sporting dog

American  

noun

1. one of any of several breeds of usually large dogs especially suited by size and training for hunting by pointing, flushing, and retrieving game and including the pointers, setters, retrievers, and spaniels.

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Etymology

Origin of sporting dog

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sporting dog

I was deeply grieved at the loss of the dog, who had already shown great promise as a first-class sporting dog, a most difficult thing to procure in this country.

From Sketches From My Life By The Late Admiral Hobart Pasha by Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden

I use the word "set" deliberately, for Gorman, when bent on getting anything done, reminds me of a well-trained sporting dog.

From Gossamer 1915 by George A. Birmingham

He is seldom used as a sporting dog, or for draught, but is admired on account of his stature and beauty, and the different colours with which he is often marked.

From The Dog by William Youatt

He was as much out of his element in Wall Street as a sporting dog which is doomed to pass away its life sitting beside a chauffeur in an elaborate motor-car.

From The Sins of the Children A Novel by Cosmo Hamilton

The exertion is great, and the utmost indulgence in this respect will seldom do harm; but my own experience teaches me that the sporting dog is often crippled by being under-fed.

From The Dog by Dinks