Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Affectionate, keen to please and responsive to training.
A Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
Photo: Liv klesta
Adult male
23–32 kg
50–70 lb
Adult female
16–23 kg
35–50 lb
Lifespan
12–15 yrs
Class · Field
also Family, Sport

What it's like

Griffons are generally affectionate, keen to please and responsive to training, and they form close bonds with their households. The breed reached America in the late nineteenth century, when it was first registered under a different name. In the nineteen-eighties one American breed club began crossing its dogs with the Czech Cesky Fousek; enthusiasts divided over this, and separate lines developed in the United States.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Keen to work with you
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
Is a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon right for you?
Take the breed matcher

Living with one

It has a wire or harsh coat. Loose hair stays caught in the coat until it is brushed, stripped or clipped out. Plan on a brush once a week, plus hand-stripping two or three times a year. It needs plenty of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Wirehaired Pointing Griffon is a medium dog, heavier than a Border Collie and lighter than a Golden Retriever. Males end up clearly heavier than females.

It is a sturdy, slightly long-bodied dog with a harsh, wiry outer coat over a dense, fine undercoat. A pronounced moustache and bushy eyebrows give the face a bearded, slightly unkempt look. The usual colour is steel grey with brown patches, though solid chestnut and roan mixtures also occur. The ears are set high and hang flat against the head.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Wirehaired Pointing Griffon puppy is already as heavy as a grown Staffordshire Bull Terrier. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
11 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight7
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
0102030402m4m6m9m12m18m
0102030402m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
4.9–6.9 kg 10.8–15.2 lb
3.8–5.5 kg 8.4–12.1 lb
3 months
7.3–10.2 kg 16.1–22.5 lb
5.4–7.7 kg 11.9–17.0 lb
4 months
10.6–14.8 kg 23.4–32.6 lb
7.7–11.1 kg 17.0–24.5 lb
5 months
13.6–19.0 kg 30.0–41.9 lb
9.8–14.0 kg 21.6–30.9 lb
6 months
16.2–22.7 kg 35.7–50.0 lb
11.5–16.4 kg 25.4–36.2 lb
7 months
18.2–25.5 kg 40.1–56.2 lb
12.7–18.2 kg 28.0–40.1 lb
8 months
19.6–27.4 kg 43.2–60.4 lb
13.6–19.4 kg 30.0–42.8 lb
9 months
20.6–28.8 kg 45.4–63.5 lb
14.2–20.3 kg 31.3–44.8 lb
10 months
21.2–29.7 kg 46.7–65.5 lb
14.7–21.0 kg 32.4–46.3 lb
11 months
21.7–30.4 kg 47.8–67.0 lb
15.0–21.4 kg 33.1–47.2 lb
12 months
22.0–30.8 kg 48.5–67.9 lb
15.2–21.7 kg 33.5–47.8 lb
15 months
22.6–31.6 kg 49.8–69.7 lb
15.7–22.4 kg 34.6–49.4 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long Wirehaired Pointing Griffons live yet. The 12–15 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The modern Wirehaired Pointing Griffon was shaped by the Dutch sportsman Eduard Karel Korthals, who from 1873 set out to breed a close-working gun dog that would both point and retrieve. He bred it in Germany from 1877, yet the FCI lists it as French. Its ingredients are disputed: the FCI standard says Korthals added no outside blood, while other accounts name pointers, spaniels, setters or the Otterhound4,8.

The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon's later history belongs largely to France. Korthals bred the foundation stock at Biebesheim, supported by his patron Prince Albrecht zu Solms-Braunfels, but French sportsmen took up the dogs with enthusiasm. In France the breed is still often called the Korthals griffon. Korthals intended it as a versatile companion for the walking hunter. It works at a steady pace close to the gun, points game, retrieves on land and from water, and copes with marsh and thick cover.

Breed standard

The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon is judged against standard no. 107, in group 7, Pointing Dogs4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Wirehaired Pointing Griffon figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.

Compare with related

German Shorthaired Pointer
Pointing dogs · Medium
Spinone Italiano
Pointing dogs · Large
Vizsla
Pointing dogs · Medium
Wirehaired Vizsla
Pointing dogs · Medium
Or compare the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon with any breed you choose
Track your own Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
Log a minute a day and watch them sit on these curves. Free.

Sources

Uncited on this page: Lifespan — no reviewed source yet, so it is a general reference figure rather than a published one.
Something wrong on this page?
Parts of this page were written by AI ·