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Deutsch Kurzhaar

The breeds · gun dog · versatile

UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 119

Deutsch Kurzhaar.

Versatile hunting dog (FCI 119 utilization clause); bred to find and point upland game and small furred game, retrieve all shot game from land and water, and track wounded big game in the forest, the tasks the DKV and JGHV tests weight.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

13.4YRMedian lifespan13.3 to 13.6, measured on real dogs.
25 / 24INHeightdogs 25.2, bitches 23.8. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayMore than 2 hours per day (RKC band for the German Shorthaired Pointer, the UK name for FCI 119). The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 25.2 in (24.4 to 26) · bitches 23.8 in (22.8 to 24.8)

Breed clubFCI-Standard No. 119, 2001

Center is the midpoint of the FCI range (60.5 cm).

Coat

Short and dense, rough and hard to the touch; somewhat thinner and shorter on the head and ears, not remarkably longer on the underside of the tail; should cover the whole body. Colours: solid brown, brown with white or flecked markings, dark brown roan, light brown roan, white with brown markings, and black in the same patterns

Breed clubFCI-Standard No. 119, 2001

FCI 119 names no undercoat. RKC coat length: short.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · 4 of 5: short, dense, hard coat

DerivedFCI-Standard No. 119, 2001

Derived from the FCI coat description (short dense = 4).

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

13.4 years (13.3 to 13.6)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

SHARED FCI-119 FIGURE. The UK Kennel Club's German Shorthaired Pointer is the FCI standard 119 breed, which FCI titles 'Deutsch Kurzhaar (German Shorthaired Pointing Dog)'. DKV-registered dogs are not separately identifiable in the UK data, so this is the best available measurement for the FCI-119 population, not a DKV-specific one. The same row is shown on the german-shorthaired-pointer entry. Teng et al. 2022 does not include the breed under any name.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day (RKC band for the German Shorthaired Pointer, the UK name for FCI 119)

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Shared FCI-119 band; see median_lifespan_yr note. FCI 119 describes a dog built 'to perform all requirements in connection with hunting activities, even when advanced in age'. This is a UK figure for the shared FCI 119 standard population registered as 'German Shorthaired Pointer', not a figure for the German-registry dogs.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Shared FCI-119 band (RKC lists the breed as German Shorthaired Pointer). This is a UK figure for the shared FCI 119 standard population registered as 'German Shorthaired Pointer', not a figure for the German-registry dogs.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · Once a week (RKC band for the German Shorthaired Pointer, the UK name for FCI 119)

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Shared FCI-119 band; 'Once a week' = 2 on the 1 to 5 scale. This is a UK figure for the shared FCI 119 standard population registered as 'German Shorthaired Pointer', not a figure for the German-registry dogs.

Grooming

Once a week

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Shared FCI-119 band. This is a UK figure for the shared FCI 119 standard population registered as 'German Shorthaired Pointer', not a figure for the German-registry dogs.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Versatile hunting dog (FCI 119 utilization clause); bred to find and point upland game and small furred game, retrieve all shot game from land and water, and track wounded big game in the forest, the tasks the DKV and JGHV tests weight

Breed clubFCI-Standard No. 119, 2001

FCI 119's utilization line is the two words 'Versatile hunting dog'; the task list is the NADKC's description of what the breed was built for (nadkc_breed: 'find and point upland game and small furred game, retrieve all shot game from both land and water, and function perfectly as a tracker of wounded big game in the forest'). NADKC's stated mission: 'versatile Deutsch Kurzhaars for the foot-hunter'.

Primary game

Upland birds and waterfowl, with furred game (hare, rabbit, fox) and wounded big game tracking as required test subjects rather than sidelines

Breed clubNorth American Deutsch Kurzhaar Club (NADKC)

Read from the DKV and JGHV test content (Solms: marsh search for a duck, retrieving feathered and furred game to hand; VJP: hare track; VGP: two-day utility test). The DKV system does not name a single primary species; 'primary' here is KENAI's reading of what the tests weight.

Also used on

Tracking wounded big game in the forest; furred small game (the VJP hare track; fur retrieves in the Solms and HZP)

Breed clubNorth American Deutsch Kurzhaar Club (NADKC)

nadkc_breed and nadkc_regs.

Range

Medium: the club breeds for dogs 'finding and pointing game at a range suitable for a foot hunter' and judges the search for cooperation, not distance

Breed clubNorth American Deutsch Kurzhaar Club (NADKC)

No published range figure; the NADKC describes the original qualities as 'water love, tracking crippled game, and finding and pointing game at a range suitable for a foot hunter'. Fewer than three sources behind this value.

Field trial standard

DKV breed tests, each dog judged against the DKV standard on a 4-point scale: Derby (spring, young dogs: inherited field abilities and cooperation), Solms (fall adolescents: nose, field search, pointing, cooperation, a marsh search for a duck, feathered and furred retrieves to hand, more obedience), AZP (older dogs that missed the Solms, with more obedience); plus the JGHV tests VJP (adds a hare track), HZP and the two-day VGP utility test. Kleemann (even years) confers the KS title; IKP and NAKP are the international tests. Breeding approval (Zuchttauglich) requires a passed Solms, HZP, AZP or VGP with complete water work, at least 'Good' at a Zuchtschau, proven hardness (Härtenachweis, required of males), HD-free A or B hips, OCD-free shoulders and a DNA sample

Breed clubNorth American Deutsch Kurzhaar Club (NADKC)

nadkc_regs (NADKC's summary) and dkv_zo section 4 paragraph 1 (the regulation itself: Solms/AZP/HZP/VGP 'mit kompletter Wasserarbeit', Formwert at least 'gut', Härte, HD A1/A2/B1/B2, OCD-frei from 1 Oct 2021, DNA blood sample). This is what makes the Kurzhaar its own row: the test system is a breeding gate, not an optional title.

Water work

Mandatory: a dog cannot be approved for breeding without a passed Solms, AZP, HZP or VGP 'with complete water work' under the DKV or JGHV test regulations, including the live-duck search; the Solms includes searching a marsh for a duck

Breed clubDeutsch-Kurzhaar-Verband e.V., 2023

dkv_zo section 4 paragraph 1a and nadkc_regs.

Cold water

3 of 5 · 3 of 5: short dense coat with no undercoat named in the standard; water work is mandatory in the breed's tests and a dog cannot be approved for breeding without complete water work

DerivedFCI-Standard No. 119, 2001

Derived from coat plus the DKV breeding requirement (dkv_zo section 4 paragraph 1a: a passed Solms, AZP, HZP or VGP 'with complete water work'). Not a late-season water specialist by coat.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Most common disorders

Hereditary concerns the DKV screens and breeds against: hip dysplasia (only HD A1, A2, B1, B2 may breed; a sire or dam that produces non-HD-free offspring with two different partners loses breeding approval), shoulder osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD-frei required for dogs approved from breed year 2022), elbow dysplasia (examination voluntary), epileptiform seizures (any dog with recurring seizures is excluded, whatever the cause), temperament faults (gun sensitivity, gun shyness, environmental shyness, nervousness, fear of live game, fear biting) and all disqualifying faults of FCI 119.

Breed clubDeutsch-Kurzhaar-Verband e.V., 2023

No prevalence figures are published on the pages opened; this is the registry's screening and exclusion list (dkv_zo section 4 paragraphs 1d to 1f, 7 and 8, and its annex on genetically determined diseases), not a disorder ranking. The DKGNA article (dkgna_regs) names HD and OCD X-rays as 'now mandatory' and seizures as excluding. No VetCompass or UK survey table exists under the Kurzhaar name (UK data are filed under German Shorthaired Pointer and are shown on that entry).

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

No KENAI kennel lists the Deutsch Kurzhaar yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 6 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
DK, Kurzhaar, German Shorthair (DKV)

Every breed, read the same way.

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