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Perfected over 30 years with a mixture of 11 Standard Poodles — Pudel in German — and 80 Pointers, the Pudelpointer was bred to be a gun dog that excelled at hunting in water and on land.
Breed Overview
Height:
22–26 inches
Weight:
45–70 pounds
Lifespan:
11-14 years
Colors:
Brown, black, liver, chestnut, white markings
Suitable for:
Active families, families with older children, homes with a yard, hunting companions
Temperament:
Loyal and loving, intelligent, easy to train, friendly, eager to please
Baron von Zedlitz first introduced the breed in 1881 with an original mix of a German Hunting Poodle and an English Pointer. As a breeder who specialized in tracking, pointing, and retrieval dogs, he strove to create a breed that combined the Poodle’s intelligence with the Pointer’s excellent tracking skills. It took him a while to properly perfect the breed that he envisioned. Now Pudelpointers are among the best hunting dogs in the world.
Despite excelling at hunting, however, they’re an uncommon breed in the U.S.A., even as companion dogs instead of fellow hunters. The breed is loyal, fiercely intelligent, and easy to train, which makes them excellent hunters and competitors in agility and obedience contests. Their friendliness also makes them perfect additions to the family.
If you’ve never heard of the Pudelpointer, the following guide will tell you everything that you need to know about this underrated breed.
Pudelpointer Characteristics
Pudelpointer Puppies
As they’re not yet officially recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC), Pudelpointers is an uncommon breed in the U.S.A. Due to this, the Pudelpointers that are available might be expensive. While this covers the breeder’s costs, it doesn’t include the ongoing expenditure required to properly care for your four-legged family member.
When you welcome a Pudelpointer into your home, you can expect to have an intelligent, easy-to-train, and loyal dog by your side. Read the Pudepointer’s full care guide so your pup can grow into a happy and healthy dog. These hunting dogs love to have long walking sessions, lots of playtime, and make great hiking companions.
Temperament & Intelligence of the Pudelpointer
Pudelpointers are just as intelligent as their Poodle ancestors. This trait and their eagerness to please their human companions make them easy to train, and they excel at both agility, obedience, and retrieval. They were also originally bred to be fearless in the face of guns and large game, making them perfect companions for all sorts of hunts, not just for retrieving ducks from ponds.
Are These Dogs Good for Families? 👪
After a long day out hunting, Pudelpointers enjoy nothing more than curling up with their families and spending a quiet evening at home. They’re playful and friendly and make great companions for active families and children.
Playtimes with younger children should be supervised. Pudelpointers are protective and gentle, but their energy and hyperactivity can accidentally hurt smaller children.
While this dog is not known for biting, it’s still a good idea to properly socialize your Pudelpointer. Their loyalty to their family members and their intelligence make them alert watchdogs, and they’ll often bark at strangers.
Does This Breed Get Along With Other Pets?
Pudelpointers are bred specifically for their high prey drive, and as a result, they tend to chase animals smaller than they are. While they’ll get along well with other dogs of the same size or larger, especially if they’re brought up around their fellow canines, cats and other smaller pets aren’t a good match.
While proper socialization can help control the Pudelpointer’s desire to chase, they are born to hunt first and foremost. A cat might trigger their hunting instinct too much for them to be suitable companions.
Things to Know When Owning a Pudelpointer
Food & Diet Requirements 🦴
You can feed your Pudelpointer on commercial or homemade, high-quality dog food, provided that you ensure that it meets their recommended dietary requirements. Your Pudelpointer will eat 3–4 cups of food a day, preferably split over two meals.
Take into account how much activity your Pudelpointer does, whether they’re a family pet or a hunting companion, and adjust their diet accordingly. Your veterinarian will be able to help you monitor and control your Pudelpointer’s diet to make sure they eat balanced meals and maintain a healthy weight.
Exercise 🐕
Hunting dogs require a great deal of exercise, and the Pudelpointer is no different. They’re a dog breed with high energy levels, and although they’ll calm down once the hunt is over, they do better in active families than sedate ones.
If you don’t use your Pudelpointer for hunting purposes, they’ll be more than happy to put their energy into playing fetch in a large yard or learning new tricks. Indoor activities, such as hide-and-seek, can help, along with at least two walks a day. You can also use agility and obedience competitions to focus your Pudelpointer’s intelligence and energy.
Not meeting a Pudelpointer’s exercise requirements can lead to boredom and destructive tendencies. They’re also prone to gaining weight if not kept active.
Training 🎾
Pudelpointers are eager to please and incredibly intelligent due to their Poodle bloodlines. Use positive reinforcement and offer consistent rewards and commands to keep the training session fun. Starting early, especially with socialization, will ensure that your Pudelpointer reaches their fullest potential.
Leash training is essential because the Pudelpointer has been known to pull at the leash and chase smaller animals that they see as prey. If you do let them off the leash on walks for any reason, ensure that you’re in a safe, secure area and that you’ve worked on several obedience commands.
Grooming ✂️
As a low-shedder and a Poodle mix, the Pudelpointer is a good choice for families with allergies because their fur is considered hypoallergenic. Their coats are wiry and dense, though, requiring regular brushing sessions once or twice a week with a stiff bristle brush or the occasional trip to a professional groomer.
Bathing should only be done when necessary, as frequent shampooing can strip out the natural oils of your Pudelpointer’s coat and dry out their skin. Remember to keep their nails trimmed and their teeth brushed and to clean their ears frequently to avoid infection.
Health and Conditions 🏥
Along with their purpose as excellent hunting dogs, Pudelpointers were bred to be a hardy and healthy breed. That said, there are a few health issues common to Pudelpointers that can be avoided with regular veterinary checks and making sure your breeder keeps track of the health of their dogs.
Male vs Female
Male Pudelpointers tend to be, on average, slightly larger and heavier than the female members of the breed, and they also tend to be more energetic. Where female dogs are more reserved and more likely to challenge your authority, male dogs will often be more hyperactive and obvious about their displays of affection.
This isn’t to say that one sex is better than the other, however. Both male and female Pudelpointers are fiercely loyal and excel at both hunting and being family companions.
3 Little-Known Facts About the Pudelpointer
Having been around for over a century, the Pudelpointer has many interesting facts about them. Here are a few that you may not have known.
1. Pudelpointer breeders actively avoid official recognition by the AKC
Although the Pudelpointer has been part of the AKC’s Foundation Stock Service group since 2004, breeders actually want to avoid official recognition as a pedigree dog breed. They’re so adamant about this, they’ve deliberately avoided taking measures to get the breed recognized.
This is due to the belief the AKC will split the breed into working and show dogs and trap them into a particular appearance. Therefore, Pudelpointers will lose their focus on hunting intention and no longer excel at being gun dogs.
2. It took 30 years to achieve the Pudelpointer that we know today
When Zedlitz first began breeding Pudelpointers, he underestimated the strength of the Poodle’s genes compared to that of the Pointer’s genes. As he tried to combine the best traits from both breeds, he eventually ended up using 80 different breeds of Pointer to properly balance out the Poodle’s genetics.
After 30 years of focusing on his vision for the breed, he finally succeeded in creating the Pudelpointer. These days, they’re a carefully balanced mix of the Poodle’s intelligence, trainability, love of water, and retrieval and the Pointer’s hunting, pointing, and tracking skills.
3. Pudelpointers are born to hunt
Unlike other dog breeds that are bred for their appearance, Pudelpointer breeders have kept them true to their purpose. Instead of focusing on recreating the perfect image for the breed, the Pudelpointer is bred to be the best hunter possible, even to the extent of having to pass several hunting tests before breeders will use them to produce puppies.
Due to this focus on their hunting standards, the Pudelpointer has long been known as one of the best hunting dogs in the world.
Final Thoughts
Originally bred in 1881 by Baron von Zedlitz, the Pudelpointer is a breed designed purely for hunting. They combine the intelligence and easy trainability of the German Hunting Poodle with the tracking skills of the English Pointer, along with various genetic traits from other Pointer breeds.
Although they’re part of the AKC’s Foundation Stock Service, most breeders of Pudelpointers have avoided taking the steps to get the breed officially recognized. This is due to the desire to keep the variety in appearance instead of making another show or working dog. The Pudelpointer breed therefore maintains their exemplary skill at hunting and is often not bred at all unless they meet particular requirements through field tests.
Whether you’re interested in a Pudelpointer as a hunting companion or a family pet, they’re loyal and friendly. Eager to please, they’ll happily trek through the wilderness with you and curl up at your feet after a long day.
- Related Read: GSP Vizsla Mix: Care Guide, Pictures, Temperament & More
Featured Image Credit: Chamois huntress, Shutterstock
