Showsight - November 2021

BY CAROLE LEE RICHARDS PHOTOS BY WCA

THE VERSATILE

E ver walk into an ice cream shop only to be amazed (and a little overwhelmed) by all the available flavors? There are just so many choices. Where are you going to start? Well, owning the versatile Weimaraner is similar. There are so many things you can do with this dog; the possibilities seem endless: Hunting, Agility, Tracking, Scent Work, Obedience, Dock Diving… the list goes on and on. The limita- tions are not so much his, but rather, what you chose to pursue. The Weimaraner comes by its inherent versatility honestly. From the very start, the Weima- raner was designed to be a versatile breed. Developed by the German aristocracy in the early nineteenth century, the goal was to have the ultimate, multi-talented hunting partner. Were there “designer dogs” in the early 1800s? The answer is “yes” if you’re talking about the Weimaraner. While there are many theories on the various European breeds that were used to develop the Weimaraner, there’s no denying that an all-purpose sporting dog was the desired end result. Most theories of the Weimaraner’s origins lean toward the crossing of pointing-type dogs to the existing German hunting dogs. The result combined strong hunting instincts with the abil- ity to point, retrieve, and track. The Court of Weimar was very successful in developing such versatility. They kept ownership of these prized dogs strictly to themselves and made sure that only a relatively small number were bred. This was their blueprint for versatility, and they were not inclined to share.

SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER 2021 | 331

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