German Wirehaired Pointer Breed description: Character & Co

What is the origin of the German Wirehaired Pointer?

Sigmund Freiherr von Nedlitz and Neukirch is known as one of the pioneers in German Wirehaired Pointer breeding. It was his concern to create a strong and intelligent hunting dog with a short coat. This dog should be universally usable and master searching as well as pointing and retrieving. Such so-called full-use dogs only began to appear in the middle of the 19th century. The reason for this was the development of modern firearms that could also be used from a distance. Before that, the aristocracy would mainly go for par force hunts accompanied by packs of hounds. The German Wirehaired Pointer on the other hand is a dog that loyally supports its owner during a solitary hunt. Around 1900, targeted breeding finally began, whereby Korthals Griffons, Poodle-pointer and German Wirehaired were paired with each other. Helpful for the choice of the parent animals was the German Working Dog Stud Book, where starting in 1897 dogs with a particularly high performance level were registered. A further milestone was the foundation of the association 'Drahthaar' in 1902.

What are the breed characteristics of the German Wirehair?

The German Wirehaired Pointer is a strong pointing dog with a short coat. It is a true all-rounder, which provides valuable services both before and after the shot is fired on the hunt. Their excellent nose is of great benefit when searching for game: they are determined to track down game and retrieve it over longer distances. Their tail is also a striking feature, which the animal carries horizontally when it is excited. In the past, it would often be docked, but this has been prohibited in Austria since 2005.