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Breed Standard
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BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY: There are numerous theories regarding the origin of the Weimaraner. One fact remains certain, that the Weimaraner at that time contained a great deal of Leithund blood. These dogs were kept during the century, before pure breeding started, breeding was mainly in the hands of professional hunters and gamekeepers in central Germany, mostly in the regions around Weimar and Thuringa. As the days of the Liam Hounds passed, the dogs were crossed with the Huherhund and breeding continued with this cross. From about 1890 on, the breed was produced according to a plan and regarded as suitable for registration in a studbook. Apart from the short - haired Weimaraner, a long-hired variety occurred now and then. Since being admitted to the studbook, the Weimraner has been pure bred, remaining mostly free from crosses with any other breeds, in particular Pointers. Therefore the Weimaraner is likely to be the oldest German pointing breed, which has been produced for a hundred years.
GENERAL APPEARANCE: A medium to large size hunting dog. Functional working type, pleasing in shape, with aritocratic features, sinewy and very muscular. He should present a picture of grace, speed, stamina, alertness and balance. Above all, the dog's comformation must indicate the ability to work with great speed and endurance in the field. Difference in type between dogs and bitches easily distinguished.
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
Body Parts of the Weimaraner
1: FOREHEAD 11: METATARUS 21: SHOULDER 2: OCCIPUT 12: STIFLE 22: NECK 3: TRUMPET 13: TUCK-UP 23: THROAT 4: CREST 14: BRISKET 24: FLEW 5: WITHERS 15: ELBOW 25: MUZZLE 6: BACK 16: PASTERN (METACARPUS) 26: STOP 7: LOIN 17: FOREARM 8: CROUP 18: UPPER FOREARM 9: THIGH 19: FORECHEST 10: HOCK (TARSUS) 20: POINT OF SHOULDER The Skeleton
1: OCCIPUT 10: METATARSAL BONES 2: CERVICAL VETEBRAE 11: STERNUM (BRISKET OR BREASTBONE) 3: WITHERS (7 VERTEBRAE) 12: ULNA 4: BACK (6 VERTERBRAE) 13: RADIUS 5: LOIN (7 VERTERBRAE) 14: METACARPAL BONES 6: PELVIS 15: HUMERUS 7: FEMUR 16: SHOULDER BLADE (SCAPULA) 8: TIBIA 17: MANDIBLE 9: FIBULA 18: MAXILLA Important proportions:- Length of body to height at withers approximately 12:11
- Proportions of the head: From tip of nose to stop slightly longer than from stop to occiput.
- Forquartes: Distance from elbow to mid pastern and distance from elbow to point of withers about equal. [ Distance from elbow to ground is slightly longer than distance from elbow to withers]
TEMPERMENT: Versatile, easily trained steady and passsionate hunting dog. Perservering in systematic search, yet not too lively. Remarkable ability to pick up scent. Ready to seize game and other prey, he is a good watchdog, without aggressiveness however. Reliable pointing dog and worker in water. Remarkable inclination to work after the shot.
HEAD AND SKULL: Skull: In balance with the size of body and facial region. Broader in dogs than bitches, yet in both, the relationship between width and cranial region to total length of head must be in good poportion. Median grove on forehead. Slightly to moderately protruding occipital bone. Zygomatic arches easily traceable behind the eyes. STOP: Extremely slight.
NOSE: Nose leather large, protruding over the underjaw. Gray colour, the shade of the nose is usually but not always similar to the overall color of the dog-dark medium, or light. Some strains have deeper pigmentation of the nose, which is associated with darker pigmentation around the eyes. Although the very light-gray Weimaraner typically has a lightly pigmented nose, it should never be bright pink.
MUZZLE: Long and, especially in the male powerful, appering almost angular. Region of canines and carnassial teeth equally strong. Bridge of the nose straight, often slightly arched, never with a concave curve.
FLEWS: Moderately deep, flesh coloured, as are gums. Slight labial corner.
CHEEKS: Muscular, clearly defined. Definitely clean head.
JAWS: Powerful.
TEETH: Well set, strong and even; well-developped and proportionate to jaw with correct scissors bite, the upper teeth protruding slightly over the lower teeth but not more than 1/16 of an inch. Complete dentition is greatly to be desired. Major Faults. Badly affected teeth, more than four teeth missing, badly overshot or undershot bite. Missing molars are considered a hereditary trait, fortunately Weimaraners today very rarely have more than four missing. Missing canines and incisors are usually caused by trauma. If the dog is being shown, the stump of the damaged tooth (especially a canine) should be saved, as evidence that it is not a congental defect.
The scissors bite, in which part of the inner surface of the upper incisors meet and engage part of the outer surface of the lower incisors is typical of most purebred dogs. Wry mouth (laterally displaced jaw) and misaligned incisors occur occasionally. Because of the standards phrasing a wry mouth and misaligned incisors are penalized only as type faults-that is, not typical.
EYES: In shades of light to dark amber color, sometimes gray,or blue-gray, set well apart enough apart to indicate good disposition and intelligence. Round, set barely slanting. Lid well fitting.
EARS: Lobular, broad and fairly long, just reaching to the corner of the mouth.Set on high and narrow,forming a rounded off point at the tip.In alertness,turned slightly forward and folded.
NECK: Noble in apperance and carriage. Upper line arched in profile. Muscular, nearly round, not too short, clean. Becoming stronger towards the shoulders and merging harmoniously into the topline and chest.
FOREQUARTERS:
 Front legs General: High on leg, sinewy, straight and paralled, but not standing wide, with the measurement from the elbow to the ground approximately equaling the distance from the elbow to the top of the withers. Major faults. Elbows in or out, Feet east and west. Shoulders: Long and sloping. Well fitting, strongly muscled. Well-angulated shoulder joint. Upper Arm: Sloping, sufficiently long and strong. Elbows: Free and lying paralled to median plane of the body. Turned neither in nor out. Forearm: Long straight and vertical. Pastern Joint: Strong and taut. Pastern: Sinewy, slighty sloping.
 HINDQUARTERS: General: High on leg, sinewy and well muscled with well angulated stifles and straight hocks.
A well-angulated rear provides the long, ground covering stride desired in the hunting dogs.
Major fault: Cowhocks
Upper Thigh: Should be sufficiently long, strong and well muscled, the lower thigh long and clearly visible tendons.
Hock Joint: Strong and taut
Hock [Rear Pastern] Sinewy, almost vertical in position.
BODY: Topline: From the arched neckline, over the well defined withers the topline merges graudually into a relatively long firm back, and should slop slightly from the withers. The back should be firm and muscular, without a dip. Not running up towards the rear. A slightly longer back is a breed characteristic, not a fault. Major faults: Back too long or too short, either roached or sway back. Croup: Pelvis long and moderately sloped. Chest: Chest should be strong but not unduly broad, well developed with sufficient depth to reach almost to the elbows and of sufficient length, shoulders should be well laid back. Ribs well sprung and long without being barrel-shaped. The brisket should extend to the elbow. Abdomen firmly held, moderately tucked up flank.
FEET: Front: Firm, compact and strong, standing straight in relation to median plane of body. Toes arched. Longer middle toes are a breed characteristic and therefore not a fault. Pads should be closed, coarse and thick, between the toes should be webbed. Should also be well pigmented. Major Fault: Poor or loose feet Hind: Tight and firm, without dewclaws, otherwise like the front feet.
TAIL: Set on slightly lower than with other simila breeds. Tail strong and well coated. Carried hanging down in repose, when alert or working, carried level or higher.
COAT:
Skin: Strong, well fitting but not too tight.
Short-haired: Short [but longer and thicker than with most comparable breeds] strong, very dense, smooth lying topcoat. Without or only with very sparse undercoat. Can also have cowlicks typical locations are the face [between the eyes], back of the neck and on the shoulder.
Long-haired: Soft, long topcoat with or without undercoat. Smooth or slightly wavy. Hair at base of ear long and flowing, Velvety hair is permissible on tips of leathers. Lenght of coat on flanks 3-5 centimeters. On lower side of neck, forechest and belly, generally somewhat longer. Good feathering and breeching, yet less long towards the ground. Tail with a good flag. Hair between the toes. Hair on the head less long. A type of coat similar to double-coat [Stockhaar] with medium lenght, dense, close fitting topcoat, thick undercoat and moderately developed feathering and breeching sometimes occurs in dogs of mixed ancestry.
COLOUR:
Silver, roe or mouse gray, as well as shades of these colours. Head and leathers generally slightly paler. Only small white markings on chest or toes permitted. Sometimes a more or less defined trace occurs along the back. Dogs with definite reddish yellow markings may only be given the classification good. brown marking is a serious fault. SIZE AND WEIGHT: Height at withers:
Dogs 59 - 70 cm [ideal mesurement 62 - 67 cm]
Bitches: 57 - 65 cm [ideal measurement 59 - 63 cm]
Weight:
Dogs about 30 - 40 kg
Bitches about 25 - 35 kg
FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in the exact proportion to its degree. SERIOUS FAULTS: - Serious deficiencies ie. skin very fine or very coarse
- Mixture of coat varieties defined in the standard
- Clear deviation from type. Untypical sexual characteristics
- Gross deviations of size and proportions
- Facial region: gross deviation eg. too strong flews, short or pointed muzzle.
- Jaws and teeth: lack of more than two PM1 or M3, overshot or undershot jaw
- Eyes: Slight faults, above all slight and unilateral faults in eyelids. [Any fault with the eyes and/or the eyelids is considered a serious fault]
- Ears:Definitely short or long, not folded.
- Throatiness [dewlap], great deviation in neck shape and muscle
- Back: Definite sway or roach back. Rump higher than withers
- Chest, belly: Barel shaped chest. Insufficient depth or lenght of chest. Tucked up belly.
- Gross anomalies in stance ie. lack of angulation, out at elbows, splay feet
- Pronounced bow legs or cow hocks.
- Bad movement in different gaits, also lack of free forward movement or drive, [pacing]
- Lack of feathering on belly or leathers [leather ears] Widely spread woolly coat in the shorthaird Weimaraner or curly or sparse feathering in the longhaired variety.
- Departure from shades of gray, such as yellow or brownish, tan markings.
- Strong departure from correct height or weight [more than 2cm from measurements given in the standard]
- Slight deficiency in temperament
DISQUALIFYING FAULTS: - Completely untyical,above all too heavy or too light in build
- Comletely unbalanced
- Absolutely untypical, eg bulldog type head
- Facial region: Absolutely untypical ie concave nasal bridge
- Jaws and teeth: overshot, undershot, missing further teeth other than quoted
- Eyes: Entropion, ectropion
- Ears: Absolutely untypical ie standoff.
- Particularly pronounced dewlap
- Back: Severe sway or roach back. Definitely overbuilt at croup
- Chest and belly: Markedly barrel shaped or malformed chest
- Legs rickety or malformed
- Chronic lameness
- Totally restricted movement
- Skin defects and malformations
- Partial or total loss of hair
- White markings other than on chest and feet
- Colour other than gray. Widespread brown markings
- Definitely over or under sized
- Other malformtions. Illness which must be considered hereditary, ie epilepsy
- Faulty temperament ie shy or nervous.
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