composed of pointers, retrievers, and setters — specific examples are the German Shorthaired Pointer, the Labrador Retriever, and the Cocker Spaniel.

While many people who own sporting breeds will never need them to do anything but be the family pet, they will get to see their dogs using their hunting instincts around the house. These traits can be some of the most enjoyable aspects of owning a sporting dog. For example, it's wonderful to see your Weimaraner go on point while running along a hedgerow; it's fun to have your Lab or Golden tirelessly retrieve a tennis ball from a lake or the ocean; it's reassuring to have your English Springer Spaniel go back and forth in front of you on a walk (this is called quartering in the hunt field). But be forewarned: your dog is a dog, and one day he may come back with not just a ball or toy, but with the real thing: a dead animal. Generations of breeders instilled the pointing, retrieving, and quartering instincts in the sporting breeds so that their dogs could do their part to bring food to the table. Your purebred sporting dog has that in his blood — and he's proud of it!

Another characteristic of the sporting breeds is an outgoing personality. As dogs who worked singly or in pairs with their masters, the sporting dogs needed to be enthusiastic, responsive partners. For example, if a spaniel or pointer flushed a bird and then took off after it, the hunter would not be able to take a shot at the bird. Therefore, the sporting breeds were trained to find the game, then hold their ground while the hunter took his shot, then go gangbusters to find and bring back the game with as little damage as possible. Sporting dogs had to be able to do this all day, if necessary; strength and stamina were highly desired. The better and longer the dog worked, the more prized it was.

With this in mind, what can you expect from your sporting breed? A never-say-die attitude (whether you're ready to quit or not); a passion for the pursuit of game, whether it's to retrieve or dash through fields and woods; an in-your-face enthusiasm for everything you do; an athlete who thrives on sharing the great outdoors with you.

This Labrador Retriever pup is a classic example of a sporting breed, a group known for its enthusiasm, responsiveness, and athleticism.

Here are the breeds in the sporting group:

• 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

• Wirehaired Pointing Griffon