Pudelpointer
A Pudelpointer dog is a versatile hunting breed from Germany. These dogs are a pointing breed that came from a cross between the German hunting poodle(pudel) and the English Pointer.
In 1881, a German breeder, Baron von Zedlitz, worked on producing his ideal
tracking, pointing, and retrieving gun dog, suitable for work on both land and
water. From seven specific Poodles and nearly 100 different pointers, he
developed the Pudelpointer dog. The original sire was Tell, an English Pointer
belonging to Kaiser Frederick III and the original dam was a German hunting
pudel named Molly who was owned by Hegewald, an author known for works on
hunting dogs.
The goal was to produce a dog that was willing and easy to train, intelligent,
and loved water and retrieving, like the poodle, and add to that a great desire
to hunt, a strong pointing instinct, and an excellent nose, like in the English
Pointer, as well as being an excellent companion in the home.
The Poodle breed had much stronger genes, and so many more Pointers were used to
achieve the balanced hunting dog that was desired. A mix of 11 Pudels and 80
Pointers were used during the first 30 years to achieve the desired traits and
results.
This dog was introduced to North America in 1956 by Bodo Winterhelt, who to this
day, remains very involved in maintaining the breed standard. His Winterhelle
Kennel was the foundation of the breed in North America. In 1977 Winterhelt
founded the Pudelpointer Club of North America in Canada.
The Pudelpointer has never become a popular or well-known breed. However, this
dog is slowly gaining notoriety with many serious upland bird and waterfowl
hunters in the U.S. and Canada. In Germany, its performance standards are its
most important traits and each dog must pass a test of its field and water
skills to be officially registered as a Pudelpointer.