Life with German Shorthaired Pointers: Part 1

Gunny, Baby Luna at about 10 weeks and a crazed looking Cleo

I belong to a bunch of GSP facebook groups and quite a few hunting dog forums as well as a German Shorthaired pointer breed specific forum. Topics and questions on owning a GSP come up rather often or someone will ask should they get a GSP versus a Vizsla or an english pointer. There is always the normals questions of "what are these dogs like in the house", "do they have a lot of energy", ect ect. Well I'll tell you what it's like to own a German Shorthaired Pointer. I'll tell you ALL about it. But for fairness purposes don't just take my word for it. I've asked a fellow GSP owner and my good friend Jackie Secan (the Thelma to my Louise) to throw in her two sense because no one likes a biased opinion. *As a note in case you haven't noticed this is a GSP blog people.....I'm totally flippin bias*

1. Say goodbye to your privacy. 

8 week old Baby Luna who magically appeared with 

my undies wrapped around her waist

Me:  I'm thirty years old, so I'd safely say I've managed to go to the bathroom on my own for 26 or 27 years now. My GSP's have helped me realize that I am incapable of doing it without their involvement. They feel they need to be in the bathroom with me at all times to oversee whatever maybe occurring in there. If I lock them out they scratch the ever living crap out of the door and whine incessantly. When they come in they think I'm only there to rub them behind their ears. They don't realize its annoying to have two dogs who want to rest their heads in your lap. Or in recent months since the arrival of hell puppy, Luna has on more than one occasion tried to boldly steal my underwear while I'm still wearing them, almost dragging me off the can and I have to constantly protect the toilet paper since she's tried to rip it out of my hands. A quick pit stop in the crapper can turn into full contact sparring. If bathroom time is your "you time" prepare for that to end. Or just be willing to share to it with your new spotted shadow.

Gunny - Owned by Jackie Secan

Jackie: So you know the scene in the movie Psycho...the lady is taking a shower all unsuspecting and whatnot and then BAM cray cray dude?? That's kind of what it's like to shower with the door open with my dog minus the bloody stabbing and all. For awhile when Gunny was a puppy I routinely felt "eyes" on me while showering, usually while my face was all soapy or something and I was unable to open my eyes. I finally caught Gunny in action one day. He is notorious for popping his head in the shower and just STARING at you. He must have been a creepy old man in his past life, he's now for sure in peeping tom heaven. 

Skype dates with my man who is deployed, online classes and telephone calls?  Forget about it. He's like Stewie on that episode of Family Guy...."Mom, Mom, Mummy, Mummy, Mama, Mama, Ma, Ma, Mum, Mum..." but worse.

2. Expect the Unexpected

The death of my lovely jade plant compliments of Luna

Me: Each GSP has its own personality but to a certain extent when you get a German Shorthaired Pointer you should expect to get a very active dog, with some level of inherent prey drive, that usually never wants to be away from its people, that loves to please and to be loved. With all that said, if they only came with a crystal ball or blasted Ouija board you would be way better equipped to deal with expecting all the unexpected things that inevitably happen. Like jade plant destruction, stealing the cat food off the counter, rolling on foul dead things, unraveling entire paper towel rolls and then shredding it on every exposed surface in the house, pooping on the welcome mat, stealing things like expensive shoes and then comandoeing under the bed and refusing to give them back, anything that involves underwear or dead limbs. That's right...dead limbs. Like the time last fall I took Cleo on a picturesque hike through some fields at sunset. It was wonderful, one of the moments your so happy to be alive....that is until she didn't come back after disappearing over a hill top. A few minutes later and a stern "Come" command she comes back with a full deer leg in her mouth flinging maggots, happier than a pig in $hit. And it was clear when she arrived she had spent her absence rolling on it's carcass. Wonderful evening indeed.

Cleo and Luna rolling in the dirt after baths of course

Or when Cleo turns into "rubber dog".  This occurs when she's standing on the far side of the yard, you yell to her to come but instead she lays down. Frustrated, you march over to her and she rolls onto her back refusing to stand because not only does she not want to go inside but she doesn't want you to leave. When you grab her collar she limply lays there so your left wrestling with this 63 pound spotted monstrosity around her mid section trying to get her up and moving along. And appropriately rubber dog only happens when your in work clothes and running late.

Glam Gunny

Jackie:  Gunner definitely has OCD tendencies. At field trials he rips all the grass around his stakeout from the ground and then continues to to bark at offensive blades of grass just out of his reach. He will stand and stare at plants or grass in the yard for 5, 10,  or 20 minutes at a time and then rip them from their roots. (Baby Lu is learning from Uncle Gunny - Robyn you can thank me later!)

Then there are certain words I can't say in my own house. Let's take "Bug" for example. Bug is like the normal person's "F word" here - it's a no-no, (Though the F word is perfectly acceptable). If you say the B-word...it's game over. Gunny rushes around the house staring at all the corners of the ceilings and then looks into every single light bulb in the house trying to find a bug. Pretty sure he is slowly damaging his retinas.

Normal dogs, you know are scared of thunder. Nope we are scared of wrapping paper tubes. Gunny has been known to have a bit of a meltdown when those blasted wrapping paper rolls come out during the holidays. Don't even think about making noises in them, the poor dog has a meltdown.

Oh and then you know things like jumping through screened in windows and landing six feet down outside for no reason at all. Especially when my not so easily amused father is watching him for the week.

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There was entirely to much to cover in one post. Until the next segment of Life with GSP's is posted in the following weeks be sure to check out more of Cleo and Luna's (and sometime Gunny's) shenanigan's on facebook at Adventure's of a German Shorthaired Pointer.