Start with your own dog's measurements
The right crate size comes from the dog standing in front of you, not from a breed chart alone. German Shorthaired Pointers vary more than a single label suggests: a compact female may stand around 21 inches at the shoulder and weigh under 50 pounds, while a big male can reach 25 inches and 70 pounds. Measure two things while your dog stands naturally. First, from the tip of his nose to the base of his tail, and add a few inches — that is the minimum internal length he needs to lie stretched out on his side. Second, from the floor to the top of his head, and add a few inches of clearance — that is the minimum internal height for standing and sitting upright without ducking.
The size most pointers land on
For the majority of adult pointers, those measurements land on a 42-inch crate, the large size in most ranges. It gives a mid-sized dog room to stand, turn in a full circle and sprawl on his side, which are the three movements a crate must allow. A male at the very top of the breed's range, or a notably long-bodied dog, is often better served by the 48-inch extra-large, particularly if he will rest in it for longer stretches. Going far bigger than the measurements suggest is not a kindness: an oversized crate can feel exposed to a dog who wants a den, and in a young dog it leaves room for a sleeping corner and a toilet corner, which quietly undermines housetraining.
Setting it up as a den, not a cage
Size is only half the answer; placement and furnishing decide whether your pointer settles in it. Put the crate in a lived-in room rather than in isolation, cover the top and sides partially with a blanket to create the enclosed den feel pointers relax in, and give him bedding he can rearrange — this breed are dedicated nest-scrabblers. A dog of this energy also needs the crate paired with enough exercise beforehand: a crated but under-run pointer will redecorate, bark and test the door. Feed the occasional meal or a stuffed chew in the crate with the door open during training, so the space predicts good things, and build up closed-door time gradually rather than asking for a long stretch on day one.
Puppies, dividers and growing room
If your pointer is a puppy, buy for the adult he will become and use the divider panel that comes with most large crates to section off a snug area, enlarging it as he grows. A puppy given the full 42 inches from the start will often sleep at one end and toilet at the other, so the divider is doing real housetraining work. Move it every few weeks — pointers grow fast through their first year — and retire it once he is reliably clean and big enough to claim the whole space. Recording the final size you settled on, along with the measurements that produced it, saves the whole household repeating the exercise when a second crate is bought for the car or for a relative's house. KinsLe's Family Sharing keeps those measurements and the crate size on his shared profile, so anyone in the family setting up his space works from the same numbers you measured.