Originally Posted by
mastercaster
Griffs, pudelpointers, Deutch Drahthaars, and German wire-hairs all fall under the versatile umbrella. They'll point all upland birds, retrieve equally well on land or water (especially if they've been force fetched), they're good on searches and they track really well. They can handle cold weather and water because of their double coat but all hunters I know who shoot waterfowl over the winter months will always put neoprene vests on them for added warmth. They're all great swimmers and love the water!
As far as shedding goes it all barrels down to breeding. My griff barely sheds at all. She's never had any matted hair. The only maintenance I do with her is run a steel comb over her once every 4-5 weeks. Other owners, however, have griffs that mat a lot and they need to brush/comb them almost daily likely because they have softer coats and probably shampoo them frequently. My 4 1/2 year old griff has never been shampooed in her life. That being said, she has been hosed down a few hundred times. It's the same for pudelpointers and german wirehair pointers when it comes to their coat. It's definitely something to discuss with the breeder.
DDs and GWPs are much more sharp than griffs and pudelpointers. Every small animal they go after is likely going to come back dead. Can't tell you how many young bunnies my dog has brought back that's wet and slobbery that I just release back to the forest/bush but it may have to do more with the training. All of these dogs are easy to train and behave well in the home but they need daily exercise (twice a day) otherwise they can get into mischief out of boredom. My dog has yet to ruin a single item in the house,,,,, no furniture, no clothing, no shoes, etc, from day one but I'm retired so getting her out to exercise and train has never been an issue. She gotten run of the house since she's been 6-7 months old.
Shorthairs have even higher energy needs.
Pudelpointers and griffs are great with kids. No toddler is safe around my griff,,,,they always get a face washing with her tongue and wet beard. lol I don't know about the other versatiles but griffs tend to prefer people over dogs when they see either when out and about,,,,at least mine does.
Have never seen any of the wire-haired breeds not like water whereas I've seen a lot of the shorthairs like the English, German, weimaraners, and vizslas who don't (big time), especially when it's iced up on the edges.
The setters that are bred to hunt, shorthairs and brittanys have a more stylish point, IMHO, but none of the dogs I've mentioned above should flush birds. They're meant to hold point.
English and German shorthair pointers have a much different conformation than any of the wire-hairs or brittanys. They're MUCH deeper in the chest and because of that there's always a greater risk of bloating. That deep chest makes it difficult to fit with neoprene vests and that's if you can even get one that will go out into the extremes to hunt. If you do have a gamer you'd have to make a lot of modifications to the vest for a good fit, otherwise they're pretty much useless.
In the end, it's tough to go wrong with any of the bird dogs mentioned,,,,,,retrievers included! After all, a dog that doesn't hunt is just a cat that barks!