German Longhaired Pointer
Germany's original long-coated gundog — brown by rule, calm by standard, at home in field, water and forest.
Datos clave
| Tamaño | Large · 60–70 cm (males), 58–66 cm (females) |
| Peso | About 30 kg — the standard gives an average, not a range |
| Esperanza de vida | 12–14 years — breed literature, not survey data |
| Energía | High — 2 hrs/day of genuine work |
| Muda de pelo | Moderate, heavier in the seasonal moults |
| Pelaje | 3–5 cm on the body, feathered, with undercoat · always brown-based |
| Grupo | Sporting · Continental Pointing Dogs, Spaniel type (FCI №117, Group 7) |
| Origen | Alemania |
Rasgos de la raza
Sociabilidad
Cuidados
Mente
Carácter
The standard describes the breed in four strokes: balanced, calm, good natured, easily trained. That calm is the working kind, not the sofa kind — the same document requires the abilities for all work in field, water and forest, before the shot and after it, and a dog built to that brief expects employment. Club and breed literature describe a companionable, people-oriented dog that settles well once exercised and takes training willingly; in the ring, aggression and marked shyness are disqualifying faults. The hunting instinct underneath is real. Birds, rabbits and fresh scent will all test the recall, so a long line earns its keep until the recall is proofed.
Costumbres y manías
Brown, in every variation
The colour section lists six patterns and all of them are brown: solid brown, brown with white or speckled markings, dark roan, pale roan, mottled, and brown and white. White on the head is limited to a blaze, snip or star. Even the occasional fawn marking is accounted for — the standard calls it a very old throw-back to the Hounds in its ancestry.
A coat measured in centimetres
The standard puts numbers on the coat: 3–5 cm on the back and sides, close fitting, firm, smooth or slightly wavy, over a good undercoat. Longer hair is welcome under the neck, on the chest and belly, and as feathering on legs and tail — but a topknot is not desired, and neither is too much feathering. A working coat, with limits.
Before and after the shot
The utilization clause asks for a gundog that works field, water and forest, before the shot and after it: finding and pointing game first, then tracking and retrieving what falls. That versatility is the breed's whole brief, and the FCI judges it with a working trial.
Built low and flowing
General appearance, per the standard: strong, muscular, low set, flowing lines — slightly higher at the shoulder than the rump, never overbuilt or clumsy. The tail is carried about level, the last third curving gently upwards, and the ears sit not too low, turned slightly forward against the cheeks.
Cuidados
| Exercise | This is a hunting breed judged with a working trial, and a walk is a warm-up, not a day's work. Plan on a couple of hours with real jobs inside them: dummy retrieves, tracking, swimming — the standard names water work alongside field and forest — or gundog training proper. Under-employed, it invents projects you will not like. |
| Grooming | A thorough brush once or twice a week keeps the 3–5 cm coat and its feathering free of knots, stepping up when the undercoat moults. Check the feathering and between the toes for burrs and grass seeds after outings, and look inside the hanging ears weekly — a drop-eared gundog that loves water is a classic set-up for ear trouble. |
| Training | 'Easily trained' is written into the standard, and the breed lives up to it when the work is fair and regular. Start young, keep sessions purposeful, and give the nose legitimate outlets; recall needs patient proofing around game, because finding it is what the breed has been selected for since 1879. |
| Health | A working breed generally described as hardy, with no breed-wide health survey to cite. The German parent club screens breeding stock for hip dysplasia, so ask any breeder for hip results and working evaluations; keep up the ear checks, and treat the 12–14 years in breed literature as a habit of the type rather than study data. |
Preguntas frecuentes
Is this just a long-haired German Shorthaired Pointer?
No — Germany keeps separate pointer breeds with separate FCI standards, and the Longhaired is the elder: pure-bred since 1879, with its first standard written by Baron von Schorlemer in 1897. The FCI even files it apart — the Shorthaired sits with the continental pointers of 'Braque type', while the Longhaired is classed as 'Spaniel type', with a heavier, feathered coat and a standard that leads with calm.
What is the link with the Large Munsterlander?
Close family, by breed literature: the Large Munsterlander descends from the black-and-white longhaired dogs left outside when the Deutsch Langhaar club fixed brown as the breed's colour, and the Munsterlanders went their own way in the early twentieth century. The GLP standard itself does not tell that story; what it does say is that every allowed colour is brown-based — so a black-and-white 'longhaired pointer' is another breed.
Are they good family dogs?
The written temperament — balanced, calm, good natured, easily trained — is about as family-friendly as gundog standards get, and breed literature describes a dog that lives closely with its people. The honest condition is work: this is a hunting breed judged with a working trial, and it needs hours of genuine occupation, room to run, and a job for its nose. Met on those terms it settles well; ignored, it will not.