Hello- My husband has recently expressed some interest in German Shorthaired Pointers and has started doing some research about them. I have read that GSP's are high energy- how high energy?? Would our current walking regime be enough? What can you tell me about an "average" temperament for one of these dogs? I assume that they would "in general" be easier to train than a hound? How sensitive are they? How easy are they to train to the lead? As a pointing breed, would they get frustrated if the other dog they were walking with regularly flushed the birds they might point? In general, what would you love to let someone know who's interested in the breed but hasn't ever had a pointer before? We've had beagles, and my hubby grew up with a shepherd/collie mix as well as a few other herding type dogs, and I had a cocker and a herding/bully breed mix as a child/teenager.

A little information about us- We recently lost our beloved beagle, and likely won't be quite ready to add a 2nd dog (we still have his "little brother" Jackson, a beagle/basset mix, a little over a year old, neutered) for a little while unless absolutely the perfect dog comes across our path, but I thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a little information on the breed. So, mostly a fact finding mission for now! We live in our own detatched home, with a fenced backyard, however the yard is not terribly large. We spend a lot of time walking the dog down in the provincial park that is nearby. (usually at least and hour to an hour and a half on work days, and sometimes up to 3 hours on weekends when the weather is nice) Jackson loves to flush the pheasants down there. He does it perfectly, even though we have never trained him to it! We are not a hunting family, or at least not yet. But my husband would be interested in learning to hunt upland birds at some point. We do both work full time, so we don't think that another puppy would be ideal for us at this time, as we don't feel it's fair to make a pup try to "hold it" for 8 hours plus- it was bad enough with Jackson when we got him at 8 months! He never had an accident due to waiting too long, but we felt bad making him wait, with his little puppy bladder. An older dog, out of the "puppy" and "teenage rebellion" stages would be the preference, I think. We don't have children, although we hope to have them someday, and there are a lot of children in our neighborhood. We do spoil our dog a little- he is something of a surrogate child at this point, and gets lots of love and affection when we are home. (not to the exclusion of rules and boundaries, though)

Thank you for your time and any information you wish to share!
 

I agree with pixie. There are some shorthair lines that are full of energy and others less so. Also individual dogs in a litter differ too. The challenge is you want an older dog and usually that means going to rescue, so find a good rescue group that does a good evaluation of their dogs and works hard to match up the right owner with the right dog.

as a rule the girls mature and calm down around 4 and the boys around 5. That is not absolute though as I have a male who is almost 5 and he still thinks he is a puppy.

Are you wanting a very active breed and just worried about how they will be in the house? You seem very concerned with their energy levels, perhaps a different breed would ease your mind a little? I don't mean to sound harsh at all, but from your posts it does come across that is your main concern. I will say, to ease your mind, I do think you are too worried about that. Especially if you are considering getting a puppy now, it is going to adapt to the lifestyle you give it. If your dog has adequate exercise and mental stimulation, it is going to be just fine in the house. They are prone to zoomies here and there, but zoomies inside if not desired can be stopped quickly (zoomies = GSP typical random bursts of energy). We, personally, adore zoomies, and usually join in on them lol.

As Texas Belle mentioned, start looking at breeders. If you see people out with a GSP, don't be afraid to ask them where they got theirs. Once you find a breeder, before you commit to any puppy you can ask about the personalities of the parents - temperament, activity level (for you, ability to "shut off" indoors), hunting instincts...etc. And go from there. Also, if going the puppy route, be prepared for some sleepless nights and some frustrating accidents. It's just part of it...you have to bare with them, they are babies. These dogs are very smart, though, and ours learned absurdly quickly on just about everything. It often gave me unrealistic expectations of her that I had to remind myself not to uphold, as she was just a wee thing yet.

Watching Bella as an outsider, most people are in awe. The majority of the dogs at the dog park hang pretty close to their people and stay on the side walk...but mine is bounding about like a gazelle leaping over this, darting through that, all with an absurd goofy smile on her face. People look at me and say "boy, I don't know how you manage that kind of energy". What they don't see is very calm, sweet, well mannered and relaxed dog in the home, in the car, and on indoor outings. Probably more so than many of their other types of breeds. I couldn't be happier with our choice. Just make sure it feels right to you. If so, you're not going to regret it!

 KRcanuck -  There is a young male (15 months) that a breeder is trying to place. The breeder is located in PA.  You might want to start your search and questions with this breeder.  Diadem GSPs.  Here is a link to the website: www.diademgsp.com/index.html

The dog is not listed on the website, but I got an email today from them.  The breeders name is Sandra and you can contact her through her website or this email 4Diadem@comcast.net.  

My understanding is this is a nice male, but the current owners were not a right fit and they are returning him to the breeder.

There are also a couple older dogs in rescue right now. If you are on Facebook, The German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Canada usually has listings for rescues:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/German-Shorthaired-Pointer-Club-of-Canada/188257314550069

I can also put you in touch with some rescue people who may have connections out west.

KR - What about the second dog located in Squamish who needs a home?

http://www.pointingdogrescuecanada.com/dogsavailable.html