🚀 go-pugleaf

This didn't get out first attempt ...

Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: German Short-haired Pointers
References: <1993Jan21.105211.20615@doug.cae.wisc.edu>

robert_walton@NeXT.COM (Robert Walton) writes:

[about German Shorthaired Pointers]

>My wife and I are looking  
>for a dog (not now but soon) that is smart, 
                                      ^^^^^^ yes
good natured, 
^^^^^^^^^^^^ yes

good with kids,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ yes

>clean, 
^^^^^^ depends how & where the are worked :-)

doesn't shed, 
^^^^^^^^^^^^ ah, you need a bald dog then :-), *every* dog sheds

good in the house, 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ yes

>and (for me) will also be a good  upland hunting dog.  
                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ yes

>for the type of hunting I do.  I went pheasant hunting with a friend and his  
>black lab once, and it worked out O.K., but the dog is hardly an ideal  
>upland dog.

I've had a number of GSPs. They meet your criteria above, but can be
bettered. The short coats mean they can't handle really cold weather as
well as their cousins the German Wirehaired Pointer. They are also
reluctant to take cold water and are not keen on taking cover (ie
brambles). Some GSPs will, but mostly they're softer than the GWPs.
They also have a lot less drive and are more biddible. (Take that to
mean that they are more controllable and less stubbnorn/determined, but
give up quicker and sometimes refuse to do as they are bid.) On the
other hand, the thick coat of the GWP is a disadvantage on a grouse
moor in August. It all depends (firstly) on the kind of land and
weather in which the dog is to work, and then on temperament. The GSP
is the easier of the two to handle, but the GWP is the better breed.
(All IMO, of course.)

>Thoughts on (or better yet experience with) the German Pointers?  How do  
>they do on the above criteria?  Yellow labs?  Other breeds?  Advice  
>appreciated.

Forget the labradors, save them for the driven pheasant shoot or for
the foreshore. A GSP is every bit as good at retrieving as a lab, and
has some GO in it, as well. Other breeds that fulfill the same role as
the GSP (ie Hunter Pointer Retriever - HPR) include the Hungarian Vizla
(a wee bit smaller than the GSP and more biddible, just as capable),
the Weimaraner (larger than the GSP, dogs tend to go through a loutish
teenage period), the Brittany (spanial sized HPRs, very strong headed
and take a knowledgeable and firm hand to control), the Munsterlanders
(Large M. is an airhead, Small M. is superb - a "ladies dog"),  and
several others.

Get some books on the breeds, and preferably see some working before you
choose your breed. Once you've decided on breed, only buy from working
stock. And don't rush: buy in haste, repent at leisure.

--Jonathan