Question: We have a male German Wire-haired Pointer that we purchased from a breeder in northern Michigan. The dog is now three years old and seems to be getting stranger as he gets older. As a pup, he was quite friendly with us but very shy with strangers. We kept him as a house dog for the first year, wanting a family pet as well as a hunting dog. He became very destructive and started to confront people who were visiting. This eventually lead to growling at our kids and then me if he didn't get his way. We now keep the dog outside in a kennel. My children and I are afraid of the dog and don't feel comfortable around him, which my husband says the dog can sense.

My questions are, what can we do about this dog's aggression towards my kids and I, and is this normal for a German Wire-hair. I have seen the dog growl and nip at my husband too, but he says the dog is just communicating his desires and isn't aggressive. The breeder says we have done something wrong and the dog is perfectly normal and that a good hunting dog has to have some aggression. He has even suggested that we may have abused the dog, which is totally false.

Toni C., Grand Rapids.

Answer: I receive frequent complaints concerning two breeders here in Michigan. One is this German Wire-haired Pointer breeder, who is well-known among Wire-haired Pointer enthusiasts for having mentally unstable dogs and dogs that bite people, including their owners. The second is an English Setter breeder from lower Michigan who is also infamous with the Setter enthusiasts. I will not call either by name for fear of adding to their vast name recognition.

Paid advertising should not be used as a gauge for quality. In most cases when it concerns people who have been in the business for many years, it is needed to continually find new customers. You would think that someone who has been in the field for twenty to thirty years would have a large enough customer base to draw from it without spending thousands of dollars every year on advertising.

Moving on to the aggression issue, let me say that a good bird dog doesn't need any human or canine aggression. Human aggression is when is dog is aggressive towards humans. In the old days, the German breeders wanted a dog to guard the farm and family as well as hunt. In fact, the breeder you dealt with is now telling customers that his dogs are guard dogs as well as hunting dogs. It's a point that he leaves out with many new puppy buyers. This is merely an attempt to cover up the problems in his line of dogs.

Many German Wire-haired Pointers have problems with aggression, which is a throwback to the old days. However, most of today's breeders are working towards producing friendlier dogs that make better citizens in today's society. A dog which displays this aggression towards you and your kids, after being raised in your house, is unacceptable by anyone's standards. The old rule on German Wire-haired Pointers is that they should be completely reliable with family but aren't to be trusted with visitors.

Do not trust this dog around your kids! You and your kids are obviously in danger from this animal. Your husband is having his ear bent by this unscrupulous breeder and is in total denial concerning the dog's mental status. Do not take this advice lightly! If your husband wants to risk being injured by this animal, fine, but protect yourself and your children at all costs. I have dealt firsthand with this breeder, have owned dogs from his kennel, and trained (or attempted to train) dogs from his bloodlines. I will not take dogs from his kennel in for training because of the same problems. I have owned several dogs from this kennel, none of which were of sound temperament or had stable personalities. In fact, one of the dogs returned to him, a female, was so man-shy that she would run and hide anytime she saw anyone except for my son and I. This dog also had no desire to hunt. Her desire for game would be scored a 0 and her search pattern would also score a 0, at fifteen months of age.

“Desire” and “search” are two categories of judging used in the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association. This is the venue that this breeder is trying to promote his dogs in.

Ever since I returned the problem dog, the breeder has been telling people that I abused her, claiming that this is her problem. I have heard this from more than one dissatisfied customer of his that has called me for help with their aggressive animal. I wrote a letter to this breeder concerning his slanderous remarks, which he has not found the courage to respond to. Now, to top off all of this negative behavior, I recently discovered he is breeding this problem dog and selling pups from her. It is a shame that we don't have a system in place to deal with unscrupulous breeders. your husband will eventually put the dog down once it starts attacking him.

Charlie Linblade

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