Dog Breed Guide

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Profile

Size

Medium

Country of origin

France

Origin

19th century

Bred for

Versatile hunting

Height

male 55 - 60cm (22 - 24in), female 50 - 55cm (20 - 22in)

Weight

23 - 27kg (51 - 60lb)

Life span

12 - 14 years

A hunting dog with a rough, harsh coat and an impressive mustache and eyebrows. Most are steel gray with brown patches. It has a rustic, endearing face.

Calm and friendly, the Griffon is deeply devoted to its family. It is smart and likes to please its owner, so it takes to training well. Compared with other gundogs, it is good at hunting carefully close to the hunter rather than ranging too far away.

Its water-repellent harsh coat stands up to work in marshes and cold water. It needs plenty of exercise and should be properly active every day. It sheds little, and its coat is relatively easy to care for.

Good to know

The breed was created by Eduard Korthals, a young Dutch sportsman. In 1873 he set out to create a tough, versatile gundog that could hunt carefully at the pace of a hunter on foot in the marshy Dutch countryside. He later moved to Germany, and the breed was completed in France, so its nationality is often debated. Internationally it is now considered a French breed, and in Europe it is also called the Korthals Griffon after him.

Korthals is said to have written the first breed standard in 1886. His passion in creating a breed almost single-handedly in only about 20 years is still talked about among fanciers.

The first dog registered in the United States was entered as a "Russian Setter (Griffon)," because it was thought to have Russian blood.