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German Wirehaired Pointer

German Wirehaired Pointer Dog Breed

Aliases: Deutsch Drahthaar, Deutscher Drahthaariger, Vorstehhund Drahthaar

Life Span: 8 and 10 years.
Litter Size: 6 and 10 puppies.
Group: Gun Dog, Sporting Dog
Recognized By: CKC, FCI, AKC, UKC, ANKC, NKC, NZKC, APRI, ACR
Color: The colors of the German Wirehaired Pointer are liver and white, black and white, and solid liver.
Hair Length: Short
Size: Large
Shedding: Moderate Shed
Male Height: 24-26 inches
Male Weight: 60-70 pounds
Female Height: 22 inches
Female Weight: 60-70 pounds
General info courtesy of terrificpets.com. Additional information about this breed can be found on their website.

Thyroid Disease - High Risk

The German Wirehaired Pointer ranks #4 among all breeds for autoimmune thyroiditis prevalence. There is a high risk of obtaining a dog that will develop thyroid disease. For this reason you should make sure you, or your breeder, are testing all dogs before breeding.  It may even be a good idea to test dogs that you don't plan on breeding so that any instance of disease can be traced back to breeding pairs and eliminated.

 Rank Among Breeds  Number of Dogs Tested  Percent of Dogs With Disease
 #4  338  18.6%

You can download the full report (on all breeds) by the Michigan State University Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health. Here

Other Health Problems

  • Hip Dysplasia: Ball and joint problem of the hip. Causes arthritic like symptoms.
  • Entropion: The eyelid will roll inwards towards the eye and cause irritation of the cornea. Surgical repair is required. 
  • Cataracts: Causes visual blurring and can eventually cause blindness.
  • Von Willebrands Disease: Involves a problem with the clotting of the blood.