Actually, he's a Pointer...

I'm a rare breed. You don't see dozens of Pointers out on the walk every morning or run into them at the dog park, or anywhere else for that matter. Labs, Retreivers, Yorkies, you name it are everywhere but not Pointers. I've only come across one in the wild.

Apparently nobody seems to know what I am, either. I am mistaken for a variety of other dogs, some close cousins and some way off the mark. My owners get stopped everywhere we go and are asked what I am, or people presume to know what I am and my owners respond with the title of this post. Here's what I've been mistaken for, in order of frequency.

1. German Shorthair Pointer (fair enough; we're really close cousins, except I'm orange/white...which is an automatic DQ according to the AKC...GSP's are still super cool, though)
   
2. Beagle (Beagles can crawl under me and not touch my belly...guess my ears are what makes me look Beagle)
   
3. A "hound" (not a particular breed, just something from the hound group)
4. Brittany Spaniel (really? Do I look like this? That hair is shaggy, man, and those dogs fully grown are as big as I was when I was 4 months old!)
   

As for being mistaken for a GSP, the #1 most popular question I get asked is "why does he still have his tail?" Well, let's see...BECAUSE IT'S MY TAIL!!! How would you like it if I just cut something of yours off?! I totally get that GSP's have their tail docked when they are very young and are a different breed than I, but c'mon: I'm a Pointer!! Hunting varieties of my breed are trained to have their tail stick straight up when they find a bird, so not only is my tail super cool looking when I walk and when it wags because I'm happy to see you, but it serves a function so why get rid of it?

I guess I sort of like being that mysterious rebel-type that nobody knows about. My owners got me, in part, because there are no other dogs like me around and judging by the attention I receive on my morning walks and trips to the dog park, I certainly am a rare breed and everyone wants to come meet me and find out what I am. That also might be because I'm so handsome and am always happy everywhere I go. I guess it could go either way.

Anyway, no new pictures from the dog park this weekend (where I got soooo dirty, it was AWESOME) or from my shenanigans around the house so here ya go: puppy picture from night #1!!!