It once was believed that the best sporting dogs were kept in an outdoor kennel and reserved just for the hunt. Today, there is a growing school of thought that the best sporting dogs are treated like any other member of the family. The belief is that sporting dogs living indoors and participating in family activities want to please their human companions so they excel while hunting.
One of the primary purposes of dogs over the centuries has been to help his human companions in their pursuit of food, and later, the pursuit of game for sport. Sporting dogs come from many breeds and most parts of the world. 
Today sporting dogs, especially in North America, are synonymous with those breeds used in hunting upland game, but certainly, sporting dogs are used for other quarry.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) recognizes 26 different breeds in its Sporting Group, but many of the dogs in the Hound Group are also used for hunting, so technically may be sporting dogs as well. But, at least in the eyes of the AKC, its Sporting Group primarily includes Pointers, Retrievers, Setters, and Spaniels.
Sporting dogs, at least according to the AKC include:
• 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 Short Haired 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
• Vizla
• Weimaraner
• Welsh Springer Spaniel
• Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
Members of the AKC's Hound Group, at one time or another were primarily hunting dogs. Especially noted for their abilities as sporting dogs are:
• Basset Hound
• Beagle
• Black and Tan Coonhound
• Harrier
• Otterhound
• Petit Basset Griffon Vondeen.
Worldwide, the list of breeds considered sporting dogs grows considerably. Other breeds beyond the AKC's Sporting and Hound groups used for hunting include:
• Airedale Terrier
• Alpine Dachsbracke
• Boykin Spaniel
• Bracco Italiano
• Braque D' Ariege
• Braque D' Auvergne
• Braque Du Bourbonnais
• Braque Dupuy
• Braque Saint-Germain
• Braques Francaises
• Cesky Fousek
• Deutscher Wachtelhund
• Drentse Patrijshond
• Cretan Hound
• Deutscher Wachtelhund
• Drever
• English Coonhound
• English Foxhound
• Epagneul Francais
• Epagneuls Picardies
• Finnish Hound
• French Brittany Spaniel
• German Hunt Terrier
• German Longhaired Pointer
• Greenland Dog
• Halden Hound
• Hellenikos Ichnilatis
• Hertha Pointer
• Irish Red and White Setter
• Jindo
• Kemmer Feist
• Kooikerhondje
• Large Munsterlander
• Llewellin Setter
• Mountain Cur
• Mountain View Cur
• Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever
• Old Danish Bird Dog
• Petit Bleu de Gascogne
• Perdiguero de Burgos
• Perdiguero Navarro
• Plott Hound
• Portuguese Rabbit Dog
• Pudelpointer
• Russian Spaniel
• Small Munsterlander
• Spaniel de Pont-Audemer
• Spanish Water Dog
• Stabyhoun
• 
Stichelhaar
• Treeing Tennessee Brindle
• Treeing Walker Coonhound
• Welsh Corgi
• Welsh Sheepdog
• Welsh Terrier
Still, some of the finest sporting dogs come with no breed pedigree to speak of. These mixes, crossbreeds, or mutts often have the skills, instincts, and physical traits to be superior sporting dogs.
