Pointer
Energetic, loyal, focused and kind at home. From England.
Sportinglarge breedEnglandStandards checked
Standards checked: this profile's facts are checked against the breed standards of the AKC, The Kennel Club and the FCI, as described on our methodology page.
Gallery
Real photos from licensed sources only, each credited to its creator.
Photos show different individual dogs from licensed libraries, not one dog growing up. Stage labels are approximate, the way a careful editor would judge them.
About the Pointer
From England, the Pointer is a large pointing gundog whose traditional work was to quarter open ground at speed, find game birds by scent and point them rock steady. This breed's engine is built for all day work. Owners who run, hike or train in field sports get a calm and loyal dog at home.
History
Pointing breeds were developed across Europe wherever sportsmen hunted birds over open ground, and each region kept its own stamp of the type. The AKC recognizes the breed today, and its standard is the reference most US breeders work to. It is also known as the English Pointer.
Personality
Energetic, loyal, focused and kind at home is the record's Pointer, and the balance is the breed: this is the original pointing dog of England, an athlete of almost professional intensity in the field and a gentle, affectionate companion off duty. Pointers live to quarter ground and find birds, and everything about them, the engine, the nose, the rock steady point, serves that work. At home they are sweet natured, people devoted and surprisingly calm once exercised. Puppies are busy, leggy and charming; adults are elegant, kind partners with a puppyish streak. Owners describe a dog of two perfect halves, provided the outdoor half is honoured daily.
Temperament and traits
Energy (5/5)
Trainability (4/5)
Grooming needs (2/5)
Shedding (3/5)
Barking (3/5)
Good with children: Good with children
With other dogs: Usually good with dogs
With strangers: Friendly with strangers
Apartment life: Not ideal
Coat and care
Coat: Short, hard and smooth.
Colors: Standard colors: lemon & white, orange & white, liver & white and black & white.
Feed to a visible waist tuck and weigh monthly; this breed does best on a routine of consistent meals, training in short sessions and daily exercise matched to its type. The easiest coat in dogs: a weekly brush with a rubber mitt and the occasional bath. The short coat is nearly wash and wear; the work is in the exercise column, not the grooming one. Check feet and pads after hard country days.
Exercise and grooming
Exercise
An hour is a floor and the record's range runs to two: this breed's engine is built for all day work, in the overview's words, quartering open ground at speed and pointing rock steady. Owners who run, hike or train in field sports get a calm and loyal dog at home, per the overview, and everyone else gets a Pointer reorganising their lives around its exercise debt. Free running, swimming, retrieving and gundog training fill the programme, with recall built in stages. Puppies build up gradually. Check feet and pads after hard country days, per the care notes. The Pointer is among the most athletic dogs on this site and should be chosen by people who live that way.
Grooming
The easiest coat in dogs, per the care notes: a weekly brush with a rubber mitt and the occasional bath for the short, hard, smooth coat. The short coat is nearly wash and wear; the work is in the exercise column, not the grooming one, in the notes' summary. Shedding is steady and modest. The real care items are field maintenance: check feet and pads after hard country days, rinse off mud, and keep ears, teeth and nails on the standard weekly round. Puppies need only kind handling habits. Owners consistently rate the Pointer the lowest maintenance athlete in the gundog group, provided the exercise column gets its hours.
Training and daily life
Training
Pointers are bright, willing pupils that learn handling, steadiness and retrieving to high standards under reward based, structured training, and they wilt under harsh or repetitive handling. The priorities are recall, proofed in stages against the competing joys of scent and space; steadiness; lead manners; a settle at home; and socialisation that keeps the kindness confident. The breed's focus is an asset: channel it and the Pointer becomes one of the most responsive gundogs in the world. Many excel in field trials, agility and canicross. Owners who train with this dog rather than at it describe a partnership of rare fluency and joy.
Living with a Pointer
The Pointer suits serious outdoors households: runners, hikers, hunters and field sports families with land or daily access to it. Energetic, loyal, focused and kind at home, good with children, usually good with other dogs and friendly with strangers, it rates apartments as not ideal in the record on every measure. Expect an athlete's appetite for work, a comedian's streak at home and a dog that points at pigeons, butterflies and suspicious statues with total professional commitment. For owners who genuinely live the outdoor life, the Pointer is the original and many say the finest pointing dog: tireless outside, gentle inside, and beautiful at both.
What a Pointer costs
Food cost
About $38 per month for a typical 60 lb adult eating roughly 3.5 cups a day of a standard quality food ($1.60 per lb). Full breakdown in our food expense calculator.
Activity and exercise
Plan 60 to 120 minutes a day of walks, play and training. Under exercised dogs of most breeds invent their own projects, and they rarely pick good ones.
Insurance cost
Typical US range $40 to $73 per month for accident and illness cover. Estimate only, based on market ranges for this breed's risk profile; see the insurance estimator and the insurance guide.
On the monthly figures above, a typical adult year runs to about $451 for food and $480 to $876 for insurance, before routine vet care, grooming and gear. Year one costs more: vaccinations, spay or neuter surgery, a crate, bedding and training all land at once.
Growth: puppy to senior
How weight typically builds with age for a large breed, and when full size arrives.
| Stage | Age | Typical weight |
|---|---|---|
| Puppy | 8 weeks | about 5 to 9 lb |
| Puppy | 4 months | about 13 to 21 lb |
| Puppy | 6 months | about 22 to 36 lb |
| Young | 9 months | about 31 to 51 lb |
| Young | 12 months | about 37 to 61 lb |
| Adult | 18 months | about 43 to 71 lb |
| Adult | 24 months | about 45 to 75 lb |
| Adult | Full grown | 45 to 75 lb (standard range) |
| Senior | From about 7 years | Healthy weight stays in the adult range; watch for slow gain or loss |
Growth pattern follows the size class growth curves published by the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, applied to the adult weight range in the breed standard. Individual puppies vary; steady growth matters more than hitting any single number, and your vet's growth checks come first.
Life stages
Puppies need socialisation, gradual exercise building with protected joints, and early field manners taught as games. Adolescents are at maximum athleticism with unfinished judgement, and structured work carries the household through. Adults enjoy an exceptionally long prime, since lifespans run to seventeen years: keep weight lean, feet checked and the work coming. Senior status arrives around ten or later: twice yearly checks, joint friendly exercise and continued country life in kinder form. Old Pointers stay kind, devoted and dignified, still pointing at garden birds with professional pride.
Health
Hip and elbow scoring and annual eye checks are the backbone of gundog health testing, and most gundog breeds also have DNA tests for the conditions found in their lines. Ask the breeder for the full panel, not just a vet checked claim.
Conditions to know about
- Hip and elbow dysplasia: Hip and elbow scoring is the backbone of gundog health testing, per the record. Ask the breeder for the full panel, not just a vet checked claim, and keep scores in writing.
- Eye conditions: Annual eye checks are the other backbone item named in the record. Ask for current certificates for both parents, and report vision changes promptly in a dog that works by sight and scent at distance.
- DNA screened conditions: Most gundog breeds also have DNA tests for the conditions found in their lines, in the record's words. Ask breeders which DNA results their dogs carry, alongside the hip, elbow and eye panel.
Facts follow the Pointer breed standard (AKC, The Kennel Club and FCI standards agree on the essentials for this breed). Health notes summarize the conditions breed clubs and veterinary bodies most often flag for this breed. They are general information for choosing and caring, not a diagnosis or a substitute for your vet.
Gear for Pointer owners
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Pointer questions
How long do Pointers live?
A typical lifespan is 12 to 17 years. Weight control, dental care and screening for the breed's known conditions give a dog the best chance of reaching the top of that range.
How much does it cost to keep a Pointer?
Food for a typical adult runs about $38 a month at a standard quality tier, and accident and illness insurance usually falls between $40 and $73 a month in the US. Try the full cost calculator for a complete year one and yearly picture.
Are Pointers good with children?
Good with children. As with every breed, supervise dogs and children together and teach children to respect the dog's space.
How much exercise does a Pointer need?
Plan on 60 to 120 minutes a day, split between walks, play and training games. Puppies and seniors need gentler, shorter sessions.
Is the Pointer the same as the English Pointer?
Yes: Pointer and English Pointer are the same breed, the original pointing dog from which most other pointing breeds drew inspiration. The German and wirehaired pointers in this index are separate, later breeds.
Do Pointers make good house dogs?
With the exercise paid in full, famously: energetic, loyal, focused and kind at home is the record's summary. The outdoor half of the bargain is the whole secret; unpaid, there is no house dog, only a athlete in a room.
How fast can a Pointer run?
They are among the fastest of the gundog breeds over distance, quartering ground at a sustained gallop for hours. That engine is why the exercise figures on this page are not negotiable.