Home / Questions / Braque Saint-Germain
Yes, the Braque Saint-Germain sheds steadily, though the amount is light compared with many gundogs. Its coat is short, scoring 3 out of 5 for shedding, and it needs little upkeep beyond a weekly brush, with a grooming score of 2 out of 5. Owners describe the coat as close to wash and wear in practical terms for day to day care.
The coat record for the breed reads: Short, not too fine. At 3 out of 5, the Braque Saint-Germain's shedding is the manageable middle: noticeable on dark clothes, controlled by routine brushing.
Coat questions always come back to routine: the breeds that look effortless in photographs are the ones whose owners brush on schedule whether the coat looks like it needs it or not.
A Braque Saint-Germain at 2/5 grooming asks for a brush, nail clippers and ten calm minutes a week. Saint Germains are gentle, willing and deeply devoted, notably soft and biddable for pointing dogs, quartering with style and living with unusual sweetness. Puppies are bright, orange patched charmers; adults are handsome, loyal partners. Owners describe the gentleman of the braques: all the pointing style, with a courtier's manners at home.
One more anchor from the record: with strangers the breed reads Friendly with strangers, and with other dogs, Usually good with dogs; both verdicts colour the answers on this page.
The growth record behind the breed: a Braque Saint-Germain puppy weighs 8 weeks at about 6 to 8 lb, 9 months at about 30 to 42 lb, 12 months at about 35 to 50 lb, on the way to 40 to 57 lb fully grown at 21 to 25 inches. Standard colors: dull white with orange (fawn) markings. The breed belongs to the Sporting group and its home ground is France.
The stranger test summarises the social side: rated Friendly with strangers, the Braque Saint-Germain meets the world as this page describes. Owners who accept the terms upfront call the Braque Saint-Germain easy; owners who discover them call the same numbers a burden. More questions about the breed are answered from the same record on the Braque Saint-Germain profile and its sibling question pages.
Whatever the routine, keep sessions pleasant and short enough to end on success. A dog that cooperates with grooming is made, session by session, in the first year.
With grooming effort at 2/5, professional help ranges from optional to essential for the Braque Saint-Germain. High scoring coats repay a groomer every six to eight weeks; easy coats need only nails, ears and teeth kept up at home. The Braque Saint-Germain's own figures, shedding 3/5 and grooming 2/5, are the baseline to plan the routine around.
Yes: puppy fluff becomes the adult short coat in the first year, and senior coats often thin and grey, especially around the muzzle. Each stage of a Braque Saint-Germain's coat asks a slightly different routine at the same 2/5 commitment. When in doubt, brush: very few coat problems in this breed were ever made worse by an extra session.
Less often than owners think: over bathing strips the coat's own protection. For most Braque Saint-Germains a bath every month or two, or when genuinely filthy, plus brushing at the 2/5 level the record suggests, keeps coat and skin in balance.
What a Braque Saint-Germain costs to keep, line by line, from the first puppy year to the lifetime figure.
How much exercise a Braque Saint-Germain needs, what fills the minutes best and how training doubles as exercise.
Lightly, as the breed's record shows: regular brushing keeps loose hair to a minimum in the house.
Last updated: November 6, 2026