Weimaraners, general info wanted. General Chat

what can people tell me about the breed?

any pictures we had one at training the other night and she was absolutely stunning and so nice. just wondered what they are like to have in your home? what are they like to work?

info pleeeease

Weimies are HPR dogs - very intelligent, strong willed driven, worky, adore people, love their comfort but will happily endure all sorts of discomfort when doing what they`ve been bred to. Not for the pet home unless the owner is prepared to do lots with the dog.

Agree with this.

Super smart but stubborn, headstrong, sensitive, very prone to seperation anxiety, are convinced they are humans and not dogs, aloof to strangers but very loving to their owners, very high energy and need lots of input. They are an entirely different kettle of fish to most of the retriever & spaniel breeds...

Very very high energy, totally hyper and totally nuts! Hard work!! lol.

My partner has one and he is always on the go and bouncing round like a nut job he makes my 3 NI's look positively lazy!

i knew someone who had one hated being left on his own even with another dog got so stressed damaged the rooms and himself bless him they did the right thing and re-homed to someone who was at home all day everyday( they wernt out all day only just to get kids from school and lived on a farm so plenty of exercise just hated being left even for 20 mins)
i have a cross one with a springer but dont know where he has goit his temprement cos hes as lazy as hell and always sleeping

i knew someone who had one when i was younger, and Casper was absolutely bonkers! Stunning dogs though

If they are brought up correctly then they are absolutely fantastic, loyal, comical, very humanlike and absolutely love cuddles and home comforts. They are so intelligent and need to keep their mind and body occupied.
I love this breed and will have one one day when i have time to give one.

This is smoke, he was my dog until i moved out of the family home and he stayed with my mum, he was a dog in a million, sadly he died aged 6 last year from bloat

Mad as hatters like most hprs, have also often heard that they are not as good working gundogs as other similar breeds because so many are just being bred for looks/pet homes as people like there colour, so the temperament and working ability is not great in some lines but I'm sure if you did your research you'd find some really good ones

Sophie

ps anyone ever seen longhaired weims I have and OMG they are SO stunning

My friends have Weims and they are fab dogs. Gorgeous and IMO very eager at our training classes. Def very bouncy. If you look at my previous threads there are a few with Weim pics xxxx

There is a bloke local to me who has long haired Weims and I cant say i'm keen, just like i'm not keen on GLP's.

I think it should be pointed out that due to a popularity boom some years ago the weim as a breed has suffered IMO. I've seen many which have diabolical temperaments with a seemingly very nasty streak in them. The last working test I went to had this one particular Weim who's owners were complete novices, they'd never had any dog in the past and this Weim was a liability. It didnt care if you was canine or human, it wanted a piece of you and did nearly bite one of the judges (who was a Weim breeder!)

I've never seen any working, and they arent that popular as workers compared with other breeds, but I know they do have a different style to other HPR's.

Yes, they were a fashion accessory here 3 years ago or thereabouts. And there are a lot of fat neurotic weimies around as a result.
I knew one guy who insisted on taking his to dog training even though it was really depressed there and crept around with its head down looking bored out of its skull. Then I saw him out in the country park and it was a different dog. So maybe , as I said, not really a `pet`!

In the right home and with someone willing and able to give consistant, firm, patient training without being harsh they make fantastic pets or working dogs. They do have a protective streak unlike other gundogs and can sometimes be a one person dog. I lost my Weim four years ago to stomach cancer aged just 8, I still miss him very much, he was my once in a lifetime dog. I will have another one day.

ive been doing some research on them today i think im slowly falling in love with them just wondered if they suffer from health problems? and whats the average hip score for them? found some really good kennels (well i presume theyre good from what ive looked at) found a really good one that has dual purpose dogs, that actually go out on hunts as well as be shown i like them id really love to give proper gundog training a go, no idea where id start though

Sounds good although I'd double check the working side of things ;-) if you want one to work getting one that IS really bred to work makes things easier and check temperament carefully as I'm sure you know that already. Weims are not the easiest of dogs as I'm sure you've read hprs are hard to train but then my first dog is a hpr was steep learning curve and they do turn you a bit loopy but at the same time they are fab.

yeah theyre definately worked some have their working certificcate things, and there is loads of pictures of them on shoots i really like them but everyone i have spoken to has said theyre hard work

I think they are goregous (sp?) dogs!!

I think you really need to know about them though, really look into them, meet owners at shows, read about them, ask how they are to live with..visit a breeder, get a feel for them, be careful who you are buying from. In the right hands they are lovley dogs.

I have met some who were very nervous (far too nervous) but I do think people have been breeding them as a fashionable unusual coloured dog and that may be the reason. (I'v also met a few really lovley Weims)




I thought my dobe was high energy until we met one on a walk.... They seem to like running and carrying sticks a lot lol

They do seem very sensitive and clever and I think if more than an hour a day for an adult dogs exercise would be hard work then perhaps another breed, they like company, plenty play but if your suited to them I think they will be great.

Sorry I couldnt be more help than that, hopefully someone who owns a Weim will give you more specific answers....

I think any breed is hard work if they are not the breed for you.

If you like a challenge and can be very consistent, you like being active and going on long walks at the weekend, dont mind plenty daily exercise and are willing to spend time playing with them, teaching them to be on their own..........Iv got a dobermann which people always say are hard work, a spaniel would be harder work for me than a dobe, simply because I'm the type of person that would rather walk a bit longer or do some training compared to bathing, brushing.....

I think if you are honest and realistic with yourself about what you can provide/not provide you will be a huge step forward in getting a 'good match'



(Thats not from a working HPR point of view though - more a living happily...)

Having gone straight into owning a HPR as a complete gundog novice then I can say that Weims will be very hard work if you are thinking of training one for what it's bred to do. Why do you think there arent many HPR's on shoots??!! Most of the shooting fraternity will frown upon HPR's and dont forget there are 3 elements to their training. If you are thinking of getting a HPR to train then you need to get a specialist trainer as retrievers and hunter retrievers work very differently.

If you want to see how they work then have a look on some of the Weimaraner clubs sites and maybe go along to some working tests, field trials or shot over days.

I have had 4, they are a member of the HPR sub group of gundogs and as such have a great deal of initiative as they were bred to track wounded stag and boar and keep at bay until the hunter caught up. Today in the UK they are used to hunt, point, flush on command and then retrieve game birds. Several compete extremely successfully in Working Trials and others in Agility.

They are the “hardest” of the gundogs with the exception of perhaps the GWP and problems usually arise because most of them are smarter than their owners!

They are not “hyper” any more than any other breed, and is in any case a term which I do not like and means nothing except usually the dog is under exercised and understimulated mentally. Neither are they nuts, nor any more prone to Separation Anxiety (another over used and misunderstood term IME) than any other breed and this is normally due to poor training by owners that allow the dogs to follow them about everywhere and do no alone training with them so they do not mature into competent, confident adults.

I would agree of course that longhaired weims are stunning, I own one!

As in any breed there are ones with poor temperaments and those with excellent ones, my current ghost has been temperament tested excellent and is a registered PAT dog. Some of this is down to genetics and people breeding from unsuitable stock and some is due to unsuitable homes.

My weim has a Working Gundog Certificate amongst many other things, and there are several kennels that have bred full Champions eg they have 3 or more CCs in the Show Ring and have qualified at a Field Trial or passed their Show Dog Working Certificate.

My dog comes from several generations of dogs which have worked (and by that I mean are used in the Shooting Field during the season as opposed to just competing in Field Trials) and there are those that would not give any HPR the time of day just as there are those who dislike other individual breeds. The Shooting Fraternity welcome ANY breed of dog (there are many that are not even gundogs) that works well, and frown upon any breed that is out of control.

There is an old saying in the horse world that can apply equally to dogs, a good dog is never a bad colour or bad breed!

The BMS for hips in the breed is 13 and they are not on either schedule A or B for eye tests and have no particular health issues other than, like many similar breeds, they are prone to bloat/GDV.

If you need any more information please ask.

Interesting stuff! Thanks for that.

Can I ask what the temperament test is?

Can we see pics of your weims? love to see the longhaired one as well

Sophie