We’ve been talking about the role of “place” in the history and culture of hunting dog breeds, but not every breed fits neatly within geographical boundaries. There are several breeds in North America who have a foot in two worlds: the parent country (often Germany) as well as North America. We explore breeds such as the Deutsch Drahthaar, Deutsch …

The end of World War II saw thousands of American servicemen and servicewomen returning home to the United States and Canada, many of whom brought home new dogs they’d met while in occupied Germany. These “new” dogs were unlike the setters and Pointers that dominated the bird dog scene in North America. Defying labels, these dogs could search, poin…

Up until the late nineteenth century, the use and breeding of hunting dogs in North America was rather chaotic. Dogs were used in a variety of different ways, whether it was market hunters using Setters to retrieve waterfowl or big game hunters using Pointers to track and hold wounded elk at bay. There was no consistency in the breeding, either, as…

We continue the history of hunting dogs as a function of place and time, resuming our discussion about dogs in North America in the colonial era. When Europeans arrived on North American shores—whether it was the Spanish, the French, or the English—we know that they had dogs with them. Early writings and paintings from this era depict a variety of …

This season of Hunting Dog Confidential will explore the history of hunting dogs as a function of place and time. We begin in North America, starting with the earliest evidence of domesticated dogs from about 10,000 years ago. This episode brings us right up to the end of the pre-colonial era in the fifteenth century. We’ll continue our exploration…

We are back with a new episode providing a sneak peek of season three of the Hunting Dog Confidential Podcast. Craig and Jennifer catch up on what they’ve been up to since the last episode (hint: they’ve been hunting with their dogs) and what’s new in the Hunting Dog Confidential world. As a recap, season one explored the what…what breeds are used …

Anthony Williams is the epitome of versatility when it comes to the bird dog world. Growing up in Queens wasn’t going to dissuade him from his goals of hunting, running bird dogs, and flying a hawk. His initial exposure to birds was raising pigeons in urban New York, followed by his first experiences with falconry in an overgrown junkyard. This eve…

This episode is the continuation of the discussion we started last time with German hunter and hunting instructor, Nadja Niesner. Before we get into the conversation, though, we address a listener question regarding the colors of hunting dogs. A simple question of “why do German hunting breeds tend to be darker and English breeds tend to have a whi…

We start this episode with a discussion about versatile dogs or, as they are known in Germany, “useful” or “practical” dogs. In North America they are primarily used for bird hunting, their roots stretch back to a variety of purposes related to hunting and tracking. We discuss a couple of fun examples of the usefulness of hunting dogs, including a …

We start this episode with a discussion about the practice of tail docking. Depending on where you are located, this may be a well-accepted practice or it may be controversial or even banned. We discuss the historical context of docking tails as well as the modern applications for working and hunting dogs. It’s our hope that this will better inform…

We’ve been talking about the development of hunting dogs and how they were shaped by the humans and cultures where they originated. We received an interesting listener question asking us to consider the inverse of this concept: would human development have been any different if we did not have dogs at our side? It’s a fascinating thought experiment…

Continuing our discussion of the various methods with which hunters use hunting dogs, we discuss the origins of the term “gun dog” and how bird dogs developed right alongside modern firearms. Both pointing dogs and breech-loading shotguns tended to reach their peak at the same time in the same locations: the mid-nineteenth century in England, but n…

Kicking off our exploration of the methods of hunting with a dog, we start on the grouse moors of England and Scotland. We welcome our first guest to the show, David Hudson, who is an author, photographer, and pointing dog enthusiast with a rich history in the world of Pointers and Setters in the UK. Before we can get too far, a language lesson is …

We are back with season two of the Hunting Dog Confidential podcast. In the first season, we answered the question of “what dogs are used as hunting dogs?” We looked at various breeds and types of dogs that are hunted all over the world, both in the modern day as well as throughout history. Now, we turn our attention to the “how.” How are dogs used…

We wrap up our survey of hunting dogs with a look at working terriers. Terriers developed to fill a need where humans needed to get to game in a situation where we were ill-equipped to do so. Just like sight hounds were developed to be faster than us to catch running game, retrievers were developed to swim better than us to get game out of the wate…

In this episode, we explore two very different types of hunting dogs, both of which defy any attempt to fit neatly within a single category. Dachshunds, also known as Teckels or Dackels, are incredibly versatile hunting dogs that excel at hunting birds or tracking wounded game. Feist, on the other hand, are a category of dogs that represent the var…

In this episode, we continue our journey through the hounds, moving into the well-known category of scent hounds. These dogs are characterized by their extraordinary ability to follow a scent trail, not only the fresh trail of a wounded animal, but also the “sweat trail” of an animal that may have passed through days earlier. Scent hounds have enjo…

In this episode, we take a detour off the path of well-known sighthound breeds and venture into the somewhat murky and mysterious world of lurchers and longdogs. A lurcher is a hybrid dog resulting from the cross of a sighthound with another working breed of dog. Their origins reach back far into history, when purebred sighthounds were highly rever…

In this episode, we look at the group of hounds known as sight hounds or gaze hounds. These dogs are known for using their eyesight to find and track prey, but more importantly, these dogs use their incredible speed to pursue and overtake their quarry. Having been developed almost exclusively for speed, sight hounds even have larger hearts and diff…

In this episode, we begin a broad survey of hounds, beginning with a linguistic exercise to uncover the meaning of the word “hound.” The general nature of the word perhaps explains the very broad range of hound dogs today. Hounds are separated into categories such as sight hounds, scent hounds, leash hounds, podengos, and pariah dogs. Perhaps the o…

In this episode, we travel way back in time to some of the earliest types of dogs that developed alongside humans for the mutual benefit of dog and man. These dogs are classified as spitz dogs, named for their pointy ears and muzzle. While the various breeds are found around the world and used in a variety of working tasks, they all share a few key…

In this episode, we respond to some listener feedback about a couple of more unusual retriever breeds and a strange way of attracting ducks to waiting hunters. First up, we discuss the Murray River Curly-Coated Retriever. A listener from Australia alerted us to this rare landrace which has been used for centuries along the Murray River of South Aus…

This episode continues our path through the origins of today’s modern retriever breeds by focusing on the Curly-coated, Flat-coated, and Golden Retrievers. All three of these breeds were developed in England and came to be known by the characteristics of their coat as opposed to a geographic name. The least well-known of these breeds is the Curly-c…

Continuing on our path through the origin stories of the retriever breeds, this episode focuses on two of the most well-known hunting retrievers: the Labrador Retriever and the Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Both of these breeds trace their roots back to the St. John’s Water Dog of Newfoundland, but the similarities end there. Wealthy, noble Englishmen …

Our exploration of the history of hunting dogs has led us to North America, where we uncover the earliest origins of the retriever breeds. In this episode, we discuss whether the Labrador Retriever is really a North American breed, or whether it’s a British breed that owes its roots to the back-and-forth trade between England and the new communitie…

We are in the midst of talking about the origins of hunting dogs; specifically, we are covering the history of flushing spaniels, retrievers, and hounds. In this episode, we pick up where we left off with some further discussion about spaniels. A running theme for Hunting Dog Confidential has been the idea that hunting dog breeds are a reflection o…

This episode kicks off a new mini-series on other types of gun dogs: flushing spaniels, retrievers, terriers, scent hounds, and sight hounds. This broader look at hunting dogs will explore the history of each type of dog and how it fits into the overall timeline of hunting dogs as they developed alongside their human partners. We’ll also look at wh…

In the final chapter of this mini-series on the origins of pointing dogs, we cross the English Channel to talk about Pointers and setters. Some might argue that by crossing the channel we are leaving behind the versatile breeds and are now looking at more specialized bird dogs. However, like everything else in the bird dog world, it’s a lot more co…

We are deep into talking about the origins of pointing dogs; we’ve been looking back through history and discussing how dogs were developing alongside the hunting culture. In this episode, we focus on the development of hunting dogs east of the Rhine river: primarily in Germany, but also Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Unlike what was going …

In this week’s episode, we explore the development of pointing dog breeds in the regions of Europe that fall west of the Rhine River, including Italy, Spain, and France. Aside from being a convenient geographic divide, the Rhine also roughly divided the hunting dog culture in how people used and promoted their dogs. Countries to the south and west …

In this episode, co-hosts Craig Koshyk and Jennifer Wapenski explore the idea that hunting dogs are a reflection of the culture from which they originate. This broad survey of hunting cultures across time and place will set the stage for future discussions at the regional and breed level. Craig’s experiences while researching pointing dog breeds ac…

Co-hosts Craig Koshyk and Jennifer Wapenski launch Hunting Dog Confidential by diving into the origins of pointing dogs. This first episode will kick off a mini-series exploring the origins of pointing dog breeds across continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. So what’s actually happening when a bird dog goes on point? Did you know that…