KENAI
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

The breeds · gun dog · versatile

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 107

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

Versatile pointing dog 'bred to cover all terrain encountered by the walking hunter'; 'excels equally as a pointer in the field, or a retriever in the water.' FCI: 'essentially a versatile pointing dog. Also used for tracking wounded large game.' 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.

23 / 21INHeightdogs 23, bitches 21. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
35–70LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 60 lb (50 to 70); breed bitches 42.5 lb (35 to 50).
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 23 in (22 to 24) · bitches 21 in (20 to 22)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1991

FCI 107 gives about 50–55 cm (19.7–21.7 in) for females.

Weight

dogs 60 lb (50 to 70) · bitches 42.5 lb (35 to 50)

Breed clubAKC

Registry breed page, not the standard; single source for weight.

Coat

Double coat. Outer coat medium length, straight and wiry, never curly or woolly; harsh texture protects in rough cover. Obligatory undercoat of fine, thick down 'which provides insulation as well as water resistance'. Eyebrows, moustache and beard are extensions of the undercoat; shown in full body coat, not stripped short.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1991

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Derived from the standard's coat: medium-length wiry outer coat over a thick down undercoat = medium double coat.

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1991

Derived by rule (coat type → heat tolerance); not measured.

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 band (Korthals Griffon, import register) mapped to minutes.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day (RKC). AKC energy level 5 of 5 ('High Energy').

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

AKC band from akc_page.

Energy

5 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

3 of 5 · More than once a week

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC grooming band mapped to the 1–5 scale (3 = more than once a week). The AKC page's grooming frequency band is 2 of 5 (between 'Monthly' and 'Weekly'); sources differ, the RKC band is the ruled mapping.

Grooming

More than once a week (RKC). AKC: grooming frequency 2 of 5, shedding 3 of 5; the breed is described on the AKC page as 'known for the harsh, low-shedding coat the breed is named for.'

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

Versatile pointing dog 'bred to cover all terrain encountered by the walking hunter'; 'excels equally as a pointer in the field, or a retriever in the water.' FCI: 'essentially a versatile pointing dog. Also used for tracking wounded large game.' NAVHDA-recognized versatile breed.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1991

FCI wording from fci_std; NAVHDA recognition from navhda_breeds.

Primary game

Upland birds, with waterfowl retrieval as regular second work ('upland bird hunting and waterfowl retrieval').

Breed clubAmerican Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Association

Club page; no single primary bird is named.

Also used on

Tracking wounded large game (FCI standard); the club adds rabbits and hares in Europe and tracking wounded deer in the US.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 107, 2023

Club additions from awpga_hunt.

Range

Close: 'a close-working, cooperative hunter' with a 'European-style, foot-handled range' suited to dense cover and varied terrain. The standard: bred 'to cover all terrain encountered by the walking hunter.'

Breed clubAmerican Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Association

Standard wording from akc_std.

Field trial standard

Tested rather than trialed. AKC pointing-breed hunt tests (Junior, Senior, Master, Master Excellent): point, 'steady to wing, shot, fall', retrieve to hand, water retrieves at the advanced levels. NAVHDA Natural Ability (seven hereditary traits, max 112), Utility ('usefulness to the on-foot hunter in all phases of hunting both before and after the shot, in field and marsh', max 204) and the Invitational (Versatile Champion).

Breed clubAmerican Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Association

NAVHDA test wording from navhda_rules.

Water work

'Excels equally as a pointer in the field, or a retriever in the water'; the undercoat 'provides insulation as well as water resistance.' NAVHDA tests the breed runs include water phases; the club lists waterfowl retrieval as regular work.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1991

NAVHDA wording from navhda_rules; club wording from awpga_hunt.

Cold water

4 of 5 · Derived: the standard's undercoat 'provides insulation as well as water resistance' and the breed 'excels equally as a pointer in the field, or a retriever in the water'; the club describes 'waterfowl retrieval' as regular work.

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1991

Derived from coat and water work (akc_std, awpga_hunt); not measured.

How common the problems are

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

Hip dysplasia

8.5% · 3,928 hip evaluations, all data through the Oct 5 2026 read: 90.8% normal (23.7% excellent, 59.3% good, 7.8% fair), 8.5% dysplastic (5.3% mild, 2.8% moderate, 0.4% severe).

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's public breed statistics. Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock and voluntary submission; abnormal results are under-submitted. Read directly from OFA's statistics service (api.ofa.org/api/ds.php) on Oct 5 2026; Hou et al. 2013 prints no per-breed percentages.

Elbow dysplasia

5.2% · 1,783 elbow evaluations, all data through the Oct 5 2026 read: 94.6% normal, 5.2% abnormal (4.8% grade I, 0.4% grade II, 0.0% grade III).

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Same OFA caveats as hips.

More

akc bands

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

No KENAI kennel lists the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon 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

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

Also called
Korthals Griffon, Griffon d'arrêt à poil dur Korthals, Griff

Every breed, read the same way.

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

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