Pointing Breed Hunting Tests
Eligible Breeds

All dogs six months of age or older from the following breeds are eligible to participate in Pointing Breed Hunting Tests:

AKC Recognized Breeds Brittanys Pointers English Setters German Shorthaired Pointers German Wirehaired Pointers Gordon Setters Irish Setters Spinone Italiano Vizslas Weimaraners Wirehaired Pointing Griffons

*Foundation Stock Service Breeds *Irish Red & White Setters *may compete for suffix titles only

• Dogs of these breeds recorded with the Purebred Alternative Listing Program/Indefinite Listing Privilege (PAL/ILP) or dogs with Conditional registration are eligible to participate.
• Spayed and neutered dogs are eligible to participate.
• Bitches in season are not eligible to participate, nor are they permitted on the grounds.
• Dogs with Limited Registration are eligible to participate.

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The following pointing breeds are eligible to compete in AKC hunting tests.

Brittany

Named for the French province in which it originated, the Brittany was, until September 1982, registered by the American Kennel Club as the Brittany Spaniel. Although until then called a spaniel, in its manner of working game the Brittany is setterlike. In appearance it is smaller than the setters but leggier than the spaniels, with a short tail and a characteristic high ear set.

The breed was first introduced into the United States in 1931 and officially recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1934. The French recognize a wider range of colors while the American Kennel Club standard allows only two colors - liver or orange in combination with white, either in clear or roan patterns. There is not preference between the liver and orange nor between the clear and roan factors.

The Brittany's steady gain in popularity in the United States has been due to its merits as a shooting dog. Its smaller size and natural proclivity for hunting close fill the need of the modern American bird hunter. Its superb nose and desire to please are two of its major assets. Its size makes it better adapted to city living than some of the larger bird dogs, and its close range makes it more adaptable to today's hunting areas, crisscrossed with numerous roads and fences.

Many American Brittany breeders have strived to maintain the dual concept i.e., to breed a dog that is good looking as well as being a good hunter. The most popular formal competition has been in field trials sponsored by the parent club and its many chapters. Interest in showing Brittanys was initially somewhat limited, but there has been an upsurge over recent years. In the first 30 years of competition in this country, over 150 dogs of the breed gained the coveted title of Dual Champion (a champion in both the field and show).

English Setter

The English Setter was developed in England, of course, where the breed goes back more than 400 years. One ancestor was the Spanish Pointer, who gave him his hunting abilities. Others include the large Water and Springer Spaniels, who gave him his long coat and docile temperament.

The English Setter has retained its popularity since its introduction to this country primarily because of its usefulness and beauty. As a result of intelligent breeding it has been brought to a high state of perfection and a representative entry is always to be found at all bench shows and field trials.

The mild, sweet disposition characteristic of this breed along with the beauty, intelligence, and aristocratic appearance it makes in the field and in the home has endeared it both to the sportsman as well as all lovers of a beautiful, active and rugged outdoor dog. A lovable disposition makes it an ideal companion; it is, however, a dog that requires considerable exercise and therefore is better suited to ownership in the suburbs than in the city.

German Shorthaired Pointer

The German Shorthaired Pointer combines in field-dog requirements those qualities which have long popularized the various breeds of hunting dogs. So Successfully have keen scenting powers, linked with high intelligence, been fused into the breed through judicious crossing of the descendants of the old Spanish Pointer, English Foxhound, and local German tracking hounds, and so varied are this dog's field accomplishments, that its adaptability has earned it the reputation of being an all-purpose dog. In fact, the term was applied to it by the Germans before United States sportsmen started importing the breed to any extent in the early 1920s.

It is indeed rare to find wrapped up in one package a staunchly pointing bird dog, a keen-nosed night trailer, a proven duck dog, a natural retriever on land and water, pleasing conformation and markings, great powers of endurance and an intelligent family watchdog and companion. Indicative of this dog's versatility is its successful work on pheasant, quail, grouse, partridge, jacksnipe, woodcock, duck, rabbits, coon and possum. It is also used to trail and handle deer. With a water-repellent coat and webbed feet, it retrieves well from rough terrain or icy waters.

The German Shorthaired Pointer was first admitted to the stud book of the American Kennel Club in March, 1930. The first AKC licensed Specialty Show for German Shorthaired Pointers was held by the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America in the International Kennel Club show in Chicago on March 29-30, 1941; the first AKC licensed Field Trial for the breed was also held by the parent club at Anoka, Minnesota, on May 21, 1944.

German Wirehaired Pointer

As history is reckoned, the German Wirehaired Pointer is comparatively young.

Coat has always been emphasized throughout the development of the breed, as indicated by a statement made by members of the Drahthaar Club back in 1902, when they said: "The breeding of a correct wire coat is the most important feature." There was ample reason for this emphasis on coat, considering the work that the German Wirehaired Pointer was called upon to do. In short, he was designed as an all-weather as well as an all-purpose dog, and he had to negotiate underbrush that would have punished severely any dog not so characteristically armored.

The coat is weather-resisting in every sense of the term, and it is to a large extent water-repellent. It is straight, harsh, wiry, and quite flat-lying. One and one half to two inches in length, it is long enough to shield the body from rough cover, yet not so long as to hide the outline. A heavy growth on the brow guards the eyes from injury, and a short beard and whiskers combine to save the foreface from laceration by brush and briar. A very dense undercoat insulates the body against the cold of winter, but it sheds out to such a degree as to be almost invisible in summertime.

He was brought to America in 1920 and since then has achieved considerable popularity. The breed was accepted for registration and granted separate show classification in 1959.

Gordon Setter

Beauty, brains and bird sense are the outstanding qualities of the handsome black-and-tan Setter from Scotland whose ancient lineage dates back at least to 1620.

With the coming of the field-trial competition, Gordon popularity waned for a time. The dog's habit of quartering thoroughly and working close to the gun placed him at a disadvantage where flashing speed was demanded. However, as a one-man shooting dog the Gordon knows no peer.

The Gordon's characteristic eagerness to work for a loving master has never changed over the centuries, nor have his keen intellect and retentive memory, which enable him to improve with age with no need for retraining each season. Gordon breeders, backed by a strong national club, make no distinction between field or show types. As a rule, bench-show champions are used regularly for hunting and give a good account of themselves in the field, as do the field trial winners at the bench show.

He who acquires a Gordon Setter owns a rare combination: an aristocrat of ancient lineage and rich beauty, a shooting companion of keen intelligence and inbred hunting ability, a loyal family guard, and, as on authority puts it, "a most pettable dog."

Irish Setter

First and foremost, the Irish Setter is typically Irish, with a devil-may-care something about him that not only makes him tremendously likable but also adds to his value as a bird dog in rough country and briars. He is bold and at the same time gentle, lovable and loyal. He's tough - good and tough. He can stand continued work in the brush, is almost never stiff or sore, has the best of feet and running gear, and almost never gets "sour" when corrected in his work. He is not an early developer and frequently requires more training than other breeds. He is not as a rule headstrong in the sense that he is hard to handle in the brush. His outstanding fault as a field-trial performer is that he is not independent enough and pays too much attention to his handler. In reply to the criticism that he develops slowly, it is only fair to say that, once trained on birds, he is trained for the rest of his life and does not require a repetition of the process every fall. When you own a good Irishman, you own him for many years, every day of which you can be proud of his appearance, personality and his performance.

Pointer

The Pointer comes by his name honestly. He was the first dog, so far as we know, used to stand game in the sense in which we use the term today and was developed as a distinct breed much earlier than any of the setters.

The modern Pointer is a specialist and looks the part. He is every inch a gun dog. Clean-limbed, lithe, and muscular without being coarse, full of nervous energy and "hunt," put together for speed and endurance, courageous, and with the ability to concentrate on his job, he is an ideal dog for the man or woman who is looking for results when afield. His short hair makes him neat and clean around the house and his disposition makes him adaptable for the kennel. He requires less personal attention than some other gun dogs and he is willing to work satisfactorily for someone other than his own master and handler.

In addition to all this, he has another characteristic-tendency towards early development. As a breed, Pointers seem to acquire the hunting instinct at a tender age, puppies of two months are frequently pointing and even backing. For this reason they are especially suited for derby and puppy stakes.

Spinone Italiano

The Spinone Italiano, or Italian Pointer, is Italy's all-purpose hunting dog. It is also sometimes referred to as a Griffon, since that name formerly designated the hunting dogs of all Continental Europe. Actually, the dog is a Pointer of the old school, that is, a rather slow-footed dog similar to those used before the era of wing shooting.

Almost every country in Europe has had its own type of Pointer for at least three centuries, and each developed the dog in its own locality according to climate, need, and changing times. The Piedmonte district of northwest Italy is primarily responsible for the development of the Spinone into an all-purpose dog. It is said to outrank all other Italian gun dogs as a highly efficient worker.

Vizsla

The origin of the Vizsla, or Hungarian Pointer, has been obscured by the centuries, but it is fair to assume that its ancestors were the hunters and companions of the Magyar hordes which streamed over Central Europe more than a thousand years ago and settled in what is now Hungary.

Importation into the United States began in the 1950s and the breed was admitted to the AKC registry in 1960. Vizslas are giving a good account of themselves as robust and enduring hunters as well as gentle and friendly companions.

Essentially Pointer in type, the Vizsla is a distinguished looking dog of aristocratic bearing. His short coat is an attractive rusty-gold, he is powerfully built, but lithe and well balanced, with a light-footed, smooth, and graceful gait. He is a multiple-purpose dog for work on upland game, on rabbits and for waterfowl retrieving.

Weimaraner

The Weimaraner that we know today is the product of selective breeding; of judicious crosses followed by generations of line breeding to fix type and quality. It came from the same general stock which has produced a number of Germany's hunting breeds, one of its cousins being the German Shorthaired Pointer. In fact, in its early days, the Weimaraner was known simply as the Weimar Pointer. Since then height and weight have both been increased, but the distinctive coat color, described a silver grizzle or mouse gray, was approximately the same.

America came to know the Weimaraner back in 1929 when an American sportsman and dog breeder, Howard Knight, was made a member of Germany's Weimaraner Club. Permitted to bring back two specimens, he helped found the club in this country and served as its first president. The club has made every effort to carry out the same principles that mapped the career of the breed in its native land.

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

The origin of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon came in the great period of biological awakening in the last quarter of the 19th century. Just a few years before, the Austrian abbot, Mendel, had published his experiments on inheritance, and the youth of western Europe were anxious to try their skill at breeding.

The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon was exhibited in England shortly after it was developed, and it attracted considerable attention. Still, classes were not provided until some years later, the first record of these being at the Barn Elms show in 1888. The breed came across the Atlantic twelve years later. The first specimen registered by the American Kennel Club was Zolette, 6773, by Guerre, ex Tambour.

The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon is particularly adapted for swampy country, where its harsh coat, unique in a sporting breed, is a great protection. It is also a strong swimmer and serves as an excellent water retriever, though adherents of the breed claim it can be trained and entered to any game.