The Weimaraner is an old German breed whose history is not clearly known.

Probably the Weimaraner traces back to the grey Leithunde of the Royal French red deer packs. Theory is that Louis 1X (1226-1270) imported grey dogs from the Orient. A houndy type of Weimaraner was kept at the Weimar court in the early 19th century. Around 1890 when the other versatile German breeds were being developed, a stud book was begun and the dogs were bred to a standard. It is thought the Weimaraner has been free from any pointer cross since then.

The Weimaraner has both short and long coated varieties. Solid and strong the Weimaraner is a breed that is best suited to the large game side of versatile gun dog work. A closer working dog suited for finding deer and pig, strong and courageous enough to pull down game. The Weimaraner is also a good retriever land and water, and pointer of upland game.

The Weimaraner can be both family companion and guard dog.

The Weimaraner has the similar German versatile head type of long muzzle, and very little stop.
The head on the male should be noticeably broader than the female, the jaws are powerful and the lips tight. The eyes appear round due to the shape of the lids, and the colour is light to dark amber. The ears are more lobular and slightly longer than the DD and DK.

The Weimaraner is not a particularly short coupled dog; his back is fairly long but must be straight, strong and firm. His chest width and depth are moderate, the brisket extends well back and there is little tuck up. The Weimaraner is a muscular hunting dog with long legs giving extended stride at trot and gallop.

The short coat is thick, dense and smooth. The long coat is soft, smooth and may have a slight wave. It is 3-5cm long on the body with a feathering of longer hair at chest, belly and back of thighs. A denser thicker coat with less feathering is also common in the long variety.

Colour: Silver through to mouse grey. Reddish yellow markings are not liked and dogs with this will only be graded “good”, brown markings are a serious fault.

Size: dogs 59-70cm
bitches 57-65cm

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