Wirehaired Pointing Griffondor

There is little published on the Wirehaired Pointing Griffondor itself, but the parent breeds are both well established in their countries of origin. The Labrador Retriever easily ranks as one of the most popular breeds in the world, largely thanks to its overall versatility and good-natured temperament. Its history reaches back to the St. John's Dog, a breed refined in Newfoundland, Canada where British, Portuguese and Irish fisherman often traded their wares as early as the 16th century. As their first duties may imply, they were bred to be water-loving dogs with waterproof coats and to this day still carry on those useful characteristics. In the early 19th century, the dogs were exported to England along with the fishermen's catch, which is where they received their name, Labrador, from the third Earl of Malmesbury after the Labrador Sea, where they largely developed. Over time, they were also used as companion and family dogs but still remain as one of the most popular breeds for use by the police and military, as well as service dogs, thanks to their high intelligence and top notch obedience. Like the Lab, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons were also bred to be water-loving hunting dogs. Their ancestry goes back as far as 500 BC but their modern counterparts are mostly traced to Eduard Korthals, the son of a Dutch banker and cattle-rancher, who refined the breed in attempts to create a hearty dog with the ability to hunt, track, and point in a variety of terrains. He marketed them all over Europe but they never really gained widespread popularity, even today. Although not widely known, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are still regarded as both superior sporting dogs and excellent companions.