Hunting Dogs: Weimaraner or Braque de Weimar - One of the few multipurpose hunting dogs, suitable for still, track and retrieve, of medium-large size: dry, strong, with powerful musculature and harmonious shapes, the Weimaraner is a hunting dog elegant and tireless.
The Weimaraner breed (Braque de Weimar) takes its name from the German city of Weimar, although some claim that its origins do not derive from that territory. What is certain is that it is a German dog and among its ancestors is the "Gray Dog of St. Louis", from which it inherited the features of the brown-toned coat in areas of the body such as the inside of the legs, under the tail, on the eyebrows and lips. It would have arrived in Germany through the Rhine, around the fifteenth century thanks to Louis IX, who, having returned from a crusade in North Africa, brought with him the Gray Dog of Saint Luis.
Another theory, on the contrary, considers the Weimaraner a native breed, as some believe that this dog derives from the crossing of the ancestors of the "German Shorthaired Pointing Dog" or "Kurzhaar" with other hunting breeds. In any case, in the second half of the 1800s the Weimaraner became a very widespread breed, for which the many qualities were appreciated even by the forest guards who appreciated its versatility, to the point of nicknamed it "the dog of the forests".
In 1897 the German breed club was born after not a few difficulties in obtaining official recognition. Thus began the breeding of the Weimaraner in Germany by the lawyer Pitschke. With the advent of the First World War, breeding came so that, once the conflict was over, there were very few specimens left. It took several years for the selection to resume, precisely in 1951, and was based on standard and field tests, since the traces of the origin of the breed, lost over time, were confused and uncertain.
We now come to the general aspect. It is a medium-large sized dog, specifically braccoid. It exhibits an elongated body and a well developed musculature, presenting itself dry, strong and with harmonious shapes. His gray cloak, combined with the lightness of his movement, earned him the nickname of "gray ghost" in the United States. The breed is divided into two varieties: the "short-haired" one and the "long-haired" one.
As far as character is concerned, the Weimaraner is a very docile but proud dog, easily trainable and is very naturally attached to his master. It is also considered a breed suitable for children. Selected as a pointing dog, in some countries, for example in Brazil, it is used as a defense dog, as a police dog, in civil protection and in the search for missing persons, a task that it performs very well thanks to its excellent sense of smell. The temperament makes it particularly eclectic, stubborn and insistent in hunting, the point that it can be considered very methodical in research.
Being very robust and rustic, it has no particular problems to adapt both in the garden and in the house, even if it needs a lot of motion.
The height of the males varies between 59 and 70 cm, while for the females between 57 and 65 cm. The weight is between 32 and 39 kg. The trunk is elongated and slender, the hips are a little retracted.
The head and the muzzle are, respectively, dry and the stop moderate. Having a very strong and well developed dentition, this allows the Weimaraner a correct scissor bite. The neck is slender and slightly arched, while the ears are broad, relatively long, with a rounded tip, set high and narrow and turned slightly forward when the dog is attentive.
The eyes are amber, which gives the dog an intelligent expression. The Weimaraner is a reliable pointing and retriever dog even in water and tends to continue working even after the shot, demonstrating its courageous and tireless nature.