Getting to the pointer

They are arrestingly handsome, built for efficiency and have an unmatched prey drive, yet German shorthaired pointers are a rare sight in the field, laments Arabella Byrne

- Arabella Byrne

AND suddenly I see that some tremendous emotion has seized him, body and soul. His short bobbed tail begins to wave furiously. His head lunges forward... his body stretches and extends itself. He jumps hither and thither, and the next moment, with his nose still glued to the ground, he goes darting off. He has struck a scent. He is on the spoor of a rabbit.' Thus wrote Thomas Mann in 1918 about his German shorthaired pointer (GSP), Bashan, in his little-known memoir Bashan and I. His dog is not alone in being seized by 'tremendous emotion'. Mann's memoir is an ode to an extraordinary breed, a love letter to a peculiarly singular line of dog. Arrestingly handsome and with an unmatched prey drive, GSPs are noble of head with a graceful outline, long, sloping shoulders and a deep chest. Like all things German, the GSP is built for efficiency: with its keen, aquiline nose, it can hunt, point and retrieve simultaneously, assisted by the strength and power of the hindquarters.

Equally good on land and water, GSPS-if well trained-are the ultimate all-rounders on a shoot, able to beat and pick-up, thanks to their stamina and biddable nature. Like the stylish and sleek Audi, GSPs look good, act slick and can go the distance. It's all down to whether or not you fancy having a large German lolling about on your sofa.