Old Danish Pointer - Facts and Information

Appearance
The Old Danish Pointer is traditionally used as a pointing dog in Denmark and indeed, they do have the typical appearance of a pointing breed. It is medium sized dog with strong and quite muscular body, rounded and wide skull, rounded ears with pointed tips and medium sized eyes in dark brown color. Typical sign of this breed is loose skin around the neck.
Interesting fact about this breed is the big difference between males and females. While the males are extremely powerful and substantial, females tend to be lighter and smaller. On average, these dogs have height between 20-24 inch, which is 50-60 cm and weight is usually between 26-35 kg, which is 57-77 lbs.
The Old Danish Pointer has a short, but very dense coat that is somewhat hard to touch and you can find this breed in a great looking white coat with brown markings. The markings can be either very large, but also very small, which creates brown freckles.
Personality
The Old Danish Pointer has excellent reputation as a versatile hunter of all kinds of game, but especially as amazing bird hunter without disturbing the hunting grounds. It is a steady hunting dog which shows great determination and passion for the hunt, as well as courage, high prey drive and intelligence, all very important traits for a hunter. These dogs also have great stamina and they can hunt all day without problems.
But of course, this is not only a hunter, but also loyal and loving companion pet. When they are at home, they tend to be pretty calm and relaxed, but this is an energetic and adventurous breed that is always ready for a long walk, hike or jog and you must provide them with enough daily exercise, so they stay healthy and happy! These dogs are adaptable, but they will definitely prefer to live in a house with a big yard, where they can stretch their legs whenever they want to.
The Old Danish Pointer is a playful and pretty gentle companion for kids, but of course, you should never leave any dog breed with a very young child unsupervised. They can also live without any problems with other dogs in the family, but other household pets might be little bit problematic, because of the Pointers higher prey drive, but of course, this can be vastly influenced by early socialization.
Interesting Fact
Denmark is a home to interesting, but outside its borders, extremely rare breeds. The Old Danish Pointer is one of the three Danish breeds, next to Danish Mastiff, also known as Broholmer and Danish Swedish Farmdog.
History
The history and origin of the Old Danish Pointer starts in the 18th century, to be more specific, in 1710, when a man named Morten Bag, began crossbreeding local farm dogs with dogs brought to Denmark by gypsies from Spain.
After 8 generations of careful breeding a new, white and brown dog was created with a name Bakhound, or Old Danish Pointer. It is believed that the gypsy dogs from which Old Danish Pointer were developed were some kind of Spanish Pointing dogs developed from St. Huberts dog.
The breed was pretty popular in Denmark, but its numbers declined greatly during the world wars and the breed almost dissappeared. The breed was saved by group of enthusiasts and officially recognized by Danish Kennel Club in 1962. Today, this breed is quite popular in Denmark and its numbers are pretty high in this country, but outside Denmark, they are still extremely rare and it is almost impossible to find them in other countries.
Health and grooming
Great fact is, that the short and dense coat of the Old Danish Pointer is very easy to take care of. It does shed some deal all year long, but it is not terrible. Of course, regular brushing is beneficial as it will remove any loose hair and dirt from the coat and it will keep the coat in best possible condition, but even without any grooming at all, the coat will stays in good shape. Just like with all dogs, you should also regularly check their eyes, ears, nails and teeth and clip them or clean them if needed.
There is not enough studies and information about the breeds health, but it seems that this is usually very healthy dog breed with only limited health issues and with average lifespan around 13 years. Of course, they may suffer from some health issues, such as entropion, distiachiasis, some joint and eye problems, allergies or infections, but none of those are extremely common with this breed.