Wyre Forester
Well-Known Member
Evening all.
i'm looking for some advice about German Short-haired Pointers, and i'd be very grateful for any help or pointers (ha! geddittt??!!) that you've got.
we are an active family looking for a outgoing, loving, loyal, fun and gentle dog. it will occasionally come with me on beating trips and rough shooting, but it'll be a family dog who'll get most of its activity on walks and cycle rides in the forest, fields and hills where we live. much as i want to say we'd never leave the dog at home, we're normal people, we go shopping, we go to parents evenings, we take the kids to school by car...
after long years of happy experiences of Springers, and a decade of a not-happy experience with a rescue Staffie-cross, we've set our hearts on the GSP. we've seen them about, met some at agricultural and country shows and out and about, and read up on them. however, we've got some concerns about them - and us - that we'd like the advice of those who know them much better than us about.
looking for GSP's on the interwebnet we see lots of breeders, however many of these breeders seem to be very 'show' focused, and we're concerned about inherited health issues within the breed, as well as any concentration on show features rather than health and temperament. so, without further ado...
would we, with our lifestyle, be a decent home for such an active dog?
is it ok to to have just one GSP - do they need a partner?
where would be a good place to get a GSP? we're happy to travel, and we'd like to get a dog from working stock rather than showing stock - we're not interested in breeding, we just want a healthy, happy, well socialised dog.
if we decided that a puppy - with two kids under 4 - was too much hassle, would a re-homed GSP be a decent decision, or are the horror stories we've heard about breeders using them like mad, and then getting rid as 're-homers' true?
all advice very gratefully recieved...
i'm looking for some advice about German Short-haired Pointers, and i'd be very grateful for any help or pointers (ha! geddittt??!!) that you've got.
we are an active family looking for a outgoing, loving, loyal, fun and gentle dog. it will occasionally come with me on beating trips and rough shooting, but it'll be a family dog who'll get most of its activity on walks and cycle rides in the forest, fields and hills where we live. much as i want to say we'd never leave the dog at home, we're normal people, we go shopping, we go to parents evenings, we take the kids to school by car...
after long years of happy experiences of Springers, and a decade of a not-happy experience with a rescue Staffie-cross, we've set our hearts on the GSP. we've seen them about, met some at agricultural and country shows and out and about, and read up on them. however, we've got some concerns about them - and us - that we'd like the advice of those who know them much better than us about.
looking for GSP's on the interwebnet we see lots of breeders, however many of these breeders seem to be very 'show' focused, and we're concerned about inherited health issues within the breed, as well as any concentration on show features rather than health and temperament. so, without further ado...
would we, with our lifestyle, be a decent home for such an active dog?
is it ok to to have just one GSP - do they need a partner?
where would be a good place to get a GSP? we're happy to travel, and we'd like to get a dog from working stock rather than showing stock - we're not interested in breeding, we just want a healthy, happy, well socialised dog.
if we decided that a puppy - with two kids under 4 - was too much hassle, would a re-homed GSP be a decent decision, or are the horror stories we've heard about breeders using them like mad, and then getting rid as 're-homers' true?
all advice very gratefully recieved...