KENAI
Pointer

The breeds · gun dog · pointing

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 1

Pointer.

Pointing dog: 'bred primarily for sport afield' - finds upland birds with a high head and holds point until the gun arrives.

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.

11.2YRMedian lifespanmeasured on real dogs.
27 / 25INHeightdogs 26.5, bitches 24.5. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
44–75LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 65 lb (55 to 75); breed bitches 54.5 lb (44 to 65).
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayMore than 2 hours per day. 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 26.5 in (25 to 28) · bitches 24.5 in (23 to 26)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1975

Midpoint of the standard's limits.

Weight

dogs 65 lb (55 to 75) · bitches 54.5 lb (44 to 65)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1975

The AKC breed page prints 45 to 65 lb for bitches; the standard says 44. The standard is used.

Coat

Short, dense, smooth with a sheen; liver, lemon, black or orange, solid or with white

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1975

Shedding

Sheds; AKC breed page shedding level 3 of 5 ('Moderate'), RKC 'Sheds: yes'

Breed clubAKC

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · Short dense coat: 'Short, dense, smooth with a sheen'

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1975

Derived by the coat rule (4 = short dense). Not a measurement.

How long they live, and what they cost

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

Median lifespan

11.2 years

StudiedLewis TW

NOT the McMillan 2024 registry-linked method: the Pointer is absent from the Dogs Trust 2024 breed table and from Teng 2022. This is an owner-reported median age at death from Lewis, Wiles and Blott 2018 Table 1, shown as the best available figure. Fewer than three sources behind this value. The 2004 KC survey (n = 145 deaths) gave 12 yr 5 mo; the RKC band is 'over 12 years'.

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

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC exercise band; AKC breed page energy level 4 of 5.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

AKC breed page energy level 4 of 5; 'the high-energy Pointer is an excellent runner's companion'

Breed clubAKC

RKC: more than 2 hours of exercise a day.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · Once a week (RKC grooming band); coat length short

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

AKC breed page grooming frequency 2 of 5 agrees.

Grooming

Once a week

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

The work

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

Role

Pointing dog: 'bred primarily for sport afield' - finds upland birds with a high head and holds point until the gun arrives

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1975

Standard's general appearance. The APC: 'bred for generations to be biddable gun dogs with a natural intense drive to find birds.'

Primary game

Upland game birds in open country: the prairies and the grouse woods in North America (Carty); 'particularly grouse and partridge' in Britain (Gundog Journal)

EditorialGun Dog Magazine

Editorial only. The breed's standing as the North American bobwhite quail and field-trial dog is not stated in any source opened for this entry; see open_gaps.

Range

Big. 'Famous for their speed and range'; a '200-yards-and-change dog on the prairies but closer ranging in the grouse woods'; the breed that 'set the gold standard for pointing dog performance in North America'

EditorialGun Dog Magazine

Editorial (one source). RKC's breed text agrees in kind: bred 'to range on large expanses of land'.

Field trial standard

American Field / AFTCA All-Age: a dog that 'runs off - but not quite', fills up all the available country, shows at distant forward points, backs a bracemate on sight, steady to wing and shot, finishes with range and speed undiminished. Shooting Dog: finds and handles all game on the course with lofty style on point, steady to wing and shot, adopting the pace and range most effective on the ground. AKC Gun Dog and All-Age stakes ask the same core: point staunchly, steady to wing and shot, honor

Breed clubAmateur Field Trial Clubs of America

Pointers are an eligible breed under the AKC pointing-breed rules; no retrieving or water requirement applies to the Pointer for an AKC Field Championship (retrieving credits are required of the GSP, GWP, Vizsla and Weimaraner; the Water Test of the GWP and Weimaraner only).

Water work

No water test and no retrieving stake requirement for the Pointer in AKC pointing-breed field trials; AKC Senior and Master hunting tests require land retrieves of shot birds, Master 'promptly, tenderly and absolutely to hand'

Breed clubAKC

AKC rulebook plus the hunting test regulations (akc_ht_rules).

Cold water

1 of 5 · Short single-layer coat and no water work in the breed's trial life

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1975

Derived from coat plus the absence of any water requirement for the Pointer in AKC pointing-breed trials. Not a measurement.

How common the problems are

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

Hip dysplasia

6.9% · 2,369 OFA hip evaluations on file (all evaluations on file, read Oct 2026; the service prints no start year): 92.4% normal (17.3% excellent, 63.6% good, 11.6% fair), 6.9% dysplastic (4.5% mild, 2.2% moderate, 0.2% severe); rank 160 of the breeds listed

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Voluntary registry: Hou et al. 2013 (1,068 Pointer hip records 1974-2009) document that public OFA records under-report affected dogs. UK BVA/KC scheme (BHCP): 256 Pointers scored to 20/10/2021, median hip score 9 (range 0-60).

Elbow dysplasia

5.4% · 771 OFA elbow evaluations on file: 94.6% normal, 5.4% abnormal (4.4% grade 1, 1.0% grade 2, 0.0% grade 3)

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Same voluntary-registry caveat. Hou et al. 2013 counted 132 Pointer elbow records 1974-2009; the breed was below the 10-affected threshold for their elbow analysis.

Most common disorders

UK Kennel Club 2014 survey, 241 live Pointers (34.9% with at least one condition): lipoma 7.9%, hypersensitivity (allergic) skin disorder 3.7%, skin lump 2.5%, skin cyst 2.5%, food allergy 1.7%, chronic itching 1.7%, arthritis 1.7%. Deaths (n = 50, Lewis 2018): old age 16%, cancer-unspecified 8%, heart failure 8%, old-age combinations 8%, bone tumour 6%, brain tumour 6%, epilepsy 6%, kidney failure 6%

StudiedWiles BM, 2017

Owner-survey prevalence with wide confidence intervals (lipoma 95% CI 5.1-12.0). The KC BHCP reports the same survey as lipoma 8.30% (20 cases) and adds the 2004 survey: epilepsy/seizures (10 cases of 334) the most reported specific condition. The APC Health Statement names hip dysplasia, skin issues (hives), cancers (bone, liver, mammary) and epilepsy. No VetCompass breed paper exists for the Pointer.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 5; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 4; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 4; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

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 Pointer 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.

Side by side

Or let the selector rank the Pointer against your own answers.

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. 10 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
English Pointer

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

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