Bird dogs help hunters find or retrieve their prey during the hunt. Sometimes bird dogs are also called gun dogs. Specifically, gun dogs accompany small game hunters who use shotguns for their quarry. 
The dogs are responsible for either flushing the prey out of its hiding place, retrieving the prey once it is shot, or locating the prey and pointing it out to the hunter without flushing it out. Some common breeds of bird dogs include setters or pointers, flushing spaniels, and retrievers.
Setters and spaniels are good at locating and flushing out prey. Through careful training, they are taught to wait until the hunter is close enough to get a good shot before startling, or flushing, the birds. Pointers, on the other hand, locate prey and alert the hunter to the location without disturbing the birds. Once a pointer locates the prey, it is up to the hunter to flush out the birds. Setters have been used by hunters for centuries, and most likely originated in Spain in the 1500's, with pointing breeds more likely coming from England and Europe a little later, around the 1650's. Setter breeds include the English Setter, Irish Setter, Gordon Setter, Red Setter, and Irish Red and White Setter. Pointers are a broader family of dogs and include the following breeds:
- Ariege Pointer
- Brittany Spaniel
- English Pointer
- German Longhaired Pointer
- German Rough-haired Pointer
- German Shorthaired Pointer
- German Wirehaired Pointer
- Hungarian Viszla
- Italian Spinone
- Large Musterlander Pointer
- Old Danish Pointer
- Portuguese Pointer
- Pudelpointer
- Small Musterlander Pointer
- Weimaraner
- Wire-haired Pointing Griffon
Retrievers wait until hunters have shot birds and then dive into the water to retrieve them. Retrievers are trained to be observant and patient, since they are sometimes required to wait while many birds are shot over a period of time, then they are sent to retrieve them all. Retrievers should be skilled at following voice and whistle commands, as well as hand signals, to locate the fallen birds. Retrievers are bred to have a soft mouth, so as not to damage the birds. Popular breeds of retrievers include the following:
- American Water Spaniel
- Barbet
- Boykin Spaniel
- Chesapeake Bay Retriever
- Corded Poodle
- Curly-Coated Retriever
- Flat-Coated Retriever
- Golden Retriever
- Irish Water Spaniel
- Labrador Retriever
- Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
- Poodle
- Portuguese Water Dog
