Pointer
These pointing breeds can be dated to England and Europe in about the
1650s.[citation needed] They may have descended from dogs from Spain. (Furgus,
2002) Pointing dogs were originally used by hunters who netted the game. The dog
would freeze or set (as in Setter) and allow the hunter to throw the net over
the game before it flushed. Flushing dogs, on the other hand, were often used by
falconers to flush game for the raptors.
Most continental European pointing breeds are classified as versatile gun dog
breeds or sometimes HPR breeds (for hunt, point and retrieve). The distinction
is made because versatile breeds were developed to find and point game as all
pointing breeds, but were also bred to perform other hunting tasks as well. This
distinction likely arose because while the British developed breeds which
specialized in tasks such as pointing, flushing and retrieving from land or
water, in Continental Europe, the same dog was trained to be able to perform
each of these tasks (albeit less effectively). The North American Versatile
Hunting Dog Association defines versatility as "the dog that is bred and trained
to dependably hunt and point game, to retrieve on both land and water, and to
track wounded game on both land and water." As an example, German Shorthair
Pointers are often used to retrieve birds duck hunting whereas, calling upon a
Pointer to do the same would be less common. Unlike the pure pointing and
setting breeds, many versatile dogs were bred for working in dense cover, and
traditionally have docked tails.
The Westminster Kennel Club was organized in the early 1870s and the club's
early English import, "Sensation", is still used as the club logo.
Pointing breeds come in all varieties of coats, from short-haired dogs, to wire-haired dogs, to silky-coated Setters.
The following breeds are considered versatile hunting dogs:
Ariege Pointer (Braque de l'Ariege)
Bracco Italiano
Braque du Bourbonnais (Bourbonnais pointer)
Braque D'Auvergne
Braque Francais
Braque Saint-Germain
Brittany (Epagneul Breton, formerly known as the Brittany Spaniel)
French Brittany (Épagneul Breton, FCI standard)
Cesky Fousek
German Longhaired Pointer
German Shorthaired Pointer
German Wirehaired Pointer
Hungarian Vizsla
Large Munsterlander
Old Danish Pointer
Old Spanish Pointer (Perdiguero Navarro)
Portuguese Pointer
Pudelpointer
Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer
Small Munsterlander
Spanish Pointer (Perdiguero de Burgos)
Spinone Italiano
Weimaraner
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.
Pointers (and setters) include the following breeds:
English Pointer
English Setter
Gordon Setter
Irish Red and White Setter
Irish Setter
Red Setter