The Portuguese were a great seafaring people and it is quite likely that this well-established breed influenced the development of a number of European gun dogs. The breed was introduced to England where its influence can still be seen in the English Pointer. The Portuguese Pointer was recognized by the United Kennel Club on January 1, 1996. The Portuguese Pointer should be evaluated as a working gun dog, and exaggerations or faults should be penalized in proportion to how much they interfere with the dog's ability to work. The Portuguese Pointer has strong hunting instincts.
Puppies often start pointing and retrieving without training by two or three months of age.
In the field, the Portuguese Pointer is a tenacious hunter in all sorts of terrain and climate. This devotion, however, makes the Portuguese a joy in the field because no dog delights more in sharing the hunt with its master. The head is free of wrinkles and proportional to the size of the dog. Viewed from the front, the head gives the impression of being square. Viewed from the side, the stop is abrupt, forming an angle of about 100 degrees between the line of the muzzle and the line of the forehead.