Slovakian Rough-haired Pointer

The Slovakian Rough-haired Pointer is a recently recognized gundog breed developed after World War II in Slovakia. It is known by many confusingly similar names in English, including:

• Slovakian Wirehaired Pointer
• Slovakian Pointing Griffon

• Slovakian Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
• Slovakian Wirehaired Pointing Dog

Despite the nearly-identical names, the SRHP is not the same as the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, a smaller but similar breed with a slightly longer coat developed for essentially the same purposes by the Dutch and now most common in France.

In the original Slovakian, the SRHP breed is known as the

• Slovensky Hrubosrsty Stavac (Ohar)
• Slovenský Ohař Hrubosrstý

In other languages, this breed is referred to as the

• Griffon d'arret Slovaque a Poil Dur
• Slowakischer Rauhbart
• Grifon de Muestra Eslovaco de Pelo Duro

At one point, the Slovaks who developed the breed asked the Weimaraner Club of Germany to recognize this dog under the name Rough-haired Weimaraner, but the request was rejected.

With a body type much like the three breeds from which its foundation stock was derived, the SRHP has an intelligent, alert expression and a "rough" or "broken" coat, with harsh, wiry hair and whiskers ("facial furnishings" or, informally, "moustaches") like those of the German Wirehaired Pointer or the Cesky Fousek. The coat is of moderate length in any shade between a tweedy gray-brown and the classic pewter-silver coat of the Weimeraner. The eyes may range from the deep amber of the German Wirehaired Pointer to the light shades seen in the Weimaraner.

The FCI has developed a detailed standard which states the eyes of juveniles may be "azure" but those of adults must be amber. White is permitted on the chest and feet. Lighter and darker shades of gray are permitted throughout the coat, even to the point of speckling. The FCI standard further requires a dark nose, eyelids, and pads of the feet; a scissors bite; and a moderately sloped stop of about 45°. Per the FCI standard, the tail is docked at 50% of natural length, and the dewclaws are removed. The back is straight, and the height at the withers ought to be from 62 to 68 cm for dogs and from 57 to 64 cm for bitches. The FCI standard also states that "the ratio of length of the body to the height at the withers must be of 10:9 in the males and of 10:8 in the females."