The dog breed Weimaraner and Weimaraner, is the most used in hunting, which is its original function. Due to its excellent character and characteristics, it has become a very popular pet in every household around the world. At Petlifey, we explain everything about the Weimaraner.
Characteristics of the Weimaraner
The Weimaraner breed is a versatile and docile dog, passionate about hunting and never giving up in the search, although without showing excess temperament.
Endowed with a muscular, strong body with a beautiful and harmonious appearance. With a remarkably fine nose, it is as good at hunting in the water as it is at the sample. It is also an excellent watchdog.
This is a very energetic hunting dog with a very strong working instinct. In its origins it was a bloodhound, but it evolved towards the work of a pointer, so its tendency to search for parts and its inclination towards tracking are very strong.
Although by its origin it is a good tracker and lifter, the Weimaraner is not so good at collecting, since its mouth is too strong and sometimes damages prey.
It is louder than other pointers, but on top of all this, it has proven itself to be an excellent companion animal, known throughout the world as “the grey ghost” because of the extraordinary greyish color of its coat.
Having said that, let’s see in more detail what the character of the Weimaraner is like and what are its most important physical characteristics :
Weimaraner character
The Weimaraner has a very adaptable character. For this reason, it is increasingly common to find it in urban settings or within a family. Its great intelligence leads them to respond quickly and diligently to any task that is taught.
In addition, it is an excellent house dog, sensitive, affectionate and that feels a great attachment to all the members of its family. Especially for its master, with whom it forms an almost perfect pairing.
His special fondness for children stands out, with whom it maintains a relationship of natural complicity, although it is necessary to accustom them to their presence since it was a puppy. Otherwise, it may be too rude or temperamental, although it will never hurt them.
The Weimaraner is above all a hunter, an athlete and an active dog that needs to exercise daily to be physically fit and mentally balanced. If not, it becomes a suspicious and difficult animal to handle.
In addition to having a strong and tough character, in one piece, it is a brave dog and a little distrustful of people it does not know. Even if they come home in the company of family members; it is not aggressive, but it is observant and inquisitive.
And if you live in a house with land, it warns with its serious and resounding bark of the presence of any stranger. Which makes them one of the best guardians of the sample breed family.
It is not really an urban dog, but it adapts to living anywhere as long as enough time is given to it and it gets all it needs every day. Whether you live in the city or in the country, what you don’t like is being alone, because you need the presence of your reference persons.
- Energy: high. Active and a good athlete, it needs to do a lot of exercise and a lot of variety.
- Temperament: it is a dog with a passionate and versatile behaviour at work, intelligent, alert and manageable. True to its master, it is affectionate and proud.
- Adaptability: high. If you get the exercise you need, you can adjust well to life in the city.
- Sociability: high. It feels a great attachment to its family and establishes good complicity with the children. Be a little wary of strangers and be a good advisor.
- Health: good. Due to its size, it suffers from joint problems and stomach torsions.
- Longevity: high. Live between 12 and 15 years.
- Utility: versatile. It is a great hunting, companion and guard dog.
- Use: hunting, guarding and company.
Physical characteristics of the Weimaraner
- General appearance: it is a large hunting dog, with harmonious shapes and strong muscles, with a type perfectly adapted to its hunting purpose. The differences between the male and the female are very visible.
- Size: large.
- Height at the withers: between 59 and 70 cm for males and between 57 and 65 cm for females.
- Weight: between 30 and 40 kg for males and between 25 and 35 kg for females.
- Origin: Germany.
- Varieties: Short-haired Weimaraner and Long-haired Weimaraner.
- Body: it has a harmonious, strong and agile body, suitable for the hunting task for which it has been destined. It has an almost square structure, since the length of the body very little exceeds the height at the withers.
- Head: long, with well sculpted lines. The male has a wider skull than the female. The nose is of a good size and stands out from the profile of the muzzle.
- Skull: it is long and wide, with rounded and well defined shapes.
- Muzzle: long, and especially voluminous in males, it presents an almost angular profile. The bridge of the nose is straight, sometimes a little arched.
- Nose: large and of a dark flesh color tinged with gray at the beginning.
- Eyes: they are round, set in a slightly oblique position, and both are colored in all their nuances. The puppies are blue in color. The eyelids are adherent.
- Ears: wide and quite long, with rounded tips, set high and have a fold on the outer face when the dog remains attentive.
- Nose-frontal depression (stop): it is very little marked.
- Jaws: of great strength, they have complete teeth, and the regular bite is scissors.
- Neck: slightly arched lines and noble bearing, presents the arched top line. It is muscular and almost cylindrical, and it widens towards the shoulders until it is harmoniously inserted with the chest.
- Chest: strong and moderately broad, reaching almost to the level of the elbows. Well arched but not barrel shaped, it has long ribs and a well marked sternum.
- Back: long, strong and muscular, without curvatures, it presents a cross that stands out in the line of the back, and a broad, somewhat oblique rump.
- Forelimbs: they are vertical, thin, straight, parallel and not too far apart. The shoulders are long, muscular and oblique, and well attached to the chest wall. They have good angulation at the shoulder blade and humours joint.
- forearms: They are long and straight, and the arms are powerful and set obliquely. The elbows are free and straight, they do not deviate inwards or outwards.
- Hindquarters: tall, thin and with excellent musculature, they are straight and parallel, without turning inwards or outwards.
- The legs are long and the tendons are clearly visible. Its knees are strong, tight, and set low. The hocks are high off the ground.
- Feet : strong and compact, parallel to the median axis of the body, and with the toes together and arched. Nails can be light grey to dark grey in color, and have hard, well-pigmented pads.
- Tail: it is of medium thickness, strong and covered with hair. It is inserted below the rump line, lower than in other related breeds. When the dog is at rest, it wears it hanging, when it is attentive or during work, it carries it horizontally or a little higher. By tradition, it is cut in countries where this practice is allowed.
- Skin: It is resistant and is moderately attached to the body.
- Hair: in the short-haired variety, the outer layer of hair is strong, dense and well attached to the body. It has very little or no undercoat. In the long-haired variety, on the other hand, the covering layer is soft and long with straight or slightly wavy hair. The tips of the ears have a velvety texture. On the lower part of the neck, the chest and the abdomen the hair is a little longer. The thighs are covered by fringed pants, tapering towards the bottom, and the tail ends in a good plume.
- Color: It can be silver grey, brownish grey or mouse grey , as well as the ages in between. The head and ears are lighter in color. There may be very small white markings on the chest and fingers. Some specimens have the so-called “eel line”, a more or less marked dark stripe that runs along the top of the back.
- Movement: the Weimaraner moves always covering a lot of ground and with a fluid movement. The anterior and posterior limbs remain parallel. The canter is long and low, while in the trot the back remains straight, without the ambling step taking place.
- FCI Classification: FCI No. 99 GROUP 7. Pointing Dogs Section 1 – Continental Pointing Dogs.
- Other names: Braque de Weimar / Weimaraner.
Weimaraner breed puppy
If you are considering buying a Weimaraner puppy, or better yet, adopting one, you should know that as children they are very active, energetic and restless.
The puppies of this breed exercise their muscles through games, races and innocent fights with their littermates.
During the first weeks of life, the best diet for puppies is their mother’s milk, and then it is important to monitor their feeding so that they grow harmoniously.
As for exercise, you should not be obsessed with forcing the animal to perform intense and regulated activities, such as running with a bicycle or on a special treadmill, since the muscular physiology of the dog is different from that of the man and does not respond the same to the same stimuli.
The best way to achieve harmonious and toned muscle development in a Weimaraner is to make it display its full range of movements through play, running, jumping, changing direction, etc.
Thus, in addition to the physical plane, it is also stimulated psychologically, as its capacities and possibilities for training are increased.
With these basic and simple care, it is possible to enjoy an attentive and loyal breed that has managed to harness all its original potential to become a great family dog.
Weimaraner education and training
The Weimaraner is a breed of dog that must be continually busy with some activity. It gets bored easily, so it must be subjected to a varied and little routine work.
For a good education in this sense, it is necessary, therefore, that its owner has training knowledge, that it is able to design, with consistency and coherence. A rich and creative work program, full of possibilities to explore.
As a good work animal, it wants to be busy, to have a mission to accomplish, and to know at all times what is expected of them.
If it is left at home for many hours a day or confined to a shed or chenille, it can develop separation anxiety disorder. With the consequent stress, which translates into uncontrolled nervousness and a tendency to be destructive with everything that is left within reach.
On the other hand, a well-worked, cared for, loved and exercised Weimaraner is a very calm dog. And with a much more relaxed and focused demeanor. If you make the mistake of treating them too harshly, it can become elusive and fearful.
Due to its intelligence and great memory, if the dog reaches the extreme of being afraid of someone, then it is almost impossible to transform that fearful relationship into a fluid and normal treatment.
Therefore, the best way to work with this breed is through positive reinforcement techniques . Once you learn a trick or routine, it is almost impossible for you to forget it. In addition, it shows great speed in learning since it is a puppy of a few weeks.
In fact, connoisseurs of the breed say that this is one of the dogs that first learns hygienic routines.
There are cases of specimens that since they first arrive at their new home from the kennel, they never relieve themselves inside the house.
For its education, it does not require a heavy hand or a special firmness, but it does require an owner who exercises natural leadership, never forced, who places them as a reference, as a guide to whom to give all its abilities. May it impose new challenges every day for its restless mind and its muscular, powerful and elastic body.
In this case, some sports disciplines designed for dogs can be very useful, such as agilily , flyball , obedience or dancing with dogs.
Likewise, this dog can participate very well in the detection of drugs or explosives, or collaborate with rescue teams in locating people in disaster areas.
One of the problems for their training lies precisely in their intelligence and their ability to learn. This great confidence in themselves makes them a dog with great pride, a “cock” that cannot bear to have its hierarchical position questioned.
Therefore, if it does not receive a good training, it is possible that it will face who dares to challenge them, be it another dog or a family member whom it considers to be in a lower situation in the pyramid of authority.
Therefore, the family that has it as a companion dog must be able to develop a job in which all its members are involved, so that each of them can make the dog understand that it is above them in the ranks.
If done properly and normally, the Weimaraner dog never discusses its place or that of others, but it is easy for them to not tolerate another dog, or a pet of another species, trying to occupy a position that it believes belongs to them.
Feeding of the Weimaraner
One aspect that must be carefully controlled to ensure good health to the Weimaraner is feeding. As mentioned, this breed shows a great tendency to suffer from stomach twists.
It is quite voracious eating, so to avoid the appearance of gastric problems it is advisable to divide the daily ration into more intakes than would be normal in other breeds.
Thus, during the first four months it is convenient to feed them up to four times a day, but then you have to reduce the rations to three, at least until seven or eight months.
After this time, a regimen of two daily meals can be established up to 18 months, or even for the rest of their life, although there are specimens that eat only once a day when they are adults.
Thanks to this practice, it is possible, on the one hand, to reduce fasting periods, avoiding attacks of voracity and, on the other, to help the dog eat more slowly, which results in better digestion and decreases the incidence of the fearsome twisting of stomach.
In addition, it is necessary to avoid by all means that the Weimaraner develops a state of obesity, especially in not very active dogs, since this can become a very serious problem in a large, strong and growing breed fast like this.
Therefore, the diet of this animal must have the appropriate composition for its needs, that is, it must provide adequate energy and proteins to maintain its high level of activity, and contain enough quality fats that protect the skin, the eyes and hair, but not causing weight gain.
Weimaraner health and diseases
The Weimaraner is a very simple breed to handle, since in general it is a very healthy dog that usually lives more than 12 years, and even 15, without too many problems.
Even so, as with many other large breeds, it can suffer from some joint diseases, such as hip or elbow dysplasia.
Which can be prevented with a good genetic selection and a balanced diet during the growth stage.
Another fairly common condition in the breed is stomach torsion, so its owner is advised to take great care in the way they administer food to their pet and the feeding routines to which they are subjected.
To preserve the health of the Weimaraner, the best strategy is to have a trusted veterinarian who will become the dog’s advisor and main help throughout its life.
It is advisable to visit it regularly to follow the relevant controls and the vaccination program that the specialist has specifically designed for the pet, which will vary depending on the place of residence of the dog, its use, its age, etc.
And it is that vaccines not only contribute to forming a stronger immune system, but also protect the animal against some viral diseases whose presence can vary from one area to another.
In general, everyone is vaccinated against the most common diseases, but there are also others of local incidence that require the same care; Likewise, there are some legal vaccines, such as rabies, a disease that despite being practically eradicated still requires mandatory vaccination.
If you plan to travel with your dog, it is interesting to know that almost all European countries require that traveling dogs do so with a standard canine passport, in which, for example, the rabies vaccination is collected; They can also request other specific requirements established by each country and which must be known before leaving.
Apart from the control of the vaccines, it is essential to arrange with the veterinarian a follow-up of the growth and general condition of the Weimaraner.
Thus, it is extremely important to control weight during growth, to avoid joint and skin problems in the future, and to strictly follow an internal and external deworming program that protects it from certain parasites that can cause many diseases. The eyes and teeth should also be subjected to regular checks.
Specific care of the Weimaraner
As for hygiene, the Weimaraner does not need a special aesthetic arrangement, and its hair, unlike what happens with other breeds, is very easy to care for.
It is enough to brush it periodically with a card or a brush with natural bristles, and even with a chamois, to enhance all the shine of your coat and leave it shining.
The long-haired variety, although it has a longer coat, does not involve much work either, since you only need a metal bristle brush with which to work the areas that have a higher density of hair, and a good comb to finish off the grooming work on the body fringes, legs and tail.
On the other hand, it hardly needs any hairdressing repairs, although if desired, scissors can be used to give uniformity to the fringes and the long hair of the ears.
The bathroom should be reserved for when the animal is really dirty. In this hygiene routine, perhaps the most important thing is to do a good final rinse so as not to leave traces of soap. Well, once dry they can cause flaking and the appearance of uncomfortable and unsightly eczema.