Pointer Grooming

About the Pointer

About as little coat as a dog can have: short, dense, fine and hard, lying flat with a distinct sheen, and no undercoat to speak of.

A rubber curry mitt once a week and a bath every ten weeks is the entire grooming routine. Nothing is cut, ever, and matting is not a concept that applies.

That makes this a page about everything except the coat, and there is a genuine amount to say. A Pointer is a hard running gundog that covers enormous ground, comes home carrying whatever it went through, and has skin with almost nothing protecting it.

The parts that matter are sunburn on pink skin, feet, ears, and using the weekly ten minutes as an actual examination rather than a token brush.

Ten minutes, done properly

Go over the dog once a week with a rubber curry mitt or a hound glove, working against the lie of the coat and then with it. It lifts the dead hair, which a short hard coat holds more than people expect, and spreads the skin oils that give the coat its shine.

Pointers shed moderately and steadily rather than seasonally, and the short stiff hairs weave into fabric and are hard to remove. Weekly currying is the only thing that meaningfully reduces it.

Bathe every ten weeks or so with a plain gentle shampoo. Over-bathing a coat this short strips the skin, and there is nothing between the product and the skin to buffer it.

There is no clipping, trimming or styling on this breed beyond nails and keeping the pads clear.

Dry properly after a bath or a wet day, since a lean dog with no coat chills faster than a thick coated one.

The ten minutes is the whole coat commitment, which is why the rest of this page is about what else to do while you are there.

Pink skin and sun

Pointers are usually white with liver, black, orange or lemon patches, and the white areas frequently have pink skin underneath with very little coat over it.

That skin burns. The nose, the ear tips, the belly and the groin are the usual places, and a gundog working in open country in summer gets a great deal of exposure.

Use a sunscreen made for dogs on exposed pink areas before extended sun, never a human product containing zinc oxide, which is toxic if licked off. Provide shade and avoid the middle of the day where you can.

Repeated burning over a life that often runs to fifteen years or more carries a real skin cancer risk, and this is a long lived breed.

The same thin coat means scrapes, thorn scratches and cuts show immediately, which is an advantage. Check the dog over after every working day.

Elbows and hocks develop calluses on a lean dog that lies on hard floors, and soft bedding is the fix.

Feet, ears and a dog that covers ground

A working Pointer runs further in a day than most dogs run in a week, and the feet take it.

Check the pads after every outing for splits, cuts and worn areas, and check between the toes for grass seeds and thorns, which burrow into the skin and abscess.

Keep the hair between the pads cleared, though there is not much of it.

Nails every three to four weeks. A dog that runs on soft ground does not wear them down as much as you would think, and long nails change how a fast dog loads its feet.

Ears are moderately long drop ears lying flat over the canal on a dog that runs through wet cover, which is the standard recipe. Lift weekly, look and smell, and dry them after a wet day or a swim.

Head shaking, scratching an ear, redness or a smell needs a veterinarian rather than a cleaner.

Check the ear leather for tears too, since thin ears catch on wire and undergrowth.

The weekly examination

With no coat work to speak of, the weekly session earns its place as a physical check, and a short coat makes it easy: nothing is hidden.

Run your hands over the whole dog, down each limb, over the ribs and spine, around the shoulders and hips, and along the belly. You are feeling for anything new, firm or growing, and for soreness.

Feel for ribs to judge weight. A Pointer should be lean and athletic, and owners used to heavier breeds often overfeed one.

Watch for lameness that does not resolve, which on a hard running dog is worth taking seriously rather than resting and hoping.

Deep chested, so bloat is a risk: no large meal around exercise or an appointment, and unproductive retching with a swollen abdomen is an emergency.

Pointers are long lived, often twelve to seventeen years, so the habits set early run a long time.

They are also friendly, biddable and easy to handle, which makes all of this straightforward.

What to tell your groomer

Ask for a bath, a curry, nails, ears and a skin check. There is no haircut on this breed.

Ask for a plain unscented shampoo, since there is nothing between the product and the skin.

Say if the dog has pink skin on the nose, ear tips or belly, which is a sunburn risk rather than a grooming one.

Ask them to check the pads and between the toes for splits, thorns and grass seeds.

Ask for the ears dried and checked, and the ear leather looked at for tears.

Say not to feed the dog around the appointment because of bloat risk.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Pointer