How can you not love a dog described as, “the mustachioed dog with the sparkling eyes?”  

At first blush, a person unfamiliar with the Pudelpointer would guess that it’s the latest of designer breeds, and while they’d be somewhat correct, they’d be off by some 200 years. This old breed was originally bred in Germany, the result of a cross between German hunting Poodles and English pointers. More specifically, the sire was “Tell,” an English Pointer owned by the German Emperor Frederick 111, and “mom” was “Molly,” a German hunting pudel (the German name for poodle) owned by Hegewald, the author famous for writings on hunting dogs.  The goal of blending these two breeds, each terrific in its own right, was to produce a versatile dog that would run and retrieve in varied weather conditions on both land and water. Guess what they got?

A passionate hunter.

To this day, the Pudelpointer is regarded as a partridge, rabbit and marsh bird specialist (oh, and throw in big game, too). German hunters are honor bound to find wounded animals, and the Pudelpointer is a rock star at finding such game. This is an intelligent and biddable dog with a good nose and superb pointing instincts, but it has an “off” button that makes a Pudelpointer content to lie in front of a fire, or play with the kids.  This is not a “knucklehead” breed. Pudelpointers are super smart, and that means a lighter hand during training.

The breed was first introduced to North America in 1956 by Bodo Winterhelt, now a bit of a legend in versatile dog circles. Breeding this breed remains strictly controlled, and before the “honeymoon,” parents have to pass rigorous performance tests, something we’d love to see in all working breeds.

The AKC added the Pudelpointer to its stable of FSS breeds in 2016.

Image found on Pinterest and happily credited upon receipt of information.