Working Gundog Association of Australia: the SSAA discipline

Key facts

Organisational setting

SSAA working-gundog discipline [source]

A discipline within the SSAA network

The Working Gundog Association of Australia, usually shortened to WGAA, is the gundog discipline associated with the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia. SSAA Western Australia describes its purpose as promoting the working heritage of gundog breeds and the use of trained dogs in the field. The same description places training opportunities alongside trials intended to provide a measure of a dog’s skills. This organisational identity matters when searching for a local contact: WGAA is distinct from the Dogs NSW affiliated Working Gundog Club, despite the similarity of their names and shared interest in retrieving.

Different working tasks have different rulebooks

The SSAA WA resource links separate rulebooks for retrieving, pointer and setter work, spaniel work and HPR work. The published descriptions illustrate why there is more than one format. Retrieving concerns a dog responding to the handler and recovering game; pointer and setter work includes searching, locating birds, steadiness and backing another dog. SSAA’s retrieving rules also provide an organisational structure for championships, rule interpretation and protests. Someone comparing results therefore needs the particular discipline and class, rather than treating every WGAA award as the same assessment of general hunting competence.

Training, entries and records

The WA discipline page describes training days for members and states that dogs competing in WGAA activities are recorded on its database. That makes the local discipline contact, applicable rulebook and dog-registration requirements practical steps for an interested handler. SSAA Queensland separately publishes a field-and-retrieving contact and describes its own participation opportunity, showing the importance of state-level arrangements. A handler can ask which local events are suitable for a developing dog, how the dog is entered in the discipline record and which rules govern the occasion. The published national and state resources together explain the pathway more clearly than a name alone.

Common questions

Sources & further reading

References for this guide. Rules and services can change; check the responsible organisation for current details.

• SSAA WA: Working Gundogs (opens in a new tab)
• SSAA: retrieving rulebook (opens in a new tab)
• SSAA Queensland: field and retrieving (opens in a new tab)

Keep exploring