I've had 6 of them along with a couple each of their close cousins the Pudelpointer and Griffon and their Italian counterpart the Spinone. I have been around dozens more through NAVHDA and other testing, trialing, and training venues. They are almost everything the OP said other than the shedding part. They all shed though the hair does not usually ball up like many other breeds. Two of my wirehairs shed quite copiously and they added a fair amount to the daily vacuuming. The rest did not appear to shed but one could see they did when emptying the vacuum.
My males have run 70 pounds which seemed to be about the top end of the norm for what I have seen. My last one was 80 pounds and was a very strong and solid dog. I did a lot of waterfowl hunting with an emphasis on geese so looked for the larger dogs as I thought they would be an advantage. The lone female was small and ran 40-45 pounds. She was my first pointing dog and I learned a lot from her.
I've run setters the last few years but am looking at another versatile breed for the next dog. I'm getting tired of all the brushing needed to get rid of burs and the like.
