THE WEIMARANER by THE WEIMARANER CLUB OF AMERICA, EST. 1943
GENERAL APPEARANCE “T he Weimaraner is a medium-sized gray dog, with fine aris- tocratic features. He should present a picture of grace, speed, stamina, alertness and balance. Above all, the dog’s conformation must indicate the ability to work with great speed and endurance in the field.” The opening description of the Wei- maraner’s general appearance with its emphasis on functional qualities is the key to understanding the standard. The Germans emphasized functional ability rather than physical uniformity, there is considerable diversity within the breed. The Weimaraner is a medium-sized, sil- ver-gray aristocratic dog. He should be well muscled and present a picture of grace and balance, dogs should be mas- culine and bitches feminine. All body parts should flow together without any part being out of proportion to the whole. (Weimaraner Ways) Of utmost importance in discussing the Weimaraner anatomy is the princi- ple of never losing sight of the whole
convey the impression of pleasing bal- ance that is confirmed by smooth coor- dination of the front and rear strides.” (Weimaraner Ways) He is slightly longer than tall, with a moderately long neck going into well laid-back shoulder, straight, slightly sloping backline, confident tail carriage and angulated rear. His chest should be well developed and deep giving him plenty of lung room. His depth of chest carries well back, with a firmly held abdomen and moderately tucked-up flank. The topline should be firm both while standing or moving. While the Standard doesn’t specifi- cally address neck structure, an arched neck is desirable as it is anatomically stronger. Strength is necessary to handle the pull of the shoulder blade muscles and support of the head while retriev- ing. A “ewe” neck is a neck in which the topline is concave rather than convex and is an anatomical weakness. HEIGHT “Height at the withers: dogs, 25 to 27"; bitches, 23 to 25". One inch over
dog and the idea that no one part is ever more important than the sum of a dog’s parts. BODY “The back should be moderate in length, set in a straight line, strong, and should slope slightly from the withers. The chest should be well developed and deep with shoulders well laid back. Ribs well sprung and long. Abdomen firmly held; moderately tucked-up flank. The brisket should extend to the elbow.” The Weimaraner standard clearly addresses depth of body: “the brisket should extend to the elbow, “and pro- portion of leg length: “forelegs.from the elbow to the ground approximately equaling the distance from the elbows to the top of the withers.” The Standard however, is vague with regard to body length, stating only that the “back is moderate in length.” Again, referring to the German’s emphasis on functional- ity, rather than physical uniformity, the height-length proportions of the breed have always varied widely. In general, the height-length proportions should
324 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , N OVEMBER 2017
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