Our Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Dog

When my husband began his search for a middle size upland birds and waterfowl sporting dog two things happened. First we became aware of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed and secondly we met several breeders and their dogs and knew this was the breed for us. We were looking for a medium size sporting dog with minimal shedding that is also a great family dog.

This is exactly what we found in the dogs we met and is what our WPG, Stoli, has been to us since August 2008.

We just recently celebrated Stoli's second birthday and were reminiscing about some of his characteristics that make him such a valued member of our family. There are several ways we have enjoyed Stoli as part of our family. In this hub I thought I would share the ways he has enriched our lives from the perspective of the home front since it's my husband and Stoli who do the hunting together.

Several thoughts come to mind when I think of our WPG's temperament. First, smart with a dual eagerness to learn and to please. This makes me think about the growing vocabulary words that Stoli knows. He knows location words such as: "crate", "inside",and "outside"; discipline words such as: "sit", "down", "whoa", "easy", "fetch" and "come"; and trick words such as "paw" and "sit pretty".

While the breed in general has a lot of energy, I have found that given enough of a chance to be physical either through walks, or running around the backyard, Stoli is a happy content dog.

When we first met a WPG breeder, one of the first things he told us about the breed is that "they like to be with you". We have come to learn that this is one statement that can be taken literally. "Like to be with you" means a loyal pet that will rest a paw on your foot to say hi, or in another case stopping back to say hello during a run around the backyard. As if to say during a break in zooming around the yard.."Oh Hi" and then "Bye for now", for more play and zooming!

Many of these qualities are desirable for a sporting dog and are described next.

As I mentioned before I have not been hunting with Stoli but three of the breed's characteristics that make them such good hunting dogs include their coats, their desire to stay close, and their adaptability hunting in different weather and field conditions.

Their coat is course double coat with a wiry touch. Think textured rather than smooth. This texture provides protection against briars and underbrush, a favorable trait for hunting upland birds. Also favorable is the way the coat seems to repel water. A handy trait when retrieving waterfowl. We have noticed at the beginning of both the Spring and Fall seasons a shedding of the undercoat. The coat that falls out accumulates and looks like small tumbleweed floating on the floor. Other than these two times during the year there doesn't seem to be much shedding on clothing or furniture.

Bred to be a loyal hunting companion, the breed is known to keep a distance within sight of its owner. I know my husband has experienced this with Stoli during hunting trips in Delaware. Stoli will run ahead a short distance and then turn around and either return or pause and continue a short distance. I recall the need to be within sight helpful when Stoli was a puppy because there was less of a fear of his running off.

The breed is also known, due to its double wiry coat and endurance traits, for its adaptability to different terrains and weather conditions.  With these two characteristics, the breed is able to tirelessly cover different types of ground cover.

The video below shows Stoli at 13.5 weeks old learning to retrieve. It seems like so long ago, but it's just about two years ago that video was filmed. He still loves retrieving both in the backyard and in the field. 

So where can someone find a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Puppy?

Our breeders are located in Maryland, but I am pretty sure there are Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breeders located throughout the U.S.

Here is a link on wirehaired pointing griffon puppies including where to get a puppy from an AWPGA member breeder. This is also a great site for learning more about the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon dog.