A Complete Price Guide for the German Shorthaired Pointer
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A pointer is a gundog meant to help a hunter find game. It is called thus because it will stop before pointing its muzzle at a game animal, thus telling the hunter where their target can be found.
There is a wide range of dog breeds that can serve as pointers, with an excellent example being the German Shorthaired Pointer. It isn’t 100 percent clear how the German Shorthaired Pointer came into existence.
There is speculation that it is descended from the Old Spanish Pointer. However, that doesn’t say much because the Old Spanish Pointer is believed to be an ancestor to most of the pointers that exist in the present time.
Instead, it is more interesting to note that a wide range of German hunting dogs plus a number of non-German hunting dogs are believed to have contributed to the creation of the German Shorthaired Pointer.
Something that would explain much about these animals’ famous versatility. Simply put, German Shorthaired Pointers might be called pointers. In truth, they are capable of performing just about every single gundog role so well that they are a top-winning dog breed in competitive hunting.
They are Popular with Hunters
As such, it should come as no surprise to learn that German Shorthaired Pointers are very popular with hunters. However, the same characteristics that make them such excellent gundogs can appeal to other people with other interests as well.
These animals are smart, playful, and obedient, which is a very winsome combinattion for a lot of would-be dog owners out there. German Shorthaired Pointers do have some issues of their own. For example, their strong hunting instincts mean that they might not be the best choice for a household with either a cat or some other small pet animal.
Similarly, they are energetic dogs that can get very attached to their dog owners, with the result that they aren’t suitable for inactive households that will see them left alone for significant stretches of time.
Still, every single one of these issues can be managed in some way. As a result, German Shorthaired Pointers can be excellent dogs for a wide range of people with a wide range of needs and preferences.
What Should You Expect to Pay for a German Shorthaired Pointer?
There isn’t a single price for a German Shorthaired Pointer. After all, there are a wide range of dog breeders who charge a wide range of prices. On top of that, there are a number of other methods for getting a German Shorthaired Pointer that interested individuals might want to look into before they just buy one.
Still, those who are curious should know that the general range of prices for a German Shorthaired Pointer puppy goes from $800 to $1,500. It is possible for them to get either a much lower price or a much higher price than that. However, if they do so, chances are good that there is something unusual involved in the matter.
Low Prices are a red flag
When interested individuals come upon very low prices for German Shorthaired Pointers, they should remember that businesses are run for the purpose of making a profit. There are businesses that will sell a product at a lower price than its cost of sales.
However, that isn’t applicable to dog breeders. After all, that tends to happen because businesses are selling a product at a lower price than its cost of sales with the intent of more than making up for it by selling other products to the same consumers.
As such, if interested individuals come upon very low prices for German Shorthaired Pointers, chances are good that the dog breeders are incurring even lower costs when producing those puppies.
Dog breeders are like other businesses in that they can cut their costs in a wide range of ways by using a wide range of methods. The issue is that they are handling living creatures, meaning that there are serious limits to what they can do in this regard without compromising on the care given to their puppies.
If dog breeders can sell German Shorthaired Pointers at very low prices, chances are good that the puppies aren’t being treated very well. Something that can upset interested individuals because of ethical concerns.
Watch out for Physical Issues
For that matter, this should definitely concern people as well, seeing as how poor treatment sends the chances of a puppy having either physical issues or behavioral issues skyrocketing.
Both of which can be very expensive for the dog owner in the long run because of the extra costs needed to care for said animal. Fortunately, there are other ways for interested individuals to get their hands on a German Shorthaired Pointer for a much lower than normal price without running into these concerns.
To name an example, it is possible that someone has a German Shorthaired Pointer that has gotten pregnant by accident, with the result that they are now trying to find a home for the resulting puppies.
Buying a puppy from such an individual should be less expensive than buying a puppy from a reliable and reputable dog breeder. However, it does come with a couple of issues. One, there is no guarantee that such an opportunity will be available when interested individuals go looking for it.
Two, there is no guarantee that the puppy will be healthy in the long run. Still, getting a puppy for either no price or a very low price can be pretty attractive to say the least.
The Options for Buying a German Shorthaired Pointer
Moving on, there are also the options of either adopting or rescuing a German Shorthaired Pointer. Essentially, people often give up their dogs, with the result that the latter are entrusted to animal shelters and animal rescues.
Interested individuals can choose to either adopt or rescue one of these animals, which is a choice that comes with a lot of upsides. For example, the cost of doing so tends to be much lower than the cost of buying a puppy.
It can hit the hundreds of dollars, but it won’t hit the $800 that is the lower bound of the normal range of prices for this dog breed. Similarly, interested individuals will be able to get a pretty good idea of what to expect from the dog, particularly if they are allowed to spend some time with the dog beforehand rather than adopt it right away.
On top of this, some people will consider it to be important that they will definitely be doing a good thing by either adopting or rescuing a dog, seeing as how it frees up resources that can be used to care for other animals.
There are downsides
Unfortunately, there are downsides to these options as well. In particular, interested individuals will have much less choice regarding the kind of dog that they bring home. Indeed, they might not even be able to find a German Shorthaired Pointer, though the sheer popularity of the dog breed means that this is less of an issue for these animals than for some of their rarer counterparts.
As for the other end of things, chances are good that interested individuals won’t come upon any particularly high-priced German Shorthaired Pointers unless they are looking for one with a prestigious bloodline for some reason.
Those will sell for figures that are much closer to the higher bounds of the normal range of prices. Indeed, it isn’t unknown for these dogs to exceed $3,000 when there is sufficient demand as well as other factors aligning to make them that expensive.
Most people might want to set their eyes elsewhere though, particularly if all they want is a happy, healthy dog rather than one that can compete in shows and other events.
What Factors Can Influence the Price of a German Shorthaired Pointer?
There are numerous factors that can influence the price of a German Shorthaired Pointer. The dog’s bloodline is just one of those factors. As such, interested individuals might want to look into others to see if there are any that they can exploit to get the dog that they want at the price that they want.
First, availability is a huge consideration. When there is just a single dog breeder offering puppies of a particular dog breed in the area, people in that area can expect to pay higher prices.
In part, this is because they won’t have a lot of other alternatives. However, it should also be mentioned that there will be more people competing for a smaller number of puppies, which is the kind of thing that can drive up prices with ease. Fortunately, German Shorthaired Pointers are popular, so this should be less of an issue for them than for rarer dog breeds.
Still, if interested individuals feel that they are short on options, they might want to look at dog breeders situated further outwards for more options, though they should be warned that it will be more difficult to check up on the puppies the further away that the dog breeder is located.
Is the Dog a Purebred?
Second, purebred dogs are automatically considered to be more prestigious than their mixed-breed counterparts. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that a purebred dog will be better-suited for whatever it is that interested individuals have in mind.
If they don’t care about having their dog be officially recognized as a German Shorthaired Pointer, they might want to consider getting a mixed-breed dog with considerable German Shorthaired Pointer ancestry, which should be quite a bit cheaper.
Similarly, it is worth mentioning that the strict rules about what is considered to be an ideal example of this dog breed means that less perfectly conforming puppies might be cheaper as well. For example, any black area on the dog is apparently grounds for disqualification from shows overseen by the American Kennel Club.
Similarly, any yellow coloring on the dog is apparently grounds for disqualification from shows overseen by the American Kennel Clubs as well. Thanks to this, if people don’t care about this particular part of their dog’s appearance, they might want to specifically seek out puppies with such flaws. Third, the resources poured into a puppy has a very direct effect on its price.
Some of these costs will come from how they were raised. However, the costs of training and healthcare tend to go into a puppy’s price as well. Since people will have to pay for training and healthcare anyways, it might be a good idea for them to go for a somewhat more expensive puppy if those things have already been covered for it.
Of course, if they do so, they should check to make sure that there is supporting documentation for that training and healthcare. In this as in other things, it pays to be thorough.
What Other Costs Can You Expect If You Get a German Shorthaired Pointer?
People should remember that there will be start-up costs that need to be paid for a new dog. These costs will cover ID, tools, supplies, accessories, and other necessities for their new canine companion.
Fortunately, German Shorthaired Pointers aren’t too bad in this regard because there is a claim that everything relevant can be had for $450.
In subsequent years, the cost of supplies will range from about a hundred dollars to a few hundred dollars, with the average cost of supplies being a bit more than a couple of hundred dollars.
Unfortunately, that won’t be the only periodic costs. There are both healthcare costs and insurance costs as well, which can be very expensive in their own right. Just preventative healthcare costs can go from the low hundreds to the high hundreds based on $125 to $265 for a single visit to the veterinarian, $80 to $150 for heartworm prevention, and $175 to $250 for flea prevention.
If the dog develops something serious, the cost of treatment can hit the high thousands with ease. As such, it is a good idea to be covered for such occurrences by getting pet insurance. Average cost of coverage for both accidents and illness is apparently $565.
However, this is something that can see enormous variation for much the same reasons that premiums can greatly differ from person to person. The higher the risk, the higher the premium that must be paid.
For that matter, the sums that are covered, the treatments that are covered, and other standard considerations for insurance are applicable as well, so it might be worthwhile for people to look further into those options to see what will work perfectly for them.
