Weimaraner — questions to ask before paying a deposit
A responsible breeder will have these readily available. Deflection is a red flag.
Hyperuricosuria (HUU)
Elevated uric acid in the urine (SLC2A9 gene) that predisposes to bladder or kidney stones. It is manageable with diet and monitoring once known, but a stone blocking a male dog's urethra is a veterinary emergency.
Ask to see: DNA test result for the SLC2A9 mutation on both parents; required for a CHIC number under the Weimaraner Club of America's breed health testing profile.
Weimaraner Club of America — 2021 CHIC Breed Health Testing Profile (https://weimaranerclubofamerica.org/pdfs/2021_CHIC.pdf) · UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory — Hyperuricosuria (https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/test/hyperuricosuria)
Hypomyelinationcan shorten life or cause chronic pain
A deficiency of myelin in the central nervous system causing tremor from early puppyhood. It has long been described as often improving with age, but a 2024 study found affected dogs also had lipofuscin-like accumulations alongside the myelin abnormality — evidence the condition may be more than a simple developmental delay, not yet reflected in the older, more reassuring breed-club description.
Ask to see: DNA test result for the Weimaraner-specific hypomyelination mutation on both parents; required for the same CHIC number as HUU.
Weimaraner Club of America — 2021 CHIC Breed Health Testing Profile (https://weimaranerclubofamerica.org/pdfs/2021_CHIC.pdf) · 'Homozygous CNP Mutation and Neurodegeneration in Weimaraners: Myelin Abnormalities and Accumulation of Lipofuscin-like Inclusions' (2024) (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10888007/)
Spinal dysraphism (SD)
A congenital malformation of the spinal cord (NKX2-8 gene) causing an abnormal hopping gait and hind-limb weakness, visible from early puppyhood. It is a developmental defect rather than a progressive one, so affected dogs generally neither improve nor deteriorate once past the growth period.
Ask to see: DNA test result for the NKX2-8 spinal dysraphism mutation on both parents; required for the same CHIC number.
Weimaraner Club of America — 2021 CHIC Breed Health Testing Profile (https://weimaranerclubofamerica.org/pdfs/2021_CHIC.pdf)
Hypertrophic osteodystrophy (HOD)can shorten life or cause chronic pain
A painful inflammatory bone disease of rapidly growing puppies between roughly 8 weeks and 8 months old, causing limb swelling, fever and reluctance to move. Whole litters and related dogs are sometimes affected, which points to a real hereditary component, though no causative gene has been identified. A suspected link to modified-live vaccine timing rests on one small case series with no control group, and the breed is also known to develop HOD without any vaccination — that link is not established.
Ask to see: No DNA test exists. Ask whether the sire, dam or littermates had documented HOD as puppies, and what vaccination protocol the breeder follows.
Weimaraner Club of America — Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy (https://www.weimaranerclubofamerica.org/hod.php) · PubMed — 'Hypertrophic osteodystrophy in the Weimaraner dog: lack of association between DQA1 alleles of the canine MHC and hypertrophic osteodystrophy' (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16490714/)