Meet The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

In 1873, a Dutch sportsman, Eduard Karel Korthals, set out to develop a new breed of hunting dog. He envisioned a hardy dog that would be ideal for the hunter on foot; that would be able to working any terrain, hunting any game, and in any condition;, and that would also be an intelligent, friendly companion and family dog - in short, the ultimate hunting dog. The history, development, characteristics, and uses of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon - also called the Korthals Griffon - are well-documented in excellent and readily available resources online (see Links and Resources).

Our purpose here is to povide a brief exploration of the relationship of form to function in this breed so we can understand the importance of the characteristics as described in the breed standard. There is a devout and growing group of Griffon breeders in North America, but the breed nonetheless remains relatively rare in the showring, and the quality of the dogs can vary. Consequently, it can be difficult to get a feel for breed type.

The AKC breed standard, AKC's breed video, and the resources on the AWPGA Parent Club website (including the Judge's Education materials) provide the framework for understanding the breed. For this discussion, we are going to provide frequent links to the excellent explanation of the breed standard written by Barbara Young, a longtime breeder under the kennel name Herrenhausen.

If you do nothing else, please take a few minutes to watch the excellent AKC breed video and review the AWPGA Judge's Education Manual. If you have a bit more time, the material below will reinforce the most important points and deepen your understanding of the breed. You can refer to our anatomical illustration of these points using Big as our model.

The Essentials for Breed Type

Two of the most important characteristics of this breed are its size and coat because of the way it works in the field. The Griffon is a strong, hardy dog, but of medium build and substance in keeping with its usefulness in a wide variety of habitats. In size, it needs to be large enough to be able to penetrate heavy vegetation, to carry a bird weighing up to 19 pounds over distance, but small enough that it can be pulled into a boat by the hunter after a water retrieve. A dog that is too heavy will also not have the graceful, efficient movement and long endurance that are necessary for the working dog.

Champion "Passepartout", the Korthals Griffon owned by Baron D'Albert de Gingins Eclepens, who followed Korthals as chairman of the Griffon Club.

The Griffon should be slightly longer than tall, in a ratio of 10:9. The proper length of body is necessary to prevent the fore and hind legs from interfering with each other. The standard very explicitly states that the breed is not square. The neck needs to be long, to allow the dog to both scent the air and to allow the head to reach the ground for tracking. The breed has a unique, cat-like movement, with good reach and drive, that allows it to cover ground tirelessly.

AKC Breed Illustration	UK Kennel Club Illustration	Logo of the French Korthals Griffon Club

The Griffon has a unique double coat. The outercoat is coarse, wiry, and harsh, and steel gray to white in color. It is described in some breed standards (e.g., Canada, ) as resembling the bristles of a wild boar. The outercoat must provide protection from brush and burrs.The undercoat is fine, dense hair that provides the insulation and water proofing to keep the dog comfortable in extreme weather or water. The undercoat must NOT be wooly or curly. Dogs with incorrect coats may have a coarse outercoat but insufficient undercoat to keep the dog warm. Alternatively, the outercoat is soft and the undercoat wooly or curly, and these dogs will return from the field with a coat full of seeds and burrs. In its native Netherlands, the Griffon was expected to work in the marshy polders in challenging north temperate weather. A dog with a correct coat will return from the field and, after a quick brush and shake to remove loose debris from the coat, be ready to curl up in front of the fire with the kids with a minimum of fuss.

The breed's designation as a Griffon reflects its abundant facial furnishing - mustache, beard, and eyebrows. These are extensions of the undercoat, so they are relatively soft and reflect the color of the undercoat, which can be brown or chestnut brown, or sometimes (but less desirably) orange.

They help to protect the dog's face in the field and give it the characteristic friendly, affable expression. The hair on the head can get quite long, and to keep it from becoming entangled in brush or obstructing vision, the standard allows for stripping or trimming the top of the head, ears, and cheeks, leaving eyebrows that do not cover the eyes and neatening the outline of the ears. You can see correct heads that are properly groomed used as the logos for some of the Griffon clubs around the world, as well as depicted on many pieces of art. A properly groomed head should look noble, handsome, and intelligent.

The facial furnishings and double coat give the head a somewhat untidy appearance, but the grooming instructions on the UK Kennel Club's website state very explicitly that the Griffon "...is a RUSTIC looking dog, but he is not a SCRUFFY rustic dog." There are links to grooming instructions on the Links page.

Examples of correctly groomed heads

To produce a correct double coat in this breed, both hard and soft-coated dogs must be maintained in the breeding program. Breeding only dogs with coarse coats produces dogs without adequate undercoat and head furnishings. Breeding only soft-coated dogs results in loss of the coarse outercoat. Although soft-coated dogs are necessary to maintain the quality of the double coat in a breeding program, a soft, wooly, or curly coat is not functional in a hunting dog and is not acceptable in the ring.

Correct size and coat are essential elements of type in this breed (see our illustration). A Griffon that is too large or too small will not be as versatile as one of the correct size, and a coat that is not both protective and insulating will prevent the dog from being useful in the full range of conditions the breed is expected to work. For the sportsman, a dog with an excellent nose and temperament is worthless if it is too big to get back into the boat, or it comes back from the hunt soaking wet, freezing, or with a coat entangled in mats of seeds, burrs, and twigs.

We invite you to learn more about the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon by exploring the additional resources provided here. Look at photos of the breed on the international club websites as well as on the sites of breeders. Especially look for images of working hunting dogs, as they are most likely to have preserved the characteristics of the dog that are so essential to its usefulness in the field. Look at some of the earliest photographs of this breed from the time of Korthals. Watch some of the videos of dogs working in the field and on point. You can also check out information about grooming, coats, and pedigrees.