You know the moment, when you walk up to ringside and realize your dog is the only one of his color entered, and think to yourself—I’m the odd man out. Well, that feeling is all too familiar if you show a lemon and white or liver and white Pointer. It sinks in even deeper when you feel your dog might have lost because he wasn’t the “popular” or “mainstream” color. Now, this isn’t always the case, but if you have shown a rarer color, you know what it’s like to be the odd man out in the ring.
The two most common colors of Pointers are black and white and orange and white. Most of the top specials in the US are orange and white, with primarily white bodies and orange markings on their head and ears.
A key line in our Breed Standard states, “A good Pointer cannot be a bad color.” This same school of thought should be applied to markings, too, whether the dog is minimally or heavily marked. Pointers should be judged equally on quality regardless of color.
Any breed with color variations goes through trends, and certain colors become all the rage. What we see now in Pointers is a serious decrease in liver and white and lemon and white Pointers being bred and shown.
Wayne Cavanaugh has spoken many times on the importance of colors in Pointers, and wrote the “bible” on color in Pointers: “Inheritance of Coat Color in Pointers,” which goes into great depth on how each color is passed on, along with history on the colors of Pointers. The Pointer Standard makes no mention of markings, so why are mainly white dogs preferred in the show ring? Is it by pure coincidence, or just that the ones that win are mainly white, and the more we breed those together, the less markings and “color” we get?
While the newest of colors to the US, orange and white Pointers are easily the most popular in the show ring and, on a grand scale, do better in winning terms. While liver and white was an original color of the Pointer here in the US, and dominated the ring for so long, at this point it has been 10-plus years since a liver and white Pointer has won an AKC Sporting Group. Longer still since one has won an all-breed Best in Show or National Specialty. More recently, we have seen some lemon and white Pointers successfully showing on a specials level, but even then, they are rare to find.
In his article, Cavanaugh discusses the importance of keeping all four colors active in a good breeding program, as they all bring different things to the Pointer breed. We see fewer active breeders, and even fewer who actively breed all four colors of the Pointer. This, in turn, means even fewer make it to the show ring, where we see exceptionally few liver and white and lemon and white Pointers being shown. We are seeing an increase in solid-colored Pointers being shown, primarily solid black Pointers but also in other colors. Winning with a solid-colored Pointer is an uphill challenge as well, and I think it has to do with few being seen in total in the show ring, and few truly great ones out there to be rewarded. We see the same issue with liver and white and lemon and white Pointers, which is why, as a breeder, it is so important to see those colors be rewarded when great representatives of the breed, in those colors, are presented.
On any given weekend, you can find an orange and white Pointer of good quality entered at a show, regardless of where you are in the world. Finding a great lemon and white or liver and white Pointer of either sex is a rarity, and something judges should take into consideration when choosing their winners: “Is this a dog for breeding stock, and what will it bring to a breeding program?” We are, after all, judging and evaluating breeding stock, and finding an animal that can greatly contribute to the breed should be an exciting find for any judge.
Pointers, regardless of color, should be judged equally; how they are colored and marked should bear no influence on how they are placed. Ideally, we would see judges focus more on structural issues within the breed when making their final choices, rather than preferences such as color.
