A gun helped shape this breed. After the first double-barrelled shotgun appeared around 1750, birds were shot in flight over pointing dogs, the FCI standard explains. A specialist pointer became an all-rounder for field, woodland and water. That is the heritage a German Shorthaired Pointer (Deutsch Kurzhaar) brings into your living room today.
| FCI | Group 7 (Pointing Dogs), Section 1.1 Continental Pointing Dogs, Braque type, Standard No. 119, with working trial |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Size (height at the withers) | Males 62 to 66 cm, females 58 to 63 cm |
| Weight | not specified in the FCI standard |
| Life expectancy | median 13,4 years in a British analysis of 584.734 dogs, grouped there with the English Pointer (McMillan et al. 2024) |
| Coat | short and dense, coarse and hard to the touch |
| Colours in the standard | brown with or without small white markings, dark and light brown roan, white with brown markings, black in the same variations; yellow tan, blaze and snip permitted |
Origins
The ancestors were dogs used in net hunting for game birds and in falconry, particularly around the Mediterranean. Through France, Spain and Flanders, they reached German princely courts. The stud book dates from 1897, and Prince Albrecht zu Solms-Braunfeld established breed characteristics. The wire-haired relative has a separate standard; read more in the German Wirehaired Pointer (Deutsch Drahthaar) entry.
Temperament
Steady, even-tempered and reliable, with controlled energy, neither nervous nor shy or aggressive: that is the standard. Friendly and people-oriented indoors, it switches instantly at the scent of game outdoors.
Exercise and activities
According to the standard, it should meet all hunting requirements into old age. A walk around the block is not enough. Allow two hours daily with retrieving, water work and scent work. Without hunting, it needs alternatives such as dummy training or tracking, plus solid recall. Related pointing dogs include the Weimaraner and Magyar Vizsla.
Grooming
The short, coarse coat needs only weekly grooming with a rubber mitt. Check paws and ears after field outings. For hunting use, the standard specifies a tail shortened by half; where docking is prohibited, it remains natural. In Germany, docking is generally prohibited under Section 6 of the German Animal Welfare Act. Exceptions apply only in individual cases.
Health
In the large British analysis, median lifespan was 13,4 years, compared with 12,0 for crossbreeds (McMillan et al. 2024). The study groups German Shorthaired Pointers with English Pointers, so the figure is not specific to this breed. Exfoliative cutaneous lupus erythematosus (ECLE) is recessively inherited: all 23 affected dogs examined carried two copies of a UNC93B1 gene variant, unlike any of 845 controls (Leeb et al. 2020). All seven dogs with ECLE examined in a follow-up study also had kidney involvement (Amerman et al. 2023). A genetic test exists for junctional epidermolysis bullosa, a skin-blistering condition; an Italian study followed it in 750 dogs (Frattini et al. 2021). Ask for both test results for the parents.
Who is a German Shorthaired Pointer right for?
Hunters and very active people outdoors daily who enjoy working alongside a dog with stamina.
Who is it less suitable for?
Homes with little time and anyone wanting a calm companion for short walks.
Check whether an all-round gundog fits your daily life in the breed quiz; our book offers more detailed help: “Welcher Hund passt WIRKLICH zu dir?” (book in German). For the first weeks with a puppy, there is the free Puppy Starter Pack. Find your Pointer as wall art in our dog portraits, for example as a poster in a wooden frame.
Further reading
- Weimaraner: the beautiful hunting dog that never clocks off
- Puppy training: the 5 rules that really work
- Calculating your dog’s food allowance: how much your dog really needs
Sources, accessed on 20.10.2026: FCI-Standard Nr. 119 Deutsch Kurzhaar (fci.be, version dated 29.11.2000); McMillan KM et al., Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death, Scientific Reports 2024; Leeb T et al., A Missense Variant Affecting the C-Terminal Tail of UNC93B1 in Dogs with Exfoliative Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus (ECLE), Genes 2020; Amerman HK et al., German Shorthaired Pointer dogs with exfoliative cutaneous lupus erythematosus develop immune-complex membranous glomerulonephropathy, Veterinary Pathology 2023; Frattini S et al., Genetic trend of the junctional epidermolysis bullosa in the German shorthaired pointer in Italy, Veterinary Record Open 2021.
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