Pointing breed

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"Pointer (dog)" redirects here. For the breed of dog also called the "Pointer", see Pointer (dog breed).

Pointer at the moment of flush

A pointing breed is a type of gundog typically used in finding game. Gundogs are traditionally divided into three classes: retrievers, flushing spaniels, and pointing breeds. The name pointer comes from the dog's instinct to point, by stopping and aiming its muzzle towards game. This demonstrates to the hunter the location of his or her quarry and allows him to move into gun range. Pointers were selectively bred for dogs who had abundant pointing and backing instinct. They typically start to acquire their hunting instincts at about 2 months of age. Many need further training to hold steadily at all appropriate times until released by the hunter

The 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.

Pointing breeds come in all varieties of coats, from short-haired dogs, to wire-haired dogs, to silky-coated Setters.

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.