German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

GOODS · Newbie Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Posts: 1

hello everyone.have a question.we are thinking about getting a second dog.we currently have a female boxer who is a year and a half old.dogs brought into our house are companions to us.we walk/hike a lot.other than that it would just be a friend.[ the dog will not be used to hunt.]our boxer is friendly to all dogs.most times other dogs get annoyed at her because she is so affectionate.i have been lookin at gwhp for some time.what a beautiful dog.my question is this.would a gwhp get along with our boxer.are they generally friendly towards other dogs.[yes it would be a pup]any help would be much appreciated.

cmmilach · Posted: 02/05/04, 10:00 am Post subject: Second Dog

Hi,

The answer to your question is, yes, the wire would do fine with your boxer. I have a friend you has 12 boxers and my two wires love to play with them.

Good Luck.

abbyw · Member Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 13

Hi! I have an 8 month old GWP, and we don't hunt with her either. She is wonderful with other dogs, and loves to play with them. We made sure to have her around all of our friends dogs as soon as we brought her home so that she would be used to them. That includes bringing the dogs to our house to play with her and vice-versa. If your boxer likes other dogs, then I don't see you having any problems. My husband grew up with Boxers and because of my allergies we didn't get a Boxer, but decided on the GWP. After having Abby I can't imagine ever having another type of dog. She is loving and fabulous with our neighbors kids, not to mention she has the funniest personality and she just cracks us up all the time! Good luck!

J Shelton · Junior Joined: 09 Nov 2002 Posts: 28

I think any dog that gets attention and exercise on a regular basis is wonderful! However it makes me a little sad to see dogs, who were bred for certain jobs, ie)hunting, working, s&r etc. be chosen for only companionship. Yes, this breed is a great companion and friend, but their instincts and what they LOVE to do is hunt.

mike · Member Joined: 04 Jan 2004 Posts: 8

My only suggestion is to ask the breeder for the laziest dog of the litter. Our GWP Scout is great and he loves our friends boxer but he has a lot of energy, as do all of these dogs that were bread to hunt and run 20+ miles a day. We don't realy have a problem because I plan on hunting with him and my wife and I both run, and love to take him to the Fly on the Mississippi River in New Orleans and let him run on his 100 ft lead (Note:$25 ticket for no leash). I only mention this because I know how much energy these dogs have, they are not happy sitting at the house, and believe this energy is the reason many have to be rescued.
Michael

abbygwp · Member Joined: 04 Dec 2002 Posts: 23 Location: Jupiter, Fl

I know this may be late...I too have a 3 yo GWP that has NEVER been hunted. She is an excellent family dog and a wonderful companion.

I don't feel that she is lacking anything by not hunting any more than a lab or any other type of hunting dog that is a "stay at home" dog is.

My Abby is very well rounded, in EXCELLENT shape, very keen eyes and nose and loves to "hunt" the birds on the back porch via the sliding glass doors...but she won't go out there if they are on the porch. Rolling Eyes

She is walked daily, dog parked on the weekends and has transfered cross country with us 3 times since we first got her at 8 weeks. She's a GREAT dog! When our other dog passes away (a Sr. Mutt) we are getting another GWP. (We have a limit of 2 animals we are allowed at a time)

Good luck with your decision.

Keith · Master Joined: 27 Dec 2002 Posts: 163

I could see owning a wirehair even if I didn't hunt. They are neat loving intelligent cooperative protective dogs and I love the cool wire coat. But they do love hunting. I mean they really love to hunt. One of my females used to go and sit in the back of the truck and refuse to come out when she knew I was going hunting. This was when she was to old and I was taking only the younger dogs. It was sad to have to drag her out of the back of the truck. She would sit out there for hours if you let her just hoping to go hunting.

ME · Junior Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 65

Yeah Keith,
They know that the truck takes them to good places Laughing

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admin · Administrator Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 33

I get a similar response with my agility girl.. (who was also hunted in her younger days) ... if I move the agility gear, she will fairly tear at the door to get in the van and wimpers in excitement all the way to the training ground... just as she used to do on the way to the fields where we trained.