What is a German Shorthair?

The breed of the "German Shorthair" is one of the oldest hunting dog breeds in Europe. The first stud book of this breed, which was already bred in the middle of the 18th century, dates back to 1897, in which Prince Albrecht zu Solms-Braunfeld, among others, laid down the breed standards.

The Deutsch Kruzhaar was initially bred from pointing dogs from the Mediterranean region, especially Italy, Flanders, France and Spain.
There, the ancestors of the DK, the so-called Pointer, served early as reliable hunting assistants.
 

Profile of the German Shorthair:

What is the nature and character of the German Shorthair?

The German Shorthair is considered to be a very hunting enthusiastic and active dog, whose dispositions make him a capable hunting helper when properly kept and trained by his handler. Among other things, he is considered to be:

• docile
• friendly to children
• attentive
• friendly
• affectionate
• reliable
• faithful
• playful
• obedient
• eager to work
• courageous
• family friendly

Representatives of the breed are considered to be well sociable with people and other dogs. However, due to his hunting acuity, he usually recognizes cats, predatory game, and other animals as prey. 
Since he is very leader-oriented, personal imprinting by his humans is needed early on. Training should be consistent but loving and confirming.
 

What does a German Shorthair look like?

The German Shorthair is considered a visually very noble and pleasing dog breed. Laymen often see a young and very slender Labrador in its solid dark variants.
In many illustrations, the Deutsch Kurzhaar is used as the classic hunting dog because of its appearance - especially when it comes to pointing positions.
The German Shorthair has a very straight topline, a deep-set and broad chest, high and muscular legs, and a well-proportioned head with drooping ears and moderately prominent flews.

 

The head with pronounced broad and long muzzle merges into a muscular neck. The 
nose is black or brown in color, depending on the coat color
.

According to the name, the German Shorthair has a short coat, which should be very dense and firm when healthy. It feels harsh and protects the dog from wetness and cold. Acceptable coat colors are:

• Brown
• Brown with white speckles
• Brown with chest patch
• Brown with speckled markings on legs and chest
• Brown with brown head
• Brown with brown spots or plates
• light brown mold
• White with brown head markings, brown plates and spots
• Black with white markings or spots
• Black mold with spots and plates in white

In a healthy and properly nourished German Shorthair, the coat should have a distinct luster.

How to keep a German Shorthair?

Due to its high agility and urge to move, the German Shorthair should be provided with sufficient space in its home for exercise and ample opportunity to run around. 
Because of its close bond with its handler and people familiar to it, the German Shorthair should always live in the family circle.
Considered to be an extremely social breed, it is not suitable for being kept in a kennel.

 

This dog does not like to be alone, but wants to be with his family. If left alone, it may develop separation anxiety. Bored animals also take every opportunity to run away or find their own occupations. These in turn usually give little pleasure to their fellow humans.

The German Shorthair was and is bred specifically for hunting. Despite his family and child-friendly nature, he is not to be considered a pure family dog. 
As a hunting dog, he is dependent on a workout of his hunting instinct. For hunters these pointing dogs are ideal partners. When pointing, the dog freezes in the flowing movement as soon as he smells game. Often he lifts a front leg and fixes the prey. He remains in this posture until his hunting partner gives him another command. Pointing is in his blood as well as tracking down and retrieving the prey.
 

German Shorthair puppies are therefore - at least in Germany - usually only given to hunters who can prove that they can offer the dog an attitude and hunting practice that meets its requirements. The dog needs much movement and almost constant occupation. In addition, he wants to be challenged. If these conditions are missing, the dog quickly becomes unbalanced, destructive and nervous.

How do you train a German Shorthair?

The German Shorthair is definitely not a so-called beginner's dog, i.e. a dog that you should get as a beginner who is untrained in dealing with dogs.

Although the German Shorthair is, as already mentioned, a very socially acceptable, studious, leader-bound and intelligent dog, it is also headstrong and at times stubborn and somewhat unruly. The German Shorthair likes to do his own thing, to put it casually, and lives out his urges where he can.
This can have unpleasant consequences for the handler and it should be very important to him that his DK obeys.
 

In the past, the German Shorthair - like pretty much all hunting dogs - was trained with a hard hand and usually punishment and even beatings. Nowadays, however, dog training usually relies on positive incentives as well as reinforcement, if the dog shows a desired behavior.
This method is more accessible to the dog by nature and the risk that he is frightened by harsh education or even fearful or in the worst case itself aggressive, is significantly lower.
 

Also, in order for him to get along well with other animals that he should not see as prey and other (hunting) dogs, early socialization with them is important. Visits to the puppy and hunting dog school as well as a visit to a zoo on a leash with an appropriate distance help here.
Here the shorthair can be accustomed to the fact that there are many other animals besides the prey, but they do not have to interest him much at all and in the best case he just leaves them alone.
 

What diet for a German Shorthair?

As for all hunting dogs of his size, the diet of the German Shorthair should be designed to provide him with the proteins and vitamins that his body needs to cope with the hunting as well as physically demanding recreational challenges. Likewise, he should be fed as natural, meat-based, and balanced a diet as possible to maintain his athletic physique.
A good way to provide the dog with large portions of meat is barfing. This food consists of raw meat from cattle, sheep, horses and other slaughtered animals except pigs. Raw pork poses health risks for dogs, for example, because of auezky's disease.
 

With regard to a varied balanced diet, it is also advisable to offer the dog cooked vegetables together with fresh meat etc. every now and then.

Grains such as wheat, corn, etc., hunting dogs simply do not need and it should also always be ensured when feeding dry food that such grain species are processed in very small quantities at most.

Some cooked rice is fine from time to time and rice gruel can even work wonders for gastrointestinal disorders.

Basically, the adult German Shorthair should receive 2-3 meals per day and these are best eaten at regular times so that they set the framework for a regular daily routine.
Puppies need three to four meals per day. Small treats or pieces of sausage are suitable as rewards during training. Rewards and snacks for in-between meals should be included in the total food amount. It is also important to have a constant supply of water for the dog. Practical drinking bottles with integrated bowls are available for on the go.
 

How to care for the German Shorthair properly?

As an absolute lover of nature, the German Shorthair naturally comes into contact with sources of contamination time and again. He is only too happy to rummage through wet and dirty leafy harbors, to roll on meadows and in forests, to roam through dense branches in all weathers, taking little care not to get dirty - on the contrary: as an intelligent hunter, he even tries to cover up his own smell by rolling in the open. He 
also likes to walk on bodies of water of any kind
.

But all-clear: Due to its coat structure, the Shorthair can be classified as quite low-maintenance. Only rarely coarse dirt or burrs etc. get caught in the short and firm coat. Usually it is enough to brush the Shorthair with a common dog grooming brush or a grooming glove to keep his coat clean and fortunately his coat dries oh quite fast.

The Shorthair also places great value on self-care and often cleans his coat himself with his tongue where he can. Also for vermin and parasites like hair lice, deer louse flies, ticks etc. he is not so susceptible as other types of dogs. Especially since these can usually be quickly detected by the handler and removed accordingly.

A bath or a shower is necessary only with really rough contamination and therefore altogether quite rarely. If the four-legged friend likes it, however, you can now and then confidently by abbrausen, even with a dog shampoo, care.

How to arrange activity and training of the German Shorthair?

As already mentioned, the German Shorthair has a naturally high urge to move and wants to be regularly challenged both physically and mentally. He prefers to run freely and explore the environment with his fine nose. Here it is important to make sure that the dog obeys accordingly and that you can call him off at any time to protect him or others from danger. Because many a neighbor's cat had to save itself from a German Shorthair on a tree and also now and then, especially with young dogs, the hunting instinct threatens to run away with them.

Very good means to challenge the German Shorthair according to his demands are jogging, cycling, retrieving and bringing exercises on land and water. Also long walks of cumulatively at least two hours per day and now and then a challenge for his fine sense of smell give the DK great pleasure.

A very good and also for the socialization suitable movement possibility are romping around and playing with conspecifics.

What are the disadvantages of a German Shorthair?

German Shorthairs have at most the disadvantage, at least for the hunter, that they are quite useless in building hunts. Otherwise, however, they are considered hunting all-rounders and can support the hunter in almost every type of hunting.

For non-hunters, there may be the disadvantage that German Shorthairs have a strong hunting instinct and the corresponding urge to move. However, this should not be to the detriment of the breed, but the person should question why you want to keep such a working dog, you can not really use it.

Does the German Shorthair suit me?

The question of whether a dog breed suits someone or not cannot be answered in a final and general way about the German Shorthair. However, one thing is certain: The German Shorthair is, due to its pronounced hunting instinct and its centuries-long breeding for hunting purposes, a dog primarily designed for hunters and should not be kept as a pure family companion and certainly not as a lap dog. This role simply does not meet his requirements.

If you are considering the purchase of a German Shorthair, you should first seriously familiarize yourself with the breed profile and carefully consider whether you can meet the demands of the dog and its training, and also whether you can devote sufficient time and patience to it. Also, the family circumstances of the coming years should be included in the consideration. A DK is very leader-oriented and needs sufficient attention and affection from his master or mistress throughout his life.

So basically the most important question to answer is: Will a German Shorthair fit my circumstances?