But that pointer never retrieved a single bird. "She's a pointer, not a retriever," her owner said as we poked around in the brambles looking for dead grouse and a wounded woodcock. And, yes, I know, some pointer lines have some 'retrieve' bred into them, and some trainers say that any gun dog can be force-trained to fetch. This pointer owner-breeder-trainer-field trialer-hunter, however, had some dogmatic ideas on this subject. And, while his dog was running off in the far distance looking to point another grouse, we were looking for a dead bird--along with a couple others that we never found.

Should a Labrador retriever only retrieve and never be bred, encouraged, or trained to point gamebirds? Last pheasant season, a friend and I hunted ringneck pheasants behind a five-year-old yellow Lab. "Buster's on point," his owner whispered as we looked 100 yards up a cut cornrow to see the dog standing stone-still and staring into a clump of tangled kochia weeds.

"Shouldn't we hurry?" I asked my buddy as we walked, not ran, toward where Buster was waiting. This question was answered a minute later when we came up behind Buster, who was then told to "Get 'em!" Buster charged the cover, and a hen flushed first and flew away. Then a rooster cackled into the sky, met a load of No. 6s, stopped in a halo of flying feathers, and crashed into the thick cover. Buster was on the bird in a second, found it immediately and then brought it to his owner's hand in the classic style of the Labrador retriever.

Should Buster have pointed this bird? I know I had no objection. Others, however, feel just as strongly that the "pointing instinct" in Labrador retrievers absolutely should not be perpetuated. "Beat it out of them and breed it out of them," was the way another Lab owner-breeder-trainer-field trialer-hunter put it. He is totally convinced that the main purpose of any Labrador hunting upland game is to quickly flush upland gamebirds and to retrieve dead ones. Any "pausing" or "pointing" on a Lab's part is a fault to be avoided by any means possible--period, end of discussionÂ…in his opinion.

"Say what you want about pointing Labradors, but they're here to stay," says Danny Allen, one of the original organizers, former president and present board member of the American Pointing Labrador Association (APLA). This attitude is reflected by hundreds of Association members as well as thousands of other pointing Labrador owners across the country.

Most agree that the pointing Labrador retriever can hunt, point, flush, and retrieve upland gamebirds with the same degree of efficiency as many other breeds of gun dogs.

The final "field test" for any pointing Labrador is whether the dog hunts--that is, finds, points and retrieves upland gamebirds.

THE FUTURE OF THE POINTING LABRADOR: THE AMERICAN POINTING LABRADOR ASSOCIATION
For those who can accept that pointing Labrador lines actually exist within the Labrador retriever breed, there has been and will be a continuing effort to improve the pointing Labrador as a type of gun dog. Though many individual and independent pointing Lab breeders have produced some viable pointing Labs, the most organized and recognized success in breeding the pointing lines has come through the efforts of the American Pointing Labrador Association.

Formed in 1991, the APLA is made up of pointing Labrador enthusiasts dedicated to improving this line of gun dog through a formalized testing program and organized breeding procedure. Originally the APLA's main purpose was to merely identify pointing Labs by having two judges observe any Labrador point a gamebird for three seconds. This elementary test has now grown into a much more sophisticated and meaningful series of tests that include a basic certification of pointing Labrador's pointing abilities as well as overall hunting capabilities.

These formalized tests begin with a basic certification designed to evaluate a dog's natural ability and basic trained behavior with emphasis on apparent obedience and proficiency in hunting upland gamebirds and performing land and water retrieves. In this test, dogs are scored on point as well as nose, search, cooperation, desire, retrieving ability and water work. Pointing ability, then, is only one of several key components in a dog's overall score.

The "Intermediate" level provides an advanced format requiring the Lab being tested to demonstrate proficiency in hunting upland gamebirds (quail, chukar, or pheasants) placed randomly in a 20-acre field. Two APLA qualified judges evaluate the dog on effective nose, intensity and duration of point (a motionless point of 10 seconds without a "steady" command from the handler), a methodical search for game, a high degree of cooperation, an evident desire to please, and efficient land and water retrieves.

The "Master" and "Grand Master" tests include all the categories of the previous tests but with a greater emphasis on reliability in pointing, retrieving and searching, nose, stamina, desire, cooperation, and obedience. These two tests "will prove the versatility of the pointing Labrador as an all around working dog bred and developed for both upland and waterfowl hunting." For the upland portion of the test, the dog must establish point on its own prior to any verbal command given by the handler. Points must be intense and unmistakable, showing an instinctive response to scent, as opposed to a sight point. In addition, the tested Lab must be steady to wing and shot, perform a productive search by hunting with its nose while maintaining a cooperative contact with the handler.

These two highest-level tests also include marked land retrieves, blind land retrieves, and marked water retrieves with blind steadiness. Desire to work, stamina, nose quality, obedience, retrieving, marking, retrieving desire and retriever steadiness all put these two tests on a level of difficulty to similar tests conducted by the AKC, UKC, and North American Hunting Retriever Association (NAHRA).

As the APLA Testing Rules indicate, this organization has done much toward creating solid and meaningful ways to measure the strength of these dogs both as pointers and all-around gun dogs.

FINDING A WELL-BRED, PROMISING POINTING LABRADOR PUPPY
In talking with several pointing Labrador breeders and trainers, as well as members of the American Pointing Labrador Association, I've gathered and condensed some suggestions given for finding a pointing Labrador puppy.

1. Do your homework. Read about pointing Labradors by looking for articles on the subject in this and other magazines. Check out ads in these same publications and call the breeders with specific questions about their puppies. Are they APLA members? Do their dogs have titles from this organization as well as in AKC, UKC or NAHRA tests?
2. Insist on OFA-ed and CERF-ed dogs. And remember that "good" scores on these tests are only general indicators of quality, not absolute guarantees that the hips and eyes of a pup or an adult dog will be absolutely perfect.
3. Look carefully at the pup's parents to evaluate how the pups might turn out. If you can't actually witness in person how the parents point, quarter in the field, or retrieve from land and water, then ask the breeder for a videotape showing the mom and dad doing all these things.
4. Consider puppies from "repeat breeding"--especially if pups from previous litters have shown exceptional pointing ability along with all the other desirable traits of well-bred Labradors. Ask the puppy's breeder for references from satisfied owners of these pups. And call these dog owners to ask very pointed questions based on information gathered from doing your homework as well as reading this article.
5. Ask any breeder with puppies for sale about the parents' "intensity and duration of point." These have always been matters of concern for owners, breeders, trainers, and hunters of pointing Labs. Twenty years ago, when the formal recognition of the pointing instinct in the Labrador first started to grow, how well and how long a Lab pointed didn't seem to matter all that much. Almost any Labrador that made a "pause" or stopped for a "look" in the presence of gamebirds could be considered a "pointer."

Today, however, many pointing Lab fans that judge the degree and length of concentration their dogs exhibit when pointing any species of gamebird expect more. This trend toward improving intensity and duration of point will play a big part in the future of these dogs with more breeders striving to put these qualities into their puppies and more hunters expecting harder and longer points from their gun dogs.

CONCLUSION
As a longtime fan, hunter, and owner of German shorthaired pointers, I've sometimes heard the claim that this breed is "a jack of all trades but a master of none." This description suggests that although GSPs are classified as pointers, their pointing ability is compromised because they are also expected to be reliable retrievers on land and water.

Gun dogs bred only as pointers, the argument goes, are true specialists and therefore genuine masters at pointing gamebirds because that is the one thing these breeds are bred to do. So if you want a dog that superbly points, you should look for an English pointer or setter. Similarly, if you want an excellent retriever, you should get a Chesapeake, golden or Labrador retriever because this is their main purpose and what they are born to do.

Consequently, according to this line of thinking, anyone who seriously hunts upland gamebirds and waterfowl actually needs two gun dogs. In reality, however, considering where most wingshooters spend most of their non-hunting time (city or suburbs), one gun dog of any breed is all they can afford, train and care for.

"Though the phrase 'pointing Labrador retriever' may sound like a contradiction in terms, it is actually more confusing than contradictory," says Danny Allen. "Think of the pointing Lab as, first of all, a basic retriever that also happens to point. In considering a purchase of one of these dogs, the prospective buyer should look for the standard Labrador qualities, and then judge the dog's pointing ability. This is the direction the APLA is moving, and it's a direction that is definitely improving this type of Labrador." This could certainly be good news for anyone who wants a Labrador to serve as a retriever. And, oh yes, if given the opportunity, this gun dog will also point gamebirds.

For information on the APLA call 719-683-6486 or 219-345-5227.