This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, February 2014 issue.
Active, intelligent, loyal, and versatile—these are all notable attributes of the Weimaraner breed. However, if you ask any Weimaraner enthusiast, you will likely discover that it was love at first sight with the breed’s striking appearance that got them hooked. With unique monochromatic coloration from eyes to toenails, regal features, a sleek coat, and a lithe, athletic frame, Weimaraners attract a lot of attention. New owners quickly find that they have not only a puppy but also a conversation piece on their hands.
After the inevitable “What color would you call that?” and lengthy discussions over whether they are taupe, gray, silver, or liver in color, the brilliant sapphire blue eyes of the puppy are surely remarked upon, followed by, “Did you know they are born with charcoal-colored stripes that fade after a few days?” While their eye-catching looks are the initial hook, the Weimaraner fancier’s fondness for the breed is sustained by the breed’s other traits, foremost among them the intensely powerful bond that Weimaraners form with their owners, giving them an uncanny ability to connect with their people. Weimaraners are clever, learning just as quickly the things you would like them to know as the things you would not.
They have remarkable determination and problem-solving ability and are game to engage in virtually any competitive or recreational pursuit their owner may contemplate, from search and rescue work to sled-dogging, duck hunting to agility. For a home that can provide the significant amount of attention, exercise, and mental stimulation required to keep a Weimaraner from becoming a delinquent of the worst kind, they make superlative companion dogs.
While the precise ancestry of the Weimaraner breed is unclear and remains a subject of conjecture, it is virtually certain that the unique color of the Weimaraner was significant then as it is now. The very early history of the Weimaraner is known to have included a blend of continental trailing hounds and various types of European pointing dog breeds, possibly under the direction of some members of the lower echelons of royalty. Weimaraners were regularly employed as gamekeeper’s dogs, a role that shifted them away from the kennel and into the home of their master. To this day, Weimaraners thrive in a home environment as part of the family and typically do not take well to extended periods of life in kennel runs.
The Weimaraner underwent a period of concentrated development in its namesake Weimar region of Germany during the latter half of the 19th century, becoming the breed we recognize today, culminating in the formation of the first breed club and the official proclamation of breed status in 1897. Many new Weimaraner owners, uncertain about how to pronounce the breed’s name, would have preferred their chosen breed to have originated in a place with a name more easily interpreted by English speakers!
Along with other continental pointing breeds established during the same period, the Weimaraner was developed to be a utilitarian gun dog, adept at pointing, tracking, swimming, and retrieving as the situation warranted and capable of working all manner of small game, including upland game birds, waterfowl, rabbits, and foxes. In addition, Weimaraners were selected for two distinctive characteristics. First, the ability to trail and corner big game such as deer or boar, often accompanied by a baying or yipping vocalization, a trait also utilized in blood tracking wounded game animals and in the pursuit of poachers, second, capitalizing on the breed’s strong bond to its master, Weimaraners were also charged with the task of protecting their master and guarding his possessions, including any game captured during the hunt.
To the great peril of the cats, squirrels, and deer inhabiting the neighborhood, Weimaraners have largely retained the constellation of traits representative of the breed’s historical purpose. Weimaraners are capable personal hunting dogs that typically love to swim and retrieve, are crazy about agility, and universally excel in any type of work requiring the ability to track. Though the personal protection function of the breed has been markedly de-emphasized over time, Weimaraners continue to make excellent watchdogs. From inception, the fortunes of the Weimaraner have fluctuated dramatically. The formative Weimaraner population in Germany was decimated during World War I but preserved from extinction by Major Robert Herber’s fervent promotion of the breed, for which he was later denoted ‘father of the breed.’ Consequently, the breed gained core support in Germany and Austria, with word of the breed’s existence eventually crossing the Atlantic and reaching the ears of sportsman Howard Knight, who was able to import the first pair of Weimaraners to America in 1929.
So impressed was he with the abilities of his imports afield that, despite significant setbacks—unbeknownst to him, the original pair of adult imports had been sterilized by radiation before leaving Germany, and the very next shipment of puppies contracted distemper, with all but one perishing—Knight persevered in acquiring a small group of foundation stock from Germany and became the breed’s first American spokesman. Weimaraner populations in Germany were once again ravaged during the World War II conflict, with further challenges presented in the aftermath of the war. For the first seven years of the occupation of West Germany by the Western Allies, severe restrictions placed on both hunting activities and the possession of firearms made field testing of Weimaraners difficult, and the division of Germany during the subsequent four-decade-long Cold War hampered communication and movement between East and West Germany.
Ironically, the major force in the recovery of the breed during the post-war period was the ready and eager market for Weimaraners provided by returning American and Allied Forces servicemen, one that also provided a welcome influx of new blood to American breeders. In fact, such was the demand for puppies at that time that the German Weimaraner club had to pass a resolution forbidding the selling of more than half of any litter of puppies for export, lest there be no Weimaraners remaining in the breed’s home country!
Due to the odd circumstance that America opted not to recognize the recessive long-hair coat variety that occurs in the breed and is otherwise recognized worldwide, a number of long-haired descendants of these exports that later cropped up in U.S. litters were welcomed back to the breed’s homeland. In his capacity as gun dog editor for Field and Stream magazine, Jack Denton Scott became acquainted with the newly-introduced-to-America breed and soon became the Weimaraner’s most ardent promoter. Scott’s pivotal 1947 Field and Stream article titled ‘The Gray Ghost Arrives,’ the article was filled with accolades for the remarkable hunting talents inherent in the breed, verifying claims of incredible feats performed both on and off the hunt field, including a Weimaraner leaping 30 feet off a bridge to retrieve a duck without encouragement and another finding a child that had been lost for days.
Subsequent articles in prominent magazines such as Look, Life, Argosy, and Sports Afield made similar grandiose claims, with the Weimaraner touted as being “America’s Wonder Dog,” a dog better than a pointer, retriever, and hound combined, one that was born trained for hunting and, heck, could even answer your telephone. The breed’s nebulous early history proved to be a publicist’s dream, with embellished depictions of the Weimaraner as a heavily guarded secret product of over a century of selective breeding in the Royal Court of Weimar, lending mystique to the breed. The publicity sparked an utter frenzy of demand that lasted well over a decade and resulted in Weimaraners being bred indiscriminately and puppies commanding exorbitant prices.
During this heyday, Weimaraners became status symbols and were owned by film and television star Roy Rogers, President Eisenhower, and Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco. While it’s true that individual German imports had indeed been capable of spectacular accomplishments afield and many had achieved distinction in competition, including earning Dual Championships, Best in Show wins, and a record-setting Companion Dog obedience title at just 6 months and 2 days of age, Weimaraners, of course, were not all superstars. The breed fell out of favor with the misled public and existed in relative obscurity for several decades. But then, one day, artist and photographer William Wegman trained his camera lens on his own dogs. Wegman’s quirky, captivating, and anthropomorphic photographs captured the personality and striking beauty of the Weimaraner, drawing critical acclaim and introducing a whole new generation to the breed.
With his images emblazoned onto everything from calendars to coffee cups by the turn of the century, Wegman was a household name, and another massive wave of Weimaraner popularity was underway, one from which the dust is just now settling. However, this time around, many smitten new owners were unaware that the Weimaraner was a hunting breed and that, in a few months’ time, their adorable floppy puppy would likely grow to be a cat-chasing marathon runner that was upset at being left home alone for 10 hours a day while they were at work. Rescue agencies were formed to rehome ever-growing numbers of Weimaraners that suffered separation anxiety or became destructive in the house or yard due to pent-up energy and boredom.
Fortunately for the breed in America, there has always remained a stalwart group of committed breeders that have picked up the pieces and sustained the breed over the long haul, probably none more so than the late Virginia Alexander, a geneticist by trade, breeder for well over 50 years under the Reiteralm prefix, staunch advocate for the Weimaraner, mentor to untold numbers of Weimaraner owners and breeders, and primary author of the definitive encyclopedia of the breed ‘Weimaraner Ways.’ The breed is also well-represented by its parent club, the Weimaraner Club of America, a club that actively supports and celebrates the Weimaraner in all of its versatile roles.
