The breeds · gun dog · pointing
AKC Foundation Stock Service · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 187
Portuguese Pointer.
Continental pointing dog of braque type (FCI Group 7, Section 1.1, with working trial): a hunting dog shaped by Iberian climate, terrain and game, bred in royal kennels for falconry and by the 16th century 'frequently used by commoners'; 'always a keen hunting dog that stays in close contact with the hunter'. Runs in AKC Pointing Breed Hunt Tests and is a NAVHDA recognized versatile breed.
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.
The body
What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.
Height at the shoulder
Center is the standard's stated ideal (52 cm). The UKC standard prints a desirable 20 inches with 1 inch either way.
Weight
Center is the midpoint (19 kg). The UKC standard prints a desirable 42 lb (35 to 48 lb) for a female.
Coat
The UKC standard: 'short and flat-lying', dense and somewhat coarse on the back; colour 'any shade of yellow or brown'. The RKC lists yellow and yellow and white as breed-standard colours.
Shedding
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Heat tolerance
Derived from the standard's coat description: short dense coat = 4. Not 5 because the standard describes the coat as dense and harsh rather than fine.
The dog at home
What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.
Exercise need
RKC band for the import-register breed; the AKC Energy Level band is 5 of 5 ('High Energy'), the top of the AKC scale, so the RKC hour reads as a floor for a working dog.
Exercise need
Energy
Grooming load
The AKC band is 1 of 5 ('Monthly') with club text 'minimal grooming due to their short, tight coats', a rubber curry brush to remove dead hair. The RKC band is the first-choice source and gives 2 (weekly brush).
Grooming
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
The UKC standard: 'the Portuguese Pointer should be evaluated as a working gun dog'. The RKC: before the gun the breed worked with a hawk, pointing for the falconer.
Primary game
The AKC page's 'did you know' list and history; the standard names partridge through the breed's name only.
Also used on
Range
Three sources agree on close range.
Search pattern
The standard's behaviour and gait sections; the Dow interview calls them 'close working dogs and not necessarily suited for hunting larger areas where the hunters travel on horseback'.
Field trial standard
The Portuguese Pointer Club of America's website (portuguesepointerclub.com) did not respond to fetch; its rules, if any, could not be read.
Water work
Recorded so the limit is visible: this is a pointer, not a water dog, and no source claims otherwise.
Cold water
Derived from coat (fci_std) and the breed's test life (navhda_breeds). A short single-coated pointer: 2. No source describes the breed in cold water.
How common the problems are
Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.
Hip dysplasia
Recorded so the absence is visible; no percentage is claimed. The AKC club text asks that 'breeding dogs and their relatives are free of known health issues including seizures, hip dysplasia, and early-onset cancers or autoimmune diseases'.
Most common disorders
Club statement only; no VetCompass, UK survey, insurer or OFA prevalence exists for this breed. US breeders (dow_interview) say no health testing is required and wish 'all breeders would health test their dogs'.
More
akc bands
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.
- USBreeding dogs and their relatives free of seizures, hip dysplasia, early-onset cancers and autoimmune disease (club guidance on the AKC page; no scheme or certificate is required by any North American club)club guidance · American Kennel Club, Portuguese Pointer breed page (Foundation Stock Service since 2005; approved for AKC Pointing Breed Hunt Tests for suffix titles since January 1 2008; height, weight, life expectancy, trait bands; club-supplied health, grooming, exercise and training text)
- UKRoyal Kennel Club import register: no breed-specific scheme listed beyond prioritising genetic diversity; Breed Watch category 1RKC · The Royal Kennel Club, Breeds A to Z: Portuguese Pointer (Imp) (import register; size, exercise, grooming, coat, shedding, lifespan bands; Breed Watch category 1; no breed-specific DNA package)
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. 5 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Perdigueiro Português, Perdigueiro Portugues, Portuguese Pointing Dog, Perdigueiro, PO
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour portuguese pointer, on the record.
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