Most Popular Bird Dog Breeds of 2024

Project Upland’s annual North American Upland Bird Hunting Survey ended earlier this year. What better way to share our data than by starting a brawl over the most popular bird dog breeds? 

The hunting dog world is full of personal biases, and our survey results reflected our community’s diverse preferences. When asked, “What type of hunting dogs do you own?,” 53.69% of respondents said pointing, 32.84% said versatile, 19.37% said retriever, 11.11% said spaniel, and 1% said hound.

Although pointing dogs have retained the #1 spot seven years in a row, the number of versatile dog owners has increased slightly and the number of spaniel and retriever owners have decreased slightly. We won’t let our dog breed snobbery enter the chat, but personally, we’re always happy to see pointing and versatile dogs in the number one and two spots, respectively.