Brittany Spaniels are some of the more popular flushing breeds
Similar to the pointers and setters, flushing dogs are designed to locate game especially game birds. Different from the pointers and setters however, the flushing breeds are designed to in fact flush the birds into flight for the gunners.
While the pointers and setters locate the birds and ‘point’ them with their posture. They also hold the birds so the gunner can walk past the pointing dogs and flush the birds themselves. Whereas flushing breeds work a lot closer to the hunters and locate the birds, and when they do, they dive head long into the birds causing the birds to take flight allowing for the hunters to [hopefully] have a shot at the fleeing birds.
Flushing breeds come in a variety of sizes, colors and shapes. Many other breed can also be trained to behave like a flushing dog. Personally I know of several retriever breeds that are trained to sniff out and flush upland birds. But for this discussion, we will focus strictly on the breeds designed for flushing.
Flushing breeds typically have long wavy hair, long ears and most have a docked tail. While this is not a requirement, it is preferred by many. As stated before, the flushing breeds work a lot closer than both the setters and pointers and by design they tend to be a little snobbish. Wondering why the pointers and setters do not complete the job. Flushing breeds find and flush the birds while the pointers and setters merely find them and wait for others to do the rest of the work. Flushing breeds are not steady to gun, often chasing the birds into the air as they take flight. Many a dog has met his demise because of eagerness. Hunters learn to wait for the birds to get out a bit before leveling on them and firing. This usually gives the dogs’ time to fall back to earth while running all the way towards the flying bird expecting it to be dead within a reasonable distance.
All flushing breeds are very good retrievers in their own right. From the Brittany, to the Cocker, and even a few others.
