What to Feed a German Shorthaired Pointer

The German Shorthaired Pointer is one of the hardest-driving sporting breeds there is, and feeding it well means thinking like you would for an athlete, not a pet.

Fat is the fuel. For sustained, aerobic work like a day in the field, a dog burns fat as its main energy source, which is why performance and sport formulas run higher in fat than standard maintenance foods. Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center covers performance-dog feeding, and the WSAVA nutrition guidelines cover how to pick the brand behind it.

Match the food to the workload, and the season. A GSP that hunts or trials needs more calories during the working season and fewer in the off-season, and many owners switch up to a higher-fat working food a few weeks before the season so the dog acclimates. A pet GSP that gets a good run and some training does not need a performance food at all. The mistake is feeding either dog as if it were the other.

This is the panic that fills GSP forums: the dog looks skinny, the ribs show, and the owner starts piling on food. In almost every case, the dog was fine.

A fit German Shorthaired Pointer is built lean and athletic. A visible waist, a tucked-up belly, and faintly visible ribs are normal and healthy for the breed, the same way a marathon runner looks lean. Trying to fill the dog out turns a healthy athlete into an overweight one, which is harder on the joints and the heart. Judge by body condition, the standard body-condition approach the AKC describes: you want to feel the ribs easily under a thin layer, with a clear waist. A GSP with good energy and a glossy coat at that build does not need more food, no matter how lean it looks to a stranger.

For such an active breed, the meal-and-exercise timing matters more than usual. Feed two or more smaller meals a day instead of one big one, slow a fast eater with a slow-feeder bowl, and keep hard exercise away from meals by about an hour on each side, which is easy to forget with a dog this eager to run.

Skip raised bowls. They are linked to higher bloat risk in larger breeds, not lower, so feed from the floor. The AKC bloat overview is a good primer, and because many GSPs are already under anesthetic for a spay or neuter, that is a natural time to ask your vet about a preventive stomach-tacking surgery (gastropexy).

For a puppy, use a large-breed or all-life-stages puppy formula that controls calcium and calories for steady growth, keep the puppy lean, and never add a calcium supplement on top of a complete food. Confirm the timing of the switch to adult food with your vet.

Skip grain-free unless your vet diagnoses a grain allergy. There is no performance benefit, and the FDA grain-free investigation is a real concern for an athletic breed whose heart works hard.

Keep these away from a GSP completely: chocolate, grapes and raisins, xylitol, onions and garlic, macadamia nuts, alcohol, caffeine, and cooked bones. If your dog eats something toxic, call your vet or a pet poison helpline right away.

Every brand worth feeding a GSP is easy to find in store and online:

• Pet specialty chains (Pet Planet, Tail Blazers, Tisol, and similar). Carry Pro Plan including Sport, Royal Canin, and large-breed lines.
• Pet Valu and PetSmart. National chains that stock the major performance and adult formulas.
• Your vet clinic. The place for therapeutic diets and tailored advice for a working dog.
• Online. The same brands ship to your door, easy to set on a recurring delivery and to scale up before the season.

For a working GSP, a higher-fat performance food is the right tool. The major sport and performance formulas are all available online.