German Longhaired Pointer Dog Breed

Below are details and specs for the German Longhaired Pointer dog breed.

The GLP is a medium sized breed with males at 24-28 inches at the shoulder and females at 23-26. Weight is somewhere close to 65 pounds.

Members of this breed are gentle, loyal, affectionate, good-natured, highly trainable and a host of other wonderful qualities. They are sociable with dogs, make excellent playmates for children and a friendly to benign strangers. They will likely have strong hunting instincts so either raise them with smaller pets or keep them separately.

This breed can be trained fairly easily but will be high maintenance in regards to grooming, exercise and amount of attention needed. A large property and a sporty owner is a must.

The German Longhaired Pointer is a gundog that predates his Shorthaired and Wirehaired relations but is considered lesser known. They were first used several hundred years ago by hunters to flush out birds and it wasn't until the 1800s, with the development of more advanced guns in Germany, they began being bred for pointing. The first dogs were quite different in appearance and were the result of local long-haired marsh dogs crossed with Spanish fowling dogs, English Setter and Pointers and possibly even Newfoundlands and Collies. The later part of the 1800s consisted of improvements in breeding to hone their hunting characteristics instead of focusing solely on looks. Breed Standards were developed in 1879 by various German groups and formalized at an exhibition in Hannover by the Association for the Refinement of Dog Breeds. In 1926, the Deutsch Langhaar Verband was formed from the merging of two previous authorities that encourage quality breeding over appearance, the Club Langhaar and the Verein Deutsch-Langhaar. This breed now possesses competitive skills in both forest and water and is even utilized to hunt big game. Although they didn't spark the fancy of hunters outside of their homeland until the 1970s, presently, members of this breed are found mostly in Western Europe, with some in the U.S. The UKC recognized this breed as recently as 2006 and they were added to the Foundation Stock Service in 2010.

These dogs are strong and muscular yet elegant, enabling them to run fast, range wide and point devoutly. The UKC describes their body to appear as flowing lines with a noble head that includes: a muzzle equal to half its length and arched at the bridge, a brown nose, and dark brown eyes. The ears turn slightly forward. The long neck slopes into a broad and well developed chest. GLP legs appear straight and the feet are webbed; the tail is carried horizontal and turned up at the end. The coat of this breed is medium-long, partially wavy and firm with a dense undercoat. The length is especially evident on the neck, chest, and stomach while the hair elsewhere is shorter; feathering exists on the backs of legs, tail and ears.

Good-natured and calm, GLPs should be fairly easy to train. They possess a certain sharpness, especially when in the field and are also capable of protecting their companion if need be.

They excel in sports, hunting, obedience and agility work and do best with owners that are active and athletic like them. If left alone for too long they can suffer separation anxiety and this could lead to unwanted behaviors. These behaviors can also develop if they do not have enough exercise or "jobs" to do.

They should be kept on leash if not on a large property or fenced area because their hunting instincts will cause them to wander off in search of some fun; if trained properly they will stick within a controllable distance.

Currently, this breed has no serious health issues. Due to their love of water and hunting in fields and forests, they will need their ears monitored to remove dirt and debris that could cause an infection.