General Appearance : The German Wirehaired Pointer is a well muscled, medium sized dog of distinctive appearance. Balanced in size and sturdily built, the breed's most distinguishing characteristics are its weather-resistant, wire-like coat and its facial furnishings. Typically pointer in character and style, the GWP is an intelligent, energetic and determined hunter.

Size, Proportion, Substance : The height of males should be from 24 to 26 inches at the withers (shoulders). Bitches are smaller, but not under 22 inches.To insure the working quality of the breed is maintained, dogs that are either over or under the specified height must be severely penalized. The GWP is a versatile hunter built for agility and endurance in the field. Correct size and balance are essential to high performance.

Head : The head is moderately long. Eyes are brown, medium size, oval in contour, bright and clear and overhung with medium length eyebrows. Yellow eyes are not desirable. The ears are rounded but not too broad and hang close to the head. The skull is broad and the occipital bone is not prominent. The stop is medium. The muzzle is fairly long with nasal bone straight, broad and parallel to the top of the skull. The nose is dark brown with nostrils wide open. The lips are a trifle pendulous but close to the jaw and beard. The jaws are strong with full complement of evenly set and properly intermeshing teeth. The incisors meet in a true scissors bite.

Neck, Topline , Body : The neck is of medium length,slightly arched and devoid od dewlap. The entire back line showing a perceptible slope down from the croup. The skin throughout is notably tight to the body. The chest is deep and capacious with ribe well sprung. The tuck-up is apparent. The back is short, straight and strong. Loins are taut and slender. Hips are broad with the croup nicely rounded. The tail is set high, carried at or above the horizontal when the dog is alert. The tail is docked to approximately two-fifths of its original lenght. 

Forequarters : The shoulders are well laid back. The forelegs are straight with elbows close. Leg bones are flat rather then round, and strong, but not so heavy or coarse as to militate against the dog's natural agility. Dewclaws are generally removed. Round in outline, the feet are webbed, high arched with toes close, pads thick and hard, and nails strong and quite heavy.

Hindquarters : The angulation of the hindquarters balances that of the forequarters. The thighs are strong and muscular. The hind legs are moderately angulated at the stifle and hock and as viewed from behind, parallel to each other. Dewclaws are generally removed.

Coat : The funcitional wiry coat is the breed's most distinctive feature. A dog must have a correct coat to be of correct type. The coat is weather resistant and , to some extent, water repellent. The undercoat is dense enough in winter to insulate against the cold, but is so thin in the summer as to be almost invisible. The distinctive outer coat is straight, harsh, wiry and flat lying, and is from one to two inches in length. The outer coat is long enough to protect against the punishment of rough cover, but not so long as to hide the outline of the dog. On the lower legs the coat is shorter and bewteen the toes it is of softer texture. On the skull the coat is naturally short and close fitting. Over the shoulders and around the tail it is very heavy and dense. The tail is nicely coated, particularly on the underside, but devoid of feathers. Eyebrows are of strong straight hair. Beard and whiskers are of medium length. The hair in the liver patches of a liver and white dog may be shorter then the white hair. A short, smooth coat, a soft, wolly coat, or an excessively long coat is to be severely penalized. While maintaining a harsh, wiry texture, the puppy coat may be shorter than that of the adult coat. Coats may be neatly groomed to present a dog natural in appearance. Extreme and excessive grooming to present a dog in artifcial in appearance should be severely penalized.

Color : The coat is liver and white. Usually either liver and white spotted, liver roan, liver and white spotted with ticking and roaning or sollid liver. The head is liver, sometimes with a white blaze. The ears are liver. Any black in the coat is to be severely penalized.

Gait : The dog should be evaluated at a moderate gait. The movement is free and smooth, with good reach in the forequarters and good driving power in the hindquarters. The topline should remain firm.

Temperament : Of sound, reliable temperament, the GWP is at times aloof, but not unfriendly towards strangers. A loyal and affectionate companion, who is eager to please and enthusiastic to learn.