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About the Weimaraner

Origin: Germany
Typical life span
10-13 years
Size
Large — from its typical weight
Weight
Male
32-41 kg
Female
25-34 kg
Height
Male
64-69 cm
Female
58-64 cm
FCI status
Recognised by FCI
FCI group
Pointing Dogs
Origin
Germany
Known hereditary risks
4 documented conditions, with the test for each

About

What is a Weimaraner?

Large, sleek, athletic sporting dog with distinctive silver-gray coat and striking amber or blue-gray eyes, known for speed, stamina, and intelligence. Originally bred for hunting large game, earning the nickname 'Gray Ghost' for its coat and stealth.

Weimaraner history and origins

Developed at the court of Weimar, Germany, in the early 19th century by German nobility who sought to create an all-around hunting dog for large game. The breed's parentage was a closely guarded secret for many years.

Weimaraner appearance and size

Males typically weigh 32-41 kg and stand 64-69 cm at the shoulder; females 25-34 kg and 58-64 cm.

What the breed standard says

Bred for
According to his hunting purpose as a versatile hunting dog, the Weimaraner must possess all the talents required of him, and be able to be used for all works in field, wood and water, in a performance oriented manner, before and after the shot
Behaviour and temperament
“Versatile, easily trained steady and passionate hunting dog. Persevering 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”

Quoted from FCI standard n°99. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.

Breed reference from The Dog API.

Characteristics

Size
Large
Exercise needs
4 of 5
Easy to train
—
Amount of shedding
5 of 5

Short-haired5 of 5

Longhaired1 of 5

Grooming needs
2 of 5

Short-haired2 of 5

Longhaired4 of 5

Good with children
—
Cost to keep
—
Tolerates being alone
—
Intelligence
—
Health of breed
4 conditions documented

Pros & cons

Pros & cons for the Weimaraner

What you get with the Weimaraner

  • Purpose stated in the standard: “According to his hunting purpose as a versatile hunting dog, the Weimaraner must possess all the talents required of him, and be able to be used for…”
  • The standard describes the breed as: “Versatile, easily trained steady and passionate hunting dog”
  • Low grooming needs, fitting for a busy owner — the coat is “Short (but thicker than with most longer and comparable breeds), strong, very dense,…”

What you are taking on

  • 2 serious inherited conditions are documented, mainly in bones & joints and brain & nerves. The health guide tab has the test to ask for on each.
  • Expect a lot of shedding — “Short (but thicker than with most longer and comparable breeds), strong, very dense,…”

Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; Weimaraner Club of America — 2021 CHIC Breed Health Testing Profile. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.

Characteristics

FCI standard · Weimaraner

Coat and colour

As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged permissible.

Coat

Short-haired: Short (but thicker than with most longer and comparable breeds), strong, very dense, smooth lying topcoat.

Without or with only very sparse undercoat.

Smooth or slightly wavy.

Long flowing hair at ear set on.

Velvety hair is permissible on tips of leathers.

Length of coat on flanks 3–5 cm.

On lower side of neck, forechest and belly, generally somewhat longer.

Good feathering and breeching, yet less long towards ground.

Tail with good flag.

Hair between toes.

Hair on head less long.

A type of coat similar to a double-coat (Stockhaar) with medium length, dense, close fitting topcoat, thick undercoat and moderately developed feathering and breeching, sometimes occurs in dogs of mixed ancestry

Notes

  • Longhaired: Soft, long topcoat with or without undercoat.

Colour

  • Preferred
  • Permissible
  • Undesirable
  • Disqualifying

Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.

  • Silver, roe or mouse grey, as well as shades of these colours.
  • Head and leathers generally slightly paler.
  • Permissible: Only small white markings on chest and toes
  • Sometimes a more or less defined trace occurs along the back

Shortened from FCI standard n°99 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.

What the standard penalises

What a judge marks the Weimaraner down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.

Severe faults

Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.

  • Widely spread woolly coat in the shorthaired variety.
  • Eminently curly or sparse feathering in the longhaired variety.
  • White markings except on chest and toes.
  • Ears: Feathering extremely short or long, not turned.
  • Back: Severe sway or roach back. Definitely overbuilt at croup.
  • Very pronounced dewlap.
  • Definite bow or cow hocks.
  • Serious anomalies in the positioning of the limbs, i.e. poor angulation, elbows definitely turned outward; open paws

Disqualifying faults

Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.

  • Significant deviation in type, untypical for sex.
  • Serious deviation in the proportions.
  • Size more than 2 cm outside the standard.
  • Absolutely untypical, above lumbering or weak.
  • Absolute disproportionate.
  • Extremely impaired when walking.
  • Skin malformations and defects.
  • Partial or total hair loss.
  • Lack of feathering on belly or ears.
  • Deviations from grey tones, such as yellow or brownish, tan brand.
  • Colour other than grey. Blue colouring.
  • Cranial region absolutely untypical.
  • Facial region: Absolutely untypical i.e. distinctly concave nasal bridge. Muzzle too short, pointed, roman nose or with too short flews.
  • Entropion, ectropion. Slight and one sided lid defects.
  • Jaw and teeth: Missing more than two PM1 or M3.
  • Chest, belly: malformations; barrel chest; insufficient chest depth or length; definitely tucked up belly.
  • Malformed legs.
  • Other malformations.
  • Clearly showing behavioural abnormalities

FCI standard n°99

FCI varieties

FCI divides the Weimaraner into these varieties, listed in the registry's own words. Depending on the breed they separate colour, coat, size or line — they are not a full list of colours, which no registry we hold publishes. Ask a breeder which variety their line is.

  • Short-haired
  • Long-haired

Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Weimaraner in general; any individual animal can differ.

Health guide

Health & screening guide for the Weimaraner

Known hereditary risks for the Weimaraner breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.

4 conditions documented

Health checklist (PDF)

Bones & joints

Hypertrophic osteodystrophy (HOD)

Serious

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.

What to ask for

No DNA test exists. Ask whether the sire, dam or littermates had documented HOD as puppies, and what vaccination protocol the breeder follows.

2 sources

Kidneys & urinary

Hyperuricosuria (HUU)

Monitor

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.

What to ask for

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.

2 sources

Brain & nerves

Hypomyelination

Serious

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.

What to ask for

DNA test result for the Weimaraner-specific hypomyelination mutation on both parents; required for the same CHIC number as HUU.

2 sources

Spinal dysraphism (SD)

Monitor

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.

What to ask for

DNA test result for the NKX2-8 spinal dysraphism mutation on both parents; required for the same CHIC number.

1 source

How long the Weimaraner lives, in the records

Median survival 12,8 years

95% confidence interval 12,6–13,0 years, from 1229 recorded deaths among 3112 dogs

Mortality hazard 0.8 (0.75, 0.84) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12,0 years.

Measured in the United Kingdom from 584.734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.

McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.

Gallery

No photographs yet

This is where Weimaraner owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.

A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.

Puppies

No puppies listed right now

No Weimaraner breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.

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