initial purchase price of a Pointer could easily be a significant investment for the owner, but a pure-bred dog costs no more to maintain than a mixed breed, unless of course it is blessed with the coat of a Maltese or Poodle, which the Pointer is not. If the cost of having exactly the kind of dog you want and are proud to own is amortized over the number of years you will enjoy him, you must admit the initial cost becomes far less consequential.
WHO SHOULD OWN A POINTER?
Just as a prospective buyer should have a checklist to lead him to a responsible breeder, so must good breeders have a list of qualifications for the buyer. These are just a few of the “musts” a prospective Pointer buyer might face if looking to purchase a puppy from a responsible breeder:
1. The buyer must have a fenced yard and a secure and protected place for the dog to stay if he is out of the house.
2. Children should be at least five years of age. Although Pointers seem to have a natural affinity for children, an adolescent Pointer can be clumsy and can unintentionally injure a toddler.
3. Pointers are usually too strong and active for elderly people.
4. Everyone in the family must want a Pointer.
5. The buyer must be financially able to provide proper veterinary and home care.
6. No Pointer is likely to be sold to a person who is interested in breeding “just pets” or operating an indiscriminate “stud factory.”
7. The buyer must be aware that Pointers require a great deal of exercise.
Pointers are playful dogs who make fun companions. Here’s a surfing pup “riding the waves” with a little help from his family.
Pointers from good show or field lines can make perfect pets for dedicated experienced owners.
THE POINTER AS A HOUSE DOG
A young Pointer must start understanding household rules from the moment he enters your home. What it will take to accomplish this is patience, love and a firm but gentle and unrelenting hand. Even the youngest Pointer puppy understands the difference between being corrected and being abused.
Pointers are entirely capable of being anyone’s best friend and household companion but, as is the case in any good relationship, both parties must be compatible. Pointers were bred to hunt. At no time in the breed’s developmental history was any attempt made to make the Pointer a lap dog or boudoir companion. A Pointer best belongs to someone who realizes that work can come in the form of almost any structured activity—performing the daily obedience routine or even playing ball.
Pointers must be given their daily duties and plenty of opportunity to exercise, or they may well use up their excess time by inventing things to do. What your Pointer decides to do on his own might be gnawing the legs of your best table, digging a tunnel to the neighbor’s yard or communicating vocally with every other canine in the hemisphere. As far as your Pointer is concerned, if you do not insist that something he is doing must be stopped, your lack of determination will be construed as carte blanche or permission to continue! Pointers learn quickly, but that does not mean they always care about what you are trying to impress upon them. Moreover, if you do not provide the requisite leadership, your Pointer will let you know in no uncertain terms that he is entirely capable of providing that leadership for himself.
The Pointer is short of coat and long on endurance, particularly tolerant of heat and, considering the breed’s thin single coat, fairly tolerant of the cold as well. However, the Pointer must still be left in the shade when temperatures soar or housed indoors when they plummet.
The Pointer is curious and will want to roam if not provided with a fenced yard, so a fenced yard or other securely enclosed area is necessary for off-leash exercise and training. The Pointer can be trained to do just about anything a dog is capable of doing, particularly if the task includes agility and enthusiasm.
POINTERS IN THE FIELD
For the individual desiring a hunting partner, the Pointer offers many superb qualities, not the least of which is his short coat that requires little deburring. If you plan to hunt in the uplands over game birds, such as quail, pheasant and grouse, then shooting over a Pointer is the way to go. Hunting with a Pointer is an all-day affair, and this breed knows how to last the entire day, expending his energy like a professional athlete. If you are interested in hunting with your dog in the field but have never done so, attend a walking field trial and observe how the dogs work. The assistance of a professional trainer is invaluable to the novice hunter, equally for the puppy and the owner. The first year in a hunting puppy’s life is the most critical time in establishing what kind of hunter the dog will become.
MALE OR FEMALE?
While some people may have personal preferences as to the sex of their dog, both the male and the female Pointer make equally good companions and are equal in their trainability. The decision will have more to do with the lifestyle and ultimate plans of the owner than with differences between the sexes in the breed.
Pointers from lines bred strictly for the field are usually smaller and finer-boned. They also seem to pack more energy ounce for ounce in their physiques. Pointers from show lines are generally larger and have heavier bone than their field cousins. The male is normally larger and heavier-boned than the female at maturity.
Males usually take a longer time to grow up both mentally and physically. Some males can reach a point during adolescence when they could not care less about food, and keeping the young male at a reasonable weight may prove to be somewhat of a challenge. This is not to say that young Pointer females are exempt from these disturbing hunger strikes, but experience has proven that males are apt to take the lead here.
In the field, the Pointer is the paragon of hunting prowess, though not the first choice of hunting novices.
ONE STEP AHEAD
An excellent example of the Pointer’s speed and endurance comes from the field. It is said that the reason the Pointer is so successful in the field is that he covers so much ground in the course of a hunt. Many estimate that covering 100 miles in a full day’s hunt is not unusual for a big-running Pointer. This, combined with the breed’s often unbridled enthusiasm for its work, can result in the dog’s becoming quite out of control. None of these characteristics disappears because a Pointer has been chosen as a house dog and companion. Therefore, the owner of a companion Pointer must always be one step ahead of his dog and always in control.
The female is not entirely problem-free. She will have her semi-annual, and sometimes burdensome, heat cycles after she is eight or nine months old. At these times she must be confined so that she will not soil her surroundings, and she must also be closely watched to prevent male dogs from gaining access to her or she will become pregnant.
ALTERING
Spaying the female or neutering the male will not change the personality of your pet and will avoid
