English pointers

Plenty of dogs up for adoption

look into pudelpointers

Look into a French Brittany great upland bird /family dog. Smallish and soft fur. Point a bird and sit on the couch with family. Good kennels in area. Got mine from South Dakota but many in Louisiana

He should decide if he is ok with a long-haired dog and the upkeep required or if he wants a shorthaired dog, then narrow the search from there.

I wouldn't do it, but my brother made a pretty good house pet out of a hot Elhew pointer pup from North Texas.

Pointers know 2 things, kennel and hunt.

English Setter is what you want. Good bird dog like a pointer, but much better family dog that wants to be social.

We actually just bred some setters. I'll know in 10 days if it took. Right now 3 puppies are sure enough spoken for. I will probably have 4 or 5 to sell come late August.
Female




Male

EP are big running athletes I have know many that were great pets also but most are kenneled and used on hunting preserves all day every day from sept till March. If you want a good pet and a buddy you can hunt with many good suggestions in this post as long as it has German in the breed name somewhere :)

I often wonder how many people that make generalizations about pointers have actually owned or been around pointers in recent times.

I have a young pointer that is out of all age and shooting dog lines. There isn't a dog in this female's pedigree that wasn't worked exclusively off of horseback as far as I know. When I asked the breeder if I thought she would work out for a foot hunter, his response was "F*** if I know." This is the most cooperative and easy dog I have ever owned. She is by far the best pet I have ever owned. I have had labs, springers, and also currently have drahthaars. I love my drahthaars, but the pointer has been a much better pet and better citizen around the house.

I run her in walking trials when I'm not hunting, so I get to be around a lot of dogs including other pointers, setters, shorthairs, etc. The pointers on average are much easier to deal with around the kennel. I have seen very few pointers that I thought would be a serious issue as far as living with the animal goes. I can't say the same thing about pretty much any of the other breeds.

Pointers are absolutely a working dog and need to be hunted. I think it is advisable to get the dog as a puppy if you do want it to be a pet as well. Pointers are not for everyone, and what I mean by that is they can be more "dog" in the field than most people are comfortable with. The pointers that I mess with generally are out of sight most of the time, and a lot of people either don't care for that much run, or just can't get used to it. And if anybody just generalizes that pointers are "run offs," go look at the field trial results for most any American Field sanctioned event. The winner's circle is dominated by pointers. You can't win if you are a "run off."

Go check a few out. I heard all the stories and generalizations about the breed prior to getting involved with them, and realized most people are just parroting old stories and reputations. I haven't found any of them to be true as a whole. They are one of the most fun breeds I have been around.