JUDGING THE WEIMARANER by JUDY COLAN
J udges have the future of any breed in their hands when they judge. Having said that I will add that, in my opinion, as a breeder with a limited breeding program, who has pro- duced the two All Time Top Winners in the breed and the All Time Top Producer and a Breeder Judge I have been sorely disappoint- ed in the quality of judging in the past few years. 25 years ago if you gave me a list of 10 judges and asked me who I thought was a good judge I would say 9 out of 10 were good judges. Today, my response would be much di ff erent. What is the di ff erence? Again, in my opinion, it is that many judges do not know breed type. I look out into a ring of 8 dogs, 1 or 2 have breed type and the rest are generic. Not bad dogs, but they lack breed type. Th e 2 that have breed type look di ff erent from the generic dogs and are often times ignored. I am hoping that this article will encourage judges to understand breed type in the Weimaraner. BREED TYPE I think the easiest way to establish breed type in your mind is to view silhouettes of Weimaraners and Vizslas, two VERY dif- ferent breeds. FRONT ASSEMBLY Th e Weimaraner has a deep forechest... Although both standards call for the chest to the elbow, the Weimaraner stan- dard calls for a well angulated front end assembly as opposed to the Vizsla standard which calls for a moderately laid back front assembly. Th is gives the Vizsla a straighter Again the Weimaraner standard states well angulated while the Vizsla standard reiterates moderate angulation. TOPLINE Th ere is a significant di ff erence in the toplines. Th e Weimaraner “set in a straight line sloping slightly from the withers”. Th e Vizsla “slightly rounded over the loin”. front and less forechest. REAR ASSEMBLY
and balance. Above all, the dog’s conforma- tion must indicate the ability to work with great speed and endurance in the field. HEIGHT Height at the withers: dogs, 25-27 inch- es; bitches, 23-25 inches. One inch over or under the specified height of each sex is allowable, but should be penalized. Dogs measuring less than 24 inches or more than 28 inches and bitches measuring less than 22 inches or more than 26 inches shall be disqualified. Interpretation: A Weimaraner should convey the impression of grace and style, a dog who can work in the field all day. He should be of medium size, not too coarse, nor too fine as a coarse heavy boned dog or a fine boned weedy dog could not endure a day in the field. Medium size with regard to height needs no explanation as it is clearly defined with a disqualification for those who deviate from this size. HEAD Moderately long and aristocratic, with moderate stop and slight median line extending back over the forehead. Rather prominent occipital bone and trumpets well set back, beginning at the back of the eye sockets. Measurement from tip of nose to stop equals that from stop to occipital bone. Th e flews should be straight, deli- cate at the nostrils. Skin drawn tightly. Neck clean-cut and moderately long. Expression kind, keen and intelligent. Ears Long and lobular, slightly folded and set high. Th e ear when drawn snugly along- side the jaw should end approximately 2 inches from the point of the nose. Eyes: In shades of light amber, gray or blue-gray, set well enough apart to indicate good dis- position and intelligence. When dilated under excitement, the eyes may appear
Now that you have type set in your mind, it is time to think about movement. I won’t bore you with the down and back which should be sound. Th e Weimaraner should have an e ff ortless, ground covering movement. No wasted motion, it should be smooth and e ff ortless. Balance is of the utmost importance. Front and rear angulation should match. Problems in the breed: Straight fronts, lack of balance front and rear, lack of forechest. Too short backed, low tail sets, snipey muz- zles, lack of underjaw. Lack of rear and drive. Following is my interpretation of the Standard: Th e Standard of any breed is a specification or blueprint for that breed. Th e writers of the Standards were interested primarily in working ability and they wrote the Standard to describe the ideal tempera- ment and conformation needed to perform the purpose for which the dog was bred. Anyone who is going to own, breed or judge any breed should be familiar with the dogs purpose and what conformation characteristics enable the dog to perform, with ease, the tasks for which he was bred. An excellent reference is K-9 Structure and Terminology by Gilbert and Brown. Th e book is a study in anatomy and locomotion as applying to all breeds and explains the working parts beneath the surface with the mechanical laws governing them. When interpreting the Weimaraner Stan- dard, it is important to know that the Wei- maraner is both a pointing dog and a retriev- ing dog. When we have the background knowledge of anatomy and the Weimaraners purpose, reading the Standard gives a clear picture of what the dog should look like. GENERAL APPEARANCE A medium-sized gray dog with fine aristocratic features. He should present a picture of grace, speed, stamina, alertness
Vizsla Dog
Vizsla Bitch
Weimaraner Dog
Weimaraner Bitch
202 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , M ARCH 2015
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