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Some, but not a lot. The breed record rates the Braque Saint-Germain at 3 out of 5 for barking, and the honest translation is a dog that speaks on occasions rather than on principle. Its temperament is Driven, intelligent, steady and companionable, its strangers rating reads Friendly with strangers, and both shape the barking: this dog reacts to what is actually happening around it. Owners in houses with normal street life find the level easy to live with; owners beside a busy footpath will hear more of it, and should plan the management below from the start.
Owners describe the gentleman of the braques: all the pointing style, with a courtier's manners at home. Saint Germains are gentle, willing and deeply devoted, notably soft and biddable for pointing dogs, quartering with style and living with unusual sweetness. Expect a dog that quarters open ground beautifully and rests like a courtier. Owners who run, hike or train in field sports get a calm and loyal dog at home. FCI recognition gives the breed a single published standard across most of the world.
The full record behind the headline runs like this. Barking is rated 3 out of 5 for the Braque Saint-Germain; energy sits at 5 out of 5 and trainability at 4 out of 5, and those two numbers decide how manageable the first one is: an energetic, trainable dog can be taught a settle, while energy with nowhere to go becomes noise. The barking score of 3 out of 5 was assigned inside that picture, not in isolation: breeds developed to work at a distance from people often kept their voices, breeds developed underfoot often lost them, and the Braque Saint-Germain still carries whatever its own history decided about the value of being heard.
Context decides the volume with this breed. In a quiet house on a quiet street, a Braque Saint-Germain can go whole days near the bottom of its range; move the same dog beside a school route or a busy fence line and the 3 out of 5 starts earning its number. The breed's strangers rating, Friendly with strangers, shapes the rest: people it does not know get announced, people it does get a tail instead. None of this is unusual, which is rather the point of a middle score: the Braque Saint-Germain's voice is a normal dog voice, present, purposeful and, on an ordinary day, brief.
Owners describe one of the sweetest of the pointers: a forest bred aristocrat with a foot hunter's practicality and a family's heart. The Braque Saint Germain suits active rural households that want an elegant, gentle French pointer with English style in its pedigree. Owners describe one of the most courteous partnerships in the pointing world, a dog that seems to apologize for the birds it finds so stylishly.
For completeness, the record's remaining lines: the Braque Saint-Germain comes from France, in the Sporting group, and its color line reads: Standard colors: dull white with orange (fawn) markings. Its coat is recorded as Short, not too fine. Apartment suitability is rated Not ideal, which is the line apartment readers should weigh beside the bark score, because a dog can be welcome in a flat for its size and unwelcome for its soundtrack, or the reverse. Its health watch list, Hip and elbow dysplasia, Eye conditions and DNA screened conditions, belongs in the long view: a dog kept sound and lean is a calmer dog, and calm is the raw material quiet is made from.
Look sideways for a moment at the breeds this record finds most similar: the Vizsla, the Wirehaired Vizsla and the Ariège Pointer. Their bark ratings are not identical to the Braque Saint-Germain's 3 out of 5, which is worth remembering in both directions: do not borrow a similar breed's quiet reputation, and do not lend this one's volume out. Cross shoppers get more from comparing the full records side by side than from any single number, which is why each name on the shortlist carries its own page on this site.
Managing a middle voice is mostly about not accidentally training it upward. The commonest household error is paying barks with the thing barked for: the door opens, the visitor enters, the dog is let out, while it is still barking, and the lesson lands cleanly. Fix the pattern and the volume follows. A Braque Saint-Germain is not a barking problem wearing a dog suit; it is a Driven, intelligent, steady and companionable Sporting breed with a middle voice, and most households that meet its exercise and company needs describe the barking the way the record does, 3 out of 5, present, purposeful and brief.
Old Saint Germains stay steady, devoted and companionable. Adults enjoy a long, vigorous prime: keep feet checked after hard days, weight lean and the work coming.
Keep the record's figures in view while you decide. Height 21 to 25 inches, weight 40 to 57 lb, lifespan 12 to 14 years, exercise 60 to 120 minutes a day. Barking 3 of 5, energy 5 of 5, trainability 4 out of 5. A small dog's 3 out of 5 and a giant dog's 3 out of 5 are different acoustic events, which is why the size lines belong on a page about noise: pitch, volume and the neighbor's tolerance all scale with the dog producing them.
Start with the cause, not the noise. In the Braque Saint-Germain's case the setting matters as much as the rule: this is a breed with very high energy and a bark level of 3 out of 5, so its voice is heard against a fairly specific home backdrop. Meet the exercise need first, 60 to 120 minutes daily, then teach a settle cue in calm moments so it exists in loud ones, and reward the pauses after barking rather than shouting through them. Manage the stages the dog performs on, windows, fences, the front door routine. At 3 out of 5, this breed's trainability of 4 out of 5 makes the program very workable, but it is a program of weeks. Anyone selling you a silent Braque Saint-Germain by Friday is selling you fear, not training.
Sometimes, and sometimes it gives you stereo. With the Braque Saint-Germain, whose typical weight runs 40 to 57 pounds and whose lifespan reaches 12 to 14 years, the honest answer also changes a little across the dog's life, from puppyhood to senior status at about 8 years. A companion can drain the boredom and loneliness out of a Braque Saint-Germain's day, and boredom is a common fuel for barking in a breed needing 60 to 120 minutes of exercise and company to match. But dogs also learn each other's songs: pair a vocal dog with another vocal breed and the duet is a real risk. Choose the second dog for its own record, its bark score included, and introduce it as company, not as a noise treatment with a heartbeat. Puppies are bright, orange patched charmers; adults are handsome, loyal partners.
That is the core of the breed's vocal life, and its strangers rating reads Friendly with strangers. The Braque Saint-Germain's own numbers frame it: shedding at 3 out of 5, grooming at 2 out of 5, and a height of 21 to 25 inches, which is the household this voice has to fit into. A Braque Saint-Germain with a bark score of 3 out of 5 announces unfamiliar people as a matter of course; whether the announcement is a single bark or a full report depends on the score, the dog and how the visitor behaves. Friends who visit often graduate quickly to the greeted list. Strangers who behave strangely, lingering at the fence, staring in at the window, get the extended edition whatever the score says.
Last updated: November 11, 2026