NOTE: The following article originally appeared in Gun Dog Magazine as a 2 part series, part 1 in March/April '89, part 2 in the May/June '89 issue. Many thanks to Jim McCue for sending it, and for his help in adding new features to this page.

Heinz VonKlasen, owned by Robert J. Veneklasen, Overland Park, Kansas.

Part I

by Jim McCue

In less than 50 years the German shorthaired pointer has become one of this country's most popular gun dogs. He earned that reputation gradually--without fanfare or ballyhoo--on his own merits. The shorthair is capable of a finished performance in a variety of hunting situations. He has a great nose along with much desire and ability, coupled with speed, stamina, style and guts. Intelligence and desire to please are two of his most valued assets. He is a near-perfect all around gun dog for the foot-hunter as he adapts his range to the cover and the terrain. His versatility in no way interferes with his companionship around the home. His affectionate and playful nature make a big hit with the kids, his intelligence and shorthaired cleanliness is appreciated in the house.

All pointing dogs owe that instinct to the Old Spanish pointer, directly or indirectly. His tendency to pause at bird scent (as does the hunting wolf, coyote and fox) was a great asset and much appreciated by the nobility of the day but his surly attitude and his plodding ways left considerable room for improvement. Whether the bird hunter used net, hawk or flintlock, he wanted a more pleasant and friendly companion. With the passing of "net hunting" he wanted a faster and more agile hunter too.

Even before the shotgun, the bird hunter crossed the Spaniard with a couple of spaniel types (water and springer probably) and the setter was born. The English, Gordon and Irish setters all had their beginnings there. When the Old Spanish pointer was crossed with a mixture of foxhound and greyhound, the result was an English pointer with great speed but too much killer instinct and not enough nose. The setter was then crossed in many times to improve temperament, bloodhound was added for nose and more foxhound provided greater stamina, a slicker look and a still better nose.

POINTING

Timberdoodle's Crackerjack, a solid liver shorthair owned by Dick and Dot Kern of New Jersey, shows intensity and style on point.

FC/AFC Teton's Erik v. Shilo, owned by the author, points a pheasant in Idaho.

Duke I, owned and hunted by Fred Singer of Abilene, Kansas

Windsor, a white and liver shorthair on point during a Texas quail hunt. Asta, a solid liver shorthair, does an excellent job of backing. They are both owned and hunted by Kirk Worthington of Austin, Texas.

While all of this was taking place in the British Isles, bird hunters on the Continent were developing their own pointing breeds. Any differences between these breeds depended, in the beginning, upon which scent hound breed the Spaniard was crossed with. All of them were some variation of the now extinct Hounds of St. Hubert, the eighth century staghound, cold-trailer and ancestor of all bloodhounds. The Old German pointer of the early 1700's was the result of one or more of these crosses all aimed at a better nose. There is little doubt that the Old German pointer's forebears were actually as much French as German and had originally come into the country as merchandise or as royal gifts from France and Spain.

With the social changes of the 1800's came great changes in hunting opportunities. It was probably at this point that the concept of a multi-purpose dog (Gebrauchshunde) first came into the mind of some thoughtful German huntsman. This name would be-for a brief time-the German shorthaired pointer (Deutsche Kurzhaarige Vorstehhund). The last word of the name was dropped as soon as its significance became clear because the German shorthair (Deutsch Kurzhaar) would not be just a pointing dog any more. The same name problem would face the new breed when it came to America. The shorthair was the first of the versatile breeds and in time became the most popular of the versatile breeds in this country.

Although the smooth bore was the first firearm and came into existence in the 14th century, it wasn't until the 16th century that it had developed to the point that it was possible to take birds on the wing with it. It was another 200 years before wing shooting really came into vogue (1700's) and another 100 years after that before sportsmen had breech-loading, double barreled shotguns. As the shotgun developed so did the demand for the upland game bird specialists.

It was at about this time on the Continent that the right to hunt, heretofore reserved solely for the nobility, became slowly available to the middle class. The professionals, the merchants, teachers and the like, began to buy, or at least lease, hunting lands--preserves. This changed the whole complexion of the hunting game. A variety of game, both large and small, was available on these preserves. Much of it was hand-raised and all of it carefully managed and protected. In a matter of a few hours a German and his dog might hunt Huns and rabbits, a roe buck, a wild boar or a fox, and maybe some ducks. An Englishman - even if he could participate in such a hunt-would require four or five separate specialized breeds to handle the job-including a bloodhound to trail his wounded buck.

The practical Teutonic mind wanted none of that. He said the man who had many dogs had no dog. He wanted a full-time friend, one that would be by his side at all times, a single canine hunting buddy with whom he could share all his hunting days afield and who would join him by the fireside at night as companion and protector. And to this day the shorthair is a better family dog than a kennel dog.

He wanted a dog who would put his good nose deep to the ground to trail furred game yet hold it high searching for the scent of Huns or a running pheasant, a dog with plenty of pointing instinct and birdy desire, one who would retrieve fur or feather from land or water. He must have the size, strength, build and courage for any hunting task. His coat must be short but dense, lay flat and have a firm, coarse surface texture to protect his body in heavy cover and to shed burrs. He must have a fine dense undercoat for protection from the cold. The fur of the head and ears should be shorter, thinner and softer. He must be good looking, intelligent, alert; he must develop early and be easily trained. He must have a friendly, pleasing temperament but be tough and sharp on predators. Many of these characteristics were enumerated early as goals to be achieved. The task the German huntsman set for himself was a tough one. It would require years of breeding and testing, of trial and error, of sweat and frustration-and for success, considerable breeder cooperation and not a little luck.

Right from the beginning, the goals shared by most shorthair breeders were pretty much the same. There was, however, no agreement on how that would be accomplished. There were two schools of thought on the subject. One group felt they could reach the desired versatility by starting with, and emphasizing, physical appearance, form and conformation. The other group felt the path to success lay by field testing for all of the desired working characteristics and breeding only the animals which proved to be the best "through efficiency to type."

The "form" group led by Karl Brandt and Samezki were nationalistic, wanted nothing British. They wanted to use only German stock. This group knew that to retrieve a fox over an obstacle, for example, the dog must stand taller, have a bit longer neck and a lot stronger neck and back. And they set out breeding toward that conformation, trying to get function to follow form. They favored the long, dangling, circular ears and the stopless or Greek profile as indications of a purebred German precisely because the English pointer's ears were small and tight, and his dish face had a definite stop. This small but vocal faction held the upper hand in the beginning and as a result progress was much delayed because many fine performing specimens were discarded because they failed to exhibit the "legendary" ancient German conformation.

The "function" group was led by Prince Albrecht zu Solms-Braunfels and Baron von Zedlitz. Solms was a pioneer breeder, had a fine kennel of pointers and setters (and some experimental breeds), pushed for the introduction of pointer blood. Zedlitz was a sports writer using the pen name "Hegewald" and was of the same mind. This met with considerable opposition from the patriotic, "form first" boys. It is difficult to know exactly what breeds produced the shorthair because of this conflict. In the beginning, many German breeders were secretive, intentionally vague and evasive about their breeding stock to avoid being labeled "Anglophiles." In those early days it was mostly talk and most of the discussion centered on the multipurpose dog to come, the pointer debate, what tests (field trials} should be set up, the strange results of various crosses and "what should we try next?" Because in the beginning pointing was about all one could count on, the pointing instinct seemed to be dominant in most crosses.

Everyone knew that bringing in pointer blood would be hazardous. The question was: would improvement in nose, pointing instinct and slickness be worth the loss in versatility? Pointer blood reduced trailing ability, dampened enthusiasm for water work and brought cowardice before predators. It decreased interest in retrieving and it thinned and softened the protective shorthair coat.

K.S. Remo Rothenuffeln demonstrates how he "calls" his master to the kill. The wounded deer could very well have been lost without Remo. Shorthairs saving cripples doesn't apply only to birds--and "baying" is not the only way to get the hunter to the kill (Totverbellen). The second way is for the dog to lead the hunter from the shot to the kill by leash (Reine Riemenarbeit). The third method is the most interesting: the dog carries a leather ''tag'' on his collar, if he finds the dead or wounded animal he retums to his master with the tag in his mouth and leads him back to the kill (Totverweissen). Such exercises may seem irrelevant until you personally lose a big six-point bull elk.

The Germans make a point of the fact that there is no English bloodhound in the shorthair but admit to the role of bloodhounds in shorthair development. There were plenty of bloodhounds (Schweisshund--scent dogs) around at the time and the German themselves were breeding three types. The French also had three different types--actually the French breeds seemed to have the edge in appearance but most all stood taller and were faster than the bloodhound. The French Gascon hound may have been used. He was the first tall, good-looking, smoothfaced bloodhound although he still had the long, dangling ears.

We read about as frequently as the "Bloodhound" error that it was the German nobility who originated the shorthair. Such was not the case. A study of those involved in the foundation of the breed reveals very few "high born." Most were middle class-those who had just gained the right and the wherewithal to own, or at least, lease hunting rights. The nobility error may have crept in because of the later development of the Weimaraner by the Royal Court of the Weimar Republic.

It was the 1872-whelped, brown and white Hektor I ZK I (ZK, Zuchtbuch, stud book) still showing his Old German beginnings many generations back, who was dog Number 1 in Volume I of the German Stud Book. The Karl Brandt crew set the Breed Standards to withhold registration in the Stud Book to any dog lacking their idea of a good German head. And they often did just that, discarding many fine performers and slowing the effort toward versatility. It is no wonder there was a great deal of squabbling; the wonder is that the program survived at all. It almost didn't. Many of the early generations' experimental crosses produced little beauty and even less signs of suitability. Often those few which did show signs of suitability were not permitted to be registered. There was a lot of breeding and there was a lot of bucketing. Frankly, it was discouraging almost to the point of despair. Some did give up. Prince Solms withdrew from the Klub Kurzhaar because of the bickering although he did stay in dogs.

Fortunately the conformation boys finally got bogged down chasing stopless faces and long, round ears. Those breeders with open minds eventually saw the folly of "function follows form," finally saw the virtues of Prince Solms' advice to use the best dogs (of any breed) wherever they were found, test them in the field for all the desired characteristics, then use for breeding only those dogs which perform best in the field. In the beginning, do not worry about appearance, he told them. Forget about form, type. It will take care of itself with time. Eventually the Prince's admonitions were accepted, followed and appreciated. Years later we read (idiomatically} in the official Shorthair Studbook, Volume VI (1902), "The Type is evolved from among the breeding stock by continuously using the same dogs at stud that are most efficient in hunting." "Through efficiency To Type," it said.

SHORTHAIRS DEVELOP EARLY

This is NICK (Blue Max Nicholas Nichelby) at 16 weeks retrieving the first wild pheasant ever shot over his point. A mature Kansas cock bird is a heavy load for a young pup. Owned and photographed by Linda Nickerson of Overland Park, Kansas.

REGGIE (Lorien's Radbach Reggie) is seven weeks old and this is his first swim. His master merely called him and in he came. Shorthairs are bred to the water and this is the time to start them. Owned and photographed by Pam Fullford of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

We have all seen the Lab who because he couldn't swim or didn't like cold developed an ability to walk on water--very cautiously. Samson's Dixieland's Digger, a shorthair, owned and photographed by Barbara Samson of Townsend, DE not only runs on water, he dances (pirouettes) on it. That doesn't necessarily make the shorthair a better waterdog than a Lab, but he is a better dancer.

This is BEIER'S MISTY BLUE at seven months and eight days, the youngest dog ever to win the AKC Junior Hunter title. She did it in a month in four straight tests. On the last two tests she received perfect scores. Owned, trained, handled and photographed by Don Smithgall of Lakewood, Colorado.

Few realize how close we came to never having a Deutsch Kurzhaar. Thank God for the enlightened and dedicated few who hung on despite the odds against them. They will never know what pleasure they have provided generations of American hunters.

That great, rich river of inheritance flowed strongly throughout the breed, improving and strengthening it. The practical, good-looking, utility dog capable of excellence in all the hunting requirements of field, woods and water was no longer just a dream, it was a fact. The traits were fixed, the impossible had been achieved. And it was about this time that some of the best of those were being exported across the Atlantic to the USA.