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Wirehaired Pointing Dog Breed Introduction
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon is a medium-sized all purpose gundog that originated in The Netherlands in the 19th century. It is also known as Korthals Griffon, taking its name from the breed founder, Eduard Karel Korthals. Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are intelligent, outgoing, and loving dogs that are willing to please. These are people oriented dogs that prefer to be somewhere in the vicinity of their masters. Wirehaired Pointing griffons are well-known for their harsh and spiky coat that gives them a natural messy appearance. This breed is relatively rare in the United Kingdom, USA, and Canada despite its long recognition by their respective national kennel clubs as well as Federation Cynologique Internationale(FCI).
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Origin | History
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon was developed in the 19th century by Eduard Karel Korthals from The Netherlands. He was a son of a banker who wanted to create the ideal versatile gun dog. The history records of the progression of the breed was through Biebesheim am Rhein, Germany where Eduard established the Ipenwoud kennel. In Germany, Eduard dedicated his life to the development and perfection of Wirehaired Pointing Griffon for two decades before moving to France. The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons were recognized in France. For this reason, Partisans have argued whether the Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are a Dutch, German, or French breed. The first dog of this breed was introduced to North America in the late 19th century. In 1916, the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon was recognized by AKC.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Lifespan
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Grooming
A Wirehaired Pointing griffon has a double-layered coat with a harsh outer coat and an insulating undercoat. It sheds all-year round although at low levels as compared with other breeds. Weekly brushing is necessary using a slicker brush to remove dirt, loose hair, and promote new hair growth. However, some coats require hand stripping to completely get rid of the dead hair and promote new hair growth.
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons need an occasional bath unless they roll in something stinky. Use a hypoallergenic dog shampoo and conditioner designed for wiry coated dogs. After a bath, thoroughly rinse off the grooming products from the coat using lukewarm water to prevent skin irritation. Use a clean damp washcloth or unscented canine wipes to clean the eye corners instead of using soapy water.
Trim the nails of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffons at least twice a week to prevent overgrowth, splitting, and cracking using nail clippers or grinder. Brush the teeth of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon at least twice a week if not daily using a tasty canine toothpaste and finger toothbrush to remove tartar buildup. Clean the ears on a weekly basis using an ear cleanser solution and cotton balls to remove debris or wax buildup. Make a habit of occasionally checking the ears for signs of ear infection such as redness, odor, or a dark discharge.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Haircut
The show Wirehaired Pointing Griffons should be hand stripped to avoid altering the harsh wiry texture of the coat. Use of clippers on the coat will make the hair that grows back in feel much fuzzier. Hand stripping is necessary to remove the dead hair and promote new hair growth.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Shedding
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons have a low shedding coat. They shed at low levels as compared to other dog breeds.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Coat
A Wirehaired Pointing Griffon has a double coat. The top coat is of medium length, wiry, and straight, and neither wooly nor curly. The harshness of the coat provides protection in rough cover. The undercoat is fine and thick down providing insulation as well as water resistance. The undercoat may be more or less abundant depending on the climate, season, and hormone cycle of the dog.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Hypoallergenic
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are considered hypoallergenic dogs since they shed at low levels all-year round. Apart from dog’s fur, dander, saliva, urine, and mucus also contain a protein allergen that triggers allergic reactions. Although, there is no truly 100% hypoallergenic pure breed or crossbreed. Therefore, owners should spend lots of time with the dog they want to adopt to determine whether it aggravates their allergies.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Training | Training A Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
A Wirehaired Pointing Griffon is an intelligent, trustworthy, and eager to please which makes it a highly trainable dog. To set Wirehaired Pointing griffons for a successful training, owners should assume pack leadership. Creating a functional pack leadership allows the dog to reach its full potential. This is because it understands it is under the leadership of a trusted, loving, and respected leader who will make decisions for the well-being of the entire pack.
Creating pack leadership prevents development of dominance problems with your pet. Make use of positive reinforcements methods to encourage positive behaviors through the use of treats, toys, petting, playtime, and verbal praise. This is a sensitive breed that shuts down during training if harsh correction methods are used on them including yelling, shoving, kicking, beating, and use of choke or prong collars. Negative training methods are counterproductive.
Keep the training sessions lively, short, and challenging to avoid boredom and distraction. Socialization training assist owners to raise well-mannered, friendly, and well-adjusted dogs. This training starts from the age of 3 weeks while the pup is with the owner until the age of 16 weeks after it has already settled in its new home. Normally, pet parents take the puppies home from the age of 8 weeks. To socialize Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, expose them to a wide variety of people, surfaces, animals, situations, sight, places, smell, and sounds such as baby crying sounds, door bells, lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, sirens, washing machine, and whistles.
Enrolling a Griffon in a puppy class also serves as a form of socialization. These classes create a controlled environment where puppies interact with each other. Puppy classes also enable the owner to not only identify and correct bad habits but also have access to training information and assistance. Start teaching basic command words like come, sit, stay, wit, heel, and leave it one at a time to avoid overwhelming the dog.
Avoid issuing a command while frustrated or too excited since it no longer sounds the same for your pet. Effectively housebreak a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon by creating a feeding schedule, potty training, and crate training. A crate is an invaluable device when potty training. It enables the parent to monitor the dog for signs of elimination such as whining, circling, sniffing, squatting, restlessness, and lifting a leg against the crate wall. Patience and consistency is key while potty training.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Hunting
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are versatile gundogs with a high degree of trainability that excel in hunting furred game, upland birds, and waterfowl. Therefore, the breed still possess the qualities that Eduard envisioned 100 years ago. A Wirehaired Pointing Griffon is a tireless worker with a strong urge to please his owner. Introducing this breed at a young age to birds and exposing it hunting conditions will bring out the best in this hunting companion. Owners are also assisted by North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association chapters. Furthermore, local AKC pointing-breed clubs can help owners maximize the hunting potential of a Griffon with expert training advice with all kinds of game birds.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Temperament | Personality | Traits
- Eager.
- Outgoing.
- Loving.
- Intelligent.
- Energetic.
- Versatile.
- Loyal.
- Devoted.
- Social.
- Calm.
- Affectionate.
- Friendly.
- Eager to please.
- Trustworthy.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Exercise
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are highly energetic dogs that need a considerable physical and mental challenges on a daily basis or they can become unhappy, destructive, and/or bored. The ideal home set up for this breed is the one in which the people are active and include the dog in their daily activities such as running, daily walks, jogging, biking hiking, and even playing fetch. The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons make exceptionally easy-to-live with companion if the mental, emotional, and physical needs are met on a daily basis.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Barking
This breed is alert to its surroundings and will bark to alert the owner when someone is approaching. Although it is not an overly vocal breed, it may easily develop a habit of excessive barking if it is not taught the quiet command.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Height
Female Wirehaired Pointing Griffons have a height of 20 to 22 inches ( approx. 51 to 56 cm ) while their male counterparts have a height of 22 to 24 inches ( approx. 56 to 61 cm ).
Wirehaired Pointing Weight
Male Wirehaired Pointing Griffons have a weight of 50 to 70 pounds ( approx. 23 to 32 kg) while their female counterparts have a weight of 35 to 50 pounds ( approx. 16 to 23 kg).
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Size
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are medium-sized gundogs with a height of 20 to 24 inches ( approx. 51 to 61 cm ). However, Male Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are slightly heavier with a weight of 50 to 70 pounds ( approx. 23 to 32 kg ) while their female counterparts have a weight of 35 to 50 pounds ( approx. 16 to 23 kg ).
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Health Issues
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are healthy and robust animals that have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years. However, they may suffer from certain health issues such as eye problems like progressive retinal atrophy and cataracts, gastric torsion, hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia.
Apart from the Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, other dog breeds include:
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Names
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons parents may decide to get a name for the pet before it joins them home from the breeder or days after the dog joins them home to understand the personality of a particular dog. Parents may get name inspirations from the heritage of the breed( France, Dutch or German) coat color and texture, personality of the breed, celebrity Griffons, books, songs, movies, nature, food, or historical figures.
Regardless of where the Griffon parent will source the name, he or she should ensure the name in question will not be a source of embarrassment when uttered out loud. The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons and other dog breeds better understand names that have vowels. Pet owners should not give their pooches names that rhymes with the command words to avoid confusion.
It a Griffon owner settles with a long name, he or she should find a cute nickname for the breed. If this versatile gundog shares a name with any family member or guests that frequent your home, it may cause chaos. Some of the names that Wirehaired Pointing Griffons give to their pets include:
- Mabel.
- Moose.
- Cedar.
- Woody.
- Winnie.
- Mario.
- Bambi.
- Wanda.
- Cosmo.
- Piper.
- Lucy.
- Sadie, etc.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Food
The amount of food that the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon feeds on depends on its age, activity level, metabolism, size, and body build. Youngsters tend to eat little portions of food (3 or 4 times a day ) due to high metabolism rates as compared to adults and seniors. This is from the time they start weaning until the age of 6 months. From the age of 6 months, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons should feed on a total two meals a day. Watch out for the weight level and calorie consumption to avoid overfeeding especially with treats.
The Wirehaired Pointing griffons may feed on dry food, wet food, home made, or a raw diet depending on the budget and time of the pet parent. Regardless of the food type, parents should ensure that a Griffon feeds on a balanced diet to maintain a good health eventually allowing it to develop cognitively and physically. If the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon parent decides to feed the pet with the commercial dry or wet food, he or she should ensure the first three ingredients are proteins from a known source.
The dry or wet dog food should never contain preservatives, chemicals, additives, Meat by-products, generic meat products, and fillers. The same goes to the snacks. Dry or wet food should also be formulated for medium-sized, puppies, adults, and senior depending on the age and size variety of your Griffon. Regularly Check the physique of your fur baby to tell whether it is overweight or underweight.
If you can see the ribs, chances are the pet is underweight. However, if the ribs are not visible but can be felt without pressing hard, a Griffon has an ideal weight. If the ribs can’t be felt, the pet is overweight and should be exercised. Pet owners who want to switch to another quality food should gradually do this over a period of one month by mixing both new food and old food. As the weeks progresses, the amount of old food reduces as the new food increases until the Griffon is only feeding on new food during the fourth week.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Black | Colors
The preferred coat color that the Wirehaired Pointing Griffons should have is steel gray with brown markings. Although, white and orange, roan, chestnut brown, and white and brown colors are also acceptable. All white coat, uniformly brown coat, white and orange, and all white coat are less desirable. According to the AKC breed standard, the black-colored Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are disqualified.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Allergies
A Wirehaired Pointing Griffon may suffer from various forms of allergies as discussed below:
Skin allergies – This breed may suffer from skin allergies due to food, contact, and environmental allergies that manifest on the skin.
Food allergies – Rarely, the Wirehaired Pointing Griffons may suffer from a true food allergy that is accompanied with an immune response. This allergy is accompanied with a range of symptoms from skin issues such as hives, facial swelling, lesions, hot spots, itchiness, dermatitis, and pruritus to gastrointestinal stress such as acute vomiting and/or diarrhea.
Contact allergies – This allergy causes inflammation to the skin once the skin comes in contact with the allergen. Some of the contact allergens that affect the Wirehaired Pointing Griffons include plastics, lawn chemicals, grooming products, nylon carpets, latex, carpet cleaning detergents, and medications.
Environmental allergy – Some of the environmental allergies that affect the Wirehaired Pointing Griffons include fleas, mites, ragweed, trees, pollen, trees, dust and dust mites, and pollen grains.
Do Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Shed
Yes. Wirehaired Pointing griffon shed at low levels all-year round.
Are Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Hypoallergenic
Yes. The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are considered hypoallergenic due to their low-shedding coat. However, there is no truly hypoallergenic crossbreed or pure breed. Owners should therefore, spend lots of time with a particular dog before adopting to ensure the dog does not aggravate their allergies.
Are Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Good Family Dogs
Yes. The Wirehaired Pointing griffons are friendly, loving, outgoing, active, loyal, devoted, affectionate, and trustworthy dogs that are eager to please their owners.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Quick Facts
- They have a low-shedding coat hence considered allergy friendly dogs.
- This breed is suitable for swampy areas since the harsh coat provides excellent protection.
- The Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are versatile gundogs that are excellent retrievers and swimmers.
