German Shorthaired Pointer: Dog Breed Profile

The German Shorthaired Pointer is a versatile hunting dog with a lot of temperament, energy, and the urge to move. It needs a task that does justice to his hunting disposition. Therefore, a German Shorthaired Pointer only belongs in the hands of a hunter – as a pure family companion dog, the hunting all-rounder is completely under-challenged.

Origin and history

The German Shorthaired Pointer has been bred purely since 1897 and is a widespread and very versatile hunting dog. He goes back to heavier Spanish and Italian pointers. Crossbreeding with the lighter and faster English pointer breeds – especially the pointer – resulted in a more elegant type with excellent hunting qualities. The “German Shorthaired Pointer Stud Book” has been published since 1897 as the decisive basis for the structure and development of breeding. It was Prince Albrecht zu Solms-Braunfeld who set up breed identification and body shape assessment rules for hunting dogs.

Appearance

With a shoulder height of up to 68 cm and a weight of up to 35 kg, the German Shorthaired Pointer is one of the larger dogs. Its fur is short and dense and feels coarse and hard. The ears are of medium length, set high and hanging close to the head. The tail is of medium length, hanging down when at rest, carried approximately horizontally when in motion. The rod can also be shortened for pure hunting use.

The coat color of the German Shorthaired Pointer is either solid brown or solid black, as are these colors with white or speckled markings on the chest and legs. It is also available in brown mold or black mold, each with patches or dots.

Nature

The German Shorthaired Pointer is a well-balanced, reliable, and robust hunting all-rounder. It is spirited but not nervous, frightened, or aggressive. It is an excellent guide, ie it shows the hunter that it has found the game without scaring it away. It has an excellent sense of smell, persistently forages in the open field or the forest, happily fetches on land and water, and sweats very well.

A German Shorthaired Pointer is also easy to train and train, is affectionate, and adapts easily to life in a family. However, it needs a lot of exercises and a demanding task, since he is a hunting dog with a lot of energy, temperament, and the urge to move. For this reason, the German Shorthaired Pointer belongs exclusively in the hands of hunters, where it receives appropriate training and can live out its dispositions in daily hunting use. In any case, the short fur is easy to care for.