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German Short haired Pointer

8K views 25 replies 19 participants last post by  bean 
#1 ·
My sister is buying a German sort haired pointer puppy. Has anyone had any experience with the breed? The pup will be living with her, Leala and I. Puppy introduction tips? I will be working with Leala's trainer to make the transition easier (as it will be a month after we move to our new place, already a bit unsettling for Leala). She gets the pup at 8 weeks the first week of November.

Just wondering if anyone knows the breed, or had their dobes interact with the breed before. All the research I have done says they are high energy, and will be smaller than Leala at maturity.

Any advise will be greatly appreciated! :nicejob:
 
#2 ·
I had one of these when I was a teenager. He was a GREAT dog! Named him Friz! lol Extremely intelligent. I took him to a dog training class and there was a Doberman also in the class. One night the teacher/trainer whispered to me..."Your dog and that Doberman are more like people than dogs."(one of the reasons I got a Doberman)

He was a VERY dominant alpha male with other male dogs. Not sure if that is common with the breed, but that was Fritz. He was also quite large for a German Shorthair. But, he was great with people and he loved being outside and just running. Another thing....he never barked. I mean, never. Again, not sure if that is common or just his thing.

That's about all I can tell you from my experience but I loved having him.
 
#3 ·
I had one as a kid. But I'll be the first to admit we got her from what I would consider to be a bad breeder. Honestly, I know nothing about her breeding program beyond that she had hunting/tracking titles on some of her dogs. But I know for a fact she/her trainer were terrible to the girl we took. We got her for $150 at 9 months old because they couldn't get her to hunt. After having her home for a while you could tell they beat her. And she had never seen the inside of a house.

In addition to her rough start, she had major allergies and was always a bit skiddish.
But she was such a good girl. Got on well when we brought home a pup a few years later. Never chased the cats. She had the perfect amount of energy for a family with 3 kids. Very playful but always ready and willing to cuddle! And she was a breeze to train once she had positive enforcement over what her breeder was doing.

I personally love the breed and can only imagine how good a well bred, well socialized and trained pup could be!

I can't wait to see some pics!
 
#4 ·
My advice? don't do it LOL :)
They require a TON of socialization. I'm used to our dobes and socializing our pups, but even when we got the shorthair, handlers would constantly tell me to keep her out, keep socializing her, it was a huge deal. They are VERY high energy. If they do not get a proper amount of exercise they go squirrelly. One thing I found too is ours at least, does not settle well in the house. She paces and paces and would prefer to be outside or in a crate. She is not snuggly like the dobes are. She could care less where you are. :)

Our GSP gets along with the male dobes, but not the females. She is very dominant.

This is only my experience with our one gsp, and the limited experience of travelling with others who have gsp's. I find them very vocal (yappy!) too...

Certainly not a breed for just anyone. Just be prepared!!
 
#8 ·
There is a group of GSP owners at the local dog park on Sundays, and Gunnar LOVES running around with them! They're pretty high energy and love to run (Gunnar loves to chase) so it's a match made in heaven!

I applied for a 4month old GSP at the shelter last week and they didn't let me adopt her because Gunnar isn't de-nutted yet. It hurt my feelings a bit. He's getting that done in December & I told them, but nope, nothing. So hoping to add a GSP to our family soon! I saw a 2y/o girl at a different shelter's website about 40 mins away so hopefully going to meet her next week if she hasn't been adopted already!

Sorry, mini derail.... I think they're a perfect combo though!
 
#9 ·
My brother has one, and he seems like a pretty good dog. He didn't do any schooling with him, so training him was a bit challenging. But I think as he has gotten a bit older (he's 1 1/2yrs now) he seems to have gotten better. My mom watches him sometimes and she said he is doing really good. He just requires a lot of exercise, so big off leash runs everyday, and he is fine. He is very smart though. He figures things out pretty quick, good and bad. And he LOVES birds. All he does at their acreage, all day, is chase birds.
I think any dog breed can be good or bad depending on what you do with it. Lots of exercise, training and socialization, and you should be good to go.

Here is a picture of Jed when he was a pup :)
 

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#10 ·
High energy is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of GSPs! All of the ones I have met/trained with have been very sociable with other dogs and people, seriously tireless, intelligent but not really that easy to train... I know some that are very 'birdy' and aren't that toy/food motivated.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I have known some horrible ones. Sorry it is not a breed I would ever consider, period. My roommate had one when we were in college and he was the most destructive puppy EVER. He got a ton of exercise. The others that I have known were super high strung and rather spacey, all were destructive, very, for the first couple of years. I suppose I should qualify this with I have never known one who was actually used for hunting so that could make a huge difference. I do think they are attractive but I have known 5 fairly well and didn't like any of them. They are adorable puppies but are really spacey/distract so easily. They have way more energy than any doberman I have known. Personally I don't think they are the brightest blub and I like setters so that says something. LOL. If your sister gets one she needs to get to training and I would suggest you pm Adara and ask about hunting trials, I think that is what I would do if I had one, direct it for what it can focus on. Editing to add that four of the ones I know do not get the exercise they need and my roommates dog was just, ummm really dense...he would run in the forest all day long, I'm not exaggerating.
 
#13 ·
About all I know of GSPs are the ones I've transported north to rescues. All very sweet, all very pretty, all very much flight risks. :p

Do please double and triple check to make sure her intended breeder is reputable? For it seems to me there is certainly no shortage of them in rescue.


Oh! And if coat markings are indiciative, I think my cousin's hunting dog may be either GSP or a GSP-mix too. That dog LIVES to hunt. He tried to leave her in a pen while we were at the family reunion... she broke out and ran straight for the woods, afraid she was missing out on the hunt!
 
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#16 ·
High energy. If you think Dobes are high energy, they are higher. More velcro than Dobes. Busy busy busy busy. I bit "hard headed" for a sporting breed, but realtively biddable. I switched from GSPs to Vizslas. But I often consider going back. Very different than working dogs. You really have to enjoy sporting dogs to enjoy a GSP (vizsla, etc.)
 
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#17 ·
We have had 3. The first was a male rescue, Patch. The 2nd was a show male, Dillon. The 3rd was a show female, Halley.

Patch was my husband's hunting dog. High prey drive. Killed my mom's neighbour's kitten (in my mom's yard), killed a skunk while out hunting once. Patch's major quirk was trying to do his nails - he freaked out beyond all freaking out. I remember 7 of us holding him down at the vet's once to do his nails. He would come out of tranquilization to freak out while we did his nails. But he was a good dog in the house and he and our male Doberman, Sabre, at the time got along great.

Dillon, unfortunately, had a short life due to idiopathic epilepsy which is a problem in the breed. Dilly was also a great dog in the house, and he and Rebel, our male Doberman at the time, were best buds. We really didn't have any issues with Dillon beyond the seizures.

Halley lived to be 14+. She had a major issue with the crate. Couldn't stand it. She was rarely crated past a certain age as she was fine loose in the house but she was still trying to dig out of it when she was 12 the odd time she was in it. She could run all day in the woods/fields but she had a great off switch at home and was lazy as could be in the house.

I always say that Dobermans are all about "what can I do for you today?" whereas GSPs are all about "what can I do for myself today?" Dobermans are intelligent, GSPs are crafty. The 2 breeds are great together, imo. Similar play style, similar enough in size that one doesn't hurt the other. And they both speak German - lol.

I'm sure we'll get another one day.
 
#19 ·
UGH don't talk to me about doing nails!I can do 7 dobes by myself in half an hour. Then it's the gsp....doesn't matter how many people, it is impossible. If i got one nail a day, that's good. Last time she needed stitches, we had to have her sedated and we did them then. I really wanted to pull them (just kidding). Our breeder says that all their dogs are this way. We went over how we do the dobes (as baby puppies and all the way up) and they do the exact same thing we do, so I'm not sure what the problem is.
It was easier to microchip the pig, then it is to do remi's nails! and trust me, that was no fun either!!
 
#18 ·
"They both speak German" lol. That's hilarious. The breeder is great. She went to see previous litters before putting down a deposit. Registered and the parents are both used for hunting.
From all these posts I am glad we have 4.5 acres of fenced area for this new pup to run! Seems we will have quite a high energy pup on our hands.

As for the flighty comments, have you had issues with the GSP's running away? That will be a change since Leala is such a homebody in true dobe style.


Sent from my iPhone using PG Free
 
#22 ·
Vizslas nails are typuically incredibly easy to do. As easy as the Dobermans.
 
#23 ·
One of our best, smartest, most sociable yet protective dogs ever was our GSP, Clem. He was gorgeous, delightful, very biddable and obedient, fun, and just an amazing friend. I'm trying to convince DH we should add one to our crew.
 
#24 · (Edited)
There are a couple of working GSP dogs in Tali's agility classes and they're owned by a woman who breeds and trains gun dogs seriously. She trains them in agility for fun just to give them something else to do and make them think and work a different way.

Her dogs are awesome dogs but to be honest, I credit her with a fantastic breeding program because she's extremely knowledgable about both the breed and training field/gun dogs. She is not your average dog owner/trainer.

Every other GSP I've met, I've not been impressed with...too...anxious? Maybe. That doesn't quite seem like the right word but all the others just seem nervous. So I think it really, really, really depends on the bloodlines, breeder, and handling/training ability of owner. If I were going to get a GSP she is the only person I'd go to so I would know the quality of dog I was getting and I would have vast resources for help and training in a breeder.

Good luck. :redface:
 
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#25 · (Edited)
http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums...1B1333C6-831-0000004B377F804A_zps98dc70da.jpg

Just wanted to update everyone! Leala is being a great big sister, we are introducing them slowly. No unsupervised playing yet (the baby is only 8 lb!) but they sit nicely together and the puppy sure wants to play ball with Leala but can't keep up. It's quite cute. The puppy's name is Walker, and she is quite a bundle of energy! She has been pretty good so far, and loves to rip around and yip in her teeny voice. :)
 
#26 ·
I've only met high-strung GSPs with no off switch, but I honestly don't know about the lines of any of them. I'm sure there are great individuals with grounded temperaments but the ones I've met have really turned me off to the breed. High energy is one thing, but high-strung is another thing entirely.

Good luck with her pup! I would work hard on settling and focus myself. ;)
 
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