Showdog Saturday, The German Shorthaired Pointer

This is my son's dog, Thor. He's a 9 month old German Shorthaired Retreiver.  

Since it's Showdog Saturday here at Aussies in Charge, I thought I'd do a little research about the breed. 

Here's what I found out.  German Shorthairs were originated in..............Germany! That's not a surprise. They were bred to be hunting dogs, used to hunt many types of game and retreive either on land or in water. I thought they were used just for fowl but turns out they are used for other game as well, even deer.

In the late 1800's they were developed from the old Spanish Pointer, English Foxhound and German tracking dogs and then refined with the English Pointer. The royalty encouraged breeding for ability and helped the breed reach its level of ability.

An interesting piece of info I found; World War II affected the breed greatly. The best GSPs were sent to Yugoslavia for safekeeping. Unfortunately, after the war, they were stuck behind the Iron Curtain so the breed had to be redeveloped with the limited number of dogs available. In the 1920s they were introduced in the U.S., where the breed grew quickly. It seems the U.S. helped develop the return of the breed.

GermanShorthaired Pointers are known to be VERY high energy dogs. They are affectionate and willing to please, but need at least an hour a day of vigorous exercise so would not do well in households which could only provide limited activity. Because they are rambunctious, small children might have some trouble but generally they are great family pets. Because of their people-oriented nature, they need companionship and can be destructive when left alone and bored. 

From personal experience, Thor sure is good with the little ones; very patient and pretty careful. He sure is a sweetheart and can give Jack a run for his money playing ball!