I have watched double-nosed Spanish pointers hunt quail in the arid hills of Guadalajara, and I’ve seen Old Danish pointers seek partridge under the wind turbines of Jutland. I’ve chased ruffed grouse with Pont-Audemer spaniels in Manitoba and hunted sharp-tailed grouse with a small herd of Large Munsterlanders in Saskatchewan. I saw a Weimaraner kill a roe deer with a single bite on the island of Baltrum, and I’ve seen German shorthaired pointers and Brittanys just about everywhere I’ve been. And what I’ve seen has led me to one conclusion: a pointing dog’s raison d’être is to put a smile on its owner’s face.