Pointer, sisters?

[RoseyOldCrow]

Does anyone have any experience of English Pointers?

Following the recent loss of our wonderful dog (separate thread, where I received so much support which really helped), we're interested in getting a pointer later on this year. The temperament & energy levels appeal to us, as well as their general gorgeousness (those ears! those eyes!) They also seem a pretty healthy & robust breed, particularly if you can find one from a good line. We would be interested in activities with them, rather than showing.

Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

(Oh, and apologies for the title but I couldn't resist!)

Hi. We have had a rescue pointer cross for 8 weeks now. He is lovely.
Gentle and cuddly. Loves a fuss and a sleep. He is great with my children and all round lovely breed. He does need 45 mins twice a day but we haven't been able to.let him off his lead yet out of the garden.
Although we have only had him a short time I would definitely choose a pointer again.

at thread title.

I've known a few pointers over the years. All of them absolutely lovely gentle dogs, very sweet with people and good with other dogs. Their only big issue seems to be recall, to the extent that I've known a well-trained dog have to be worked in a GPS collar (she was an utter sweetheart, that dog). They were bred to range wide across fairly open country, and that is what they like to do, sodding off for five or ten minutes. Obviously this is not ideal, as a dog (especially a dog that size) can cover a lot of ground in that amount of time, and be under a lorry on the A road the other side of the woods, or chasing stock. You might find the sodding off would be less of an issue in a line bred for the show ring rather than for work - it's something I'd definitely talk to the breeder about, and I'd rehearse recall endlessly while the dog was still young.

You can't tire a pointer out, you just build up their stamina

GPS is great ours has one. She occasionally loses the plot and circumnavigates the woods.

Canicross is ideal for them.

Most amazing lap dog you can get.

I’ve owned English Pointers for over 20 years, I’m probably biased but they are the most wonderful breed.
They are very loving and sensitive and although they do need a lot of exercise (I CaniX with my 4 year old boy) they also love cuddling on the sofa.
I would thoroughly recommend the breed

I've got two male and femail from the same litter. They're ridiculous dogs but so lovable and daft. I had one before who lived to 14 with never a days illness. Yeah good luck with recall - they get sight or scent of a bird and you can forget sausages... I'll send you a pic. 😊

What's not to love?

Female not some tabloid shite!

Adolescent pointer meets swifts.

Haha yes that says it all.

They are gorgeous but they need a lot of exercise!

@RoseyOldCrow, @MrsPernicious loving the title, loving the diagram

Only second hand experience - our neighbours have one, a male.
He took a lot of work training to walk on a lead ( or at least it looked that way); was very friendly in the park with all the other dogs; was one of the few who could outlast my young male lab ( whose a lazy old monkey these days, but still has incredible stamina)

Beautiful dogs. @shggg245😁

I have one! First dog we’ve ever had and she is gorgeous, don’t regret it a single bit. Completely agree with the recall issue. Ours comes back 95% of the time, but once they are on the scent of something, or chasing swifts round a field , they go utterly deaf. Ours does a lovely high-pitched frustrated bark when she’s chasing birds though, so if we can’t see her, we can still work
out where she is. They are so loving and are quite happy to spend most of the day curled up on the sofa, as long as they’ve had a good off-lead hour or so of exercise.

Wow. They sound like the absolutely perfect breed for us!

Thank you so much for your stories (& the peerless illustration of the swift-inspired behaviour).

Has anyone crate trained their pup & did you continue to use a crate into adulthood?

My two sleep in their crate at night and when I'm popping out. Its also handy when we're camping.

I think they find it comforting as they sometimes choose to go in of their own volition and just chill out.

I love pointers. My favourite dogs. I can recommend a very good rescue if you’re interested in going that route

I have a Braque d'Auvergne which is basically a French Pointer. She's lovely. Tons of energy but is currently curled up asleep on my lap.

I think they are country dogs rather than town dogs though. She loves haring across the fields. Her recall is pretty good at the moment. We don't crate, the hallway is her safe space.

I think they can be nice dogs but depends a lot on where you live and your lifestyle. Some friends had one in an inner city terrace and it was a nightmare. She was a nice dog, but a typical pointer, over-friendly, patchy recall, had a penchant for killing birds in the local park. Did really well on long walks in the countryside but displayed typical roaming behaviour, where she would disappear and reappear continuously.

She was basically impossible to tire out and bounced all over the place. She also showed some warning signs of aggression.

They worked really hard on her training, but in the end it all proved too much and she was rehomed through the breeder to a more rural location.

@Frenchfancy, I know a B d'A - she is a lovely young dog, very soft, quite driven. She needs to have her mind kept active, though: she's bright and would I suspect get destructive if bored. Her owner spends a lot of time with her doing gundog training.