GSP History

Breed Controversy

At the start of the eighteenth century there were still only small numbers of pointers in Germany; for example, in the famous Sonerhausen kennels there were only three pointers in 1714. One hundred years later each forester in this district was obliged to keep two pointers for the use of his employer. During this century great numbers of breeding experiments were carried out by the Germans to improve this or that quality in their dogs. We know very little of these experiments of necessity, since they were essentially private and uncoordinated. But there is no doubt that various crosses were tried with dogs that were more indigenous to Germany. Luckily the results were not so permanently unsettling as the introduction of foxhound blood was in the case of pointers in England.

Thornhill, writing in the The Shooting Directory in 1804 says, writing presumably about the heavy type of Spanish Pointer, which seems to have kept its identity in England for longer than the lighter type which already was merging into the so-called English Pointer:

"With respect to the Spanish Pointer, he is of foreign origin, as his name seems to imply, but is now naturalised in this country, which has long been famous for dogs of this description; the greatest attention being paid to preserve the breed by many sportsmen in its utmost purity. This dog is remarkable for the aptness and facility with which it receives instruction; indeed it may be said to be self-taught. The English Pointer on the contrary is very difficult to be broke in, the greatest attention being necessary to complete his education. A cross between these produces capital dogs, which are much esteemed for their goodness."

William Arkwright, to whose classic tome on the English Pointer I am indebted for much of my material, passes the following comments on the introduction of foxhound blood into the pointer breed, initially it is thought by the celebrated Colonel Thornton:

"But it was in the last years of the eighteenth century that the crying sin against the pointer was committed, by matting him with the foxhound. Had he been crossed once more with the tender-nosed, sagacious, southern hound, the effect would not have been disastrous; but the dashing, harum-scarum foxhound was an exemplarily mischievous selection. I suppose that the idea of this cross originated from a superstition, indulged in by many, that the foxhound was a sort of 'chosen' dog; and that it culminated in our own day in the efforts of fanciers to engraft an untypical appearance on the pointer for show ring purposes. In the beginning there was no concealment about the matter; the cross was discussed with perfect frankness, though of course the 'hound like' appearances were obliterated as soon as possible. Latterly, however, the process was reversed, for great reticence was displayed in acknowledging hound blood, though hound type was openly advocated. It was very unfortunate that Colonel Thornton should have succeeded so soon in breeding such an exceptional dog as the celebrated Dash; this was an extraordinary worker and was sold for a sensational price - enough to set half the breeders in England crazy to try the same experiment in breeding."

Dash was sold to Sir Richard Symons for one hundred and sixty pounds worth of the best champagne and burgundy, a hogshead of claret, an elegant gun, and another pointer, and the stipulation that if any accident befell him which incapacitated him, he should be returned to the Colonel for fifty pounds. In fact he did break a leg; the Colonel took him back as a stud dog, but he proved useless and never produced a good puppy. All the pundits who had predicted that this was the likely result of such a cross were proved correct.

Arkwright was very incensed at these crosses, and it is interesting to note that even when his book was written in 1901, the controversy over gundogs being spoilt by some breeders who were only breeding for looks rather than working ability was well established:

"As long, however, as pointers were kept for work alone, the hound cross was comparatively harmless to the breed; for when a dog was a failure at his business he was, of course, not bred from. But when the shows set up an artificial standard of looks, when the Kennel Club did not require a certificate of work from a prize-winner, when the gate was opened to the Stud Book, pointers received a blow from which they may never recover - they lost their prestige. For when many sportsmen found that they could only get unruly hound-pointers, they discarded dogs altogether, took to other methods of shooting, and now their desire for even good ones is practically extinct.

Let me repeat that to cross a pointing breed with a non-pointing breed is to reduce the pointing instinct by one-half, and, therefore in breaking the mongrels the pointing that should come naturally has to be taught by severe and laborious lessons. The same applies even more so to backing. The reason why the breed of pointers at the present day surpasses the pied breeds is that they haven't been crossed. Be it far from me to deprecate the foxhound, a perfect dog for his own work, and I should consider an infusion of pointer blood into him just as objectionable as the converse.

I am convinced from my own experience that the foxhound cross has proved disastrous to the sporting value of those families of pointers into which it has been introduced, as might indeed be expected when one considers the very different branches of sport in which the two breeds are used. I myself have tried many of these dogs, 'with a dash of hound in them,' and have found, when they work, that they take much more breaking than pure pointers, being unruly, uncertain, jealous of backing, hare-chasers, and chasers after foot scent in preference to body scent. Of course there are brilliant exceptions, but they are exceptions, and even from such there is no certainty in breeding."