gun dog

or gundog

noun

1. a dog trained to help a hunter, as by pointing or retrieving game.

gun dog

noun

1. a dog trained to work with a hunter or gamekeeper, esp in retrieving, pointing at, or flushing game
2. a dog belonging to any breed adapted to these activities

Word History and Origins

Origin of gun dog¹

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

But gun dogs, who assist their handlers in finding and retrieving game, need to be closely in sync with their human handlers, she adds.

From Scientific American

The queen also had gun dogs, Labradors and cocker spaniels, which lived on the royal estate at Sandringham in the English county of Norfolk, Ms. Farrell said.

From New York Times

"I remember saying to her at one point 'it's really muddy there, shall we move on?'. 'No, I love seeing the gun dogs,' she said. "She was very game.

From BBC

Ruthless as a gun dog, he picked up with rapid and unflagging instinct the traces of everything in the world I was most insecure about, all the things I was in most agony to hide.

From Literature

“A lot of terriers were painted, and gun dogs like Irish setters and pointers.”

From New York Times