Recognized by:	AKC - American Kennel Club, ANKC - Australian National Kennel Council , CKC - Canadian Kennel Club, FCI - Federation Cynologique Internationale, FDSB - American Field Dog Stud Book, KC - The Kennel Club (UK), NAVHDA - North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, United Kennel Club.
Breeds organizations:	Weimaraner Club of America
Web sites of interest:	The Weim Page
VersatileDogs listings:	Kennels, Photos and Rob Hopkins' History and Training Information Sheet
Owner Input: Let me preface my comments with this information. I am not a professional trainer, I am not a breeder. I am a hunter/sportsman and dog lover. In the past I have owned a lab, a brit and a golden. All great dogs, but I was looking for something that none of those could consistently deliver. I love hunting behind a strong, staunch pointing dog, as well as doing a lot of waterfowling. Right there is a strike against the retriever and the lab, even though they will work their hearts out on upland, you'll never see a sharp classy point from them. My brit was a really classy girl, worked close, hard and had a beautiful point. Get her near water in ND in October and things changed. She just wasn't built for hitting cold water and retrieving a 10 lb goose. I read every book and magazine article I could find searching for a versatile dog to do it all. Not just kinda do it, but do it well. I found the WEIMARANER of AMERICA web page and started doing some searches, and ultimately contacting some owners/breeders. I recommend their club whole heartily, they are great people. Ultimately I bought a female pup, and it all begin. To first time weim owners I will tell you right upfront. Weims are HIGH energy dogs that not only desire a lot of attention, they have their own ways of DEMANDING it. They are extremely intelligent and just want to be one of the family. They do not adapt well to kennel life, ours thinks roughing it means sleeping beside our bed. They are low maintenance as far as their coat goes, stay with a top quality dog food and their coats just shimmer, without hours of grooming and pampering, although they like that anyway. Tip here, stay away from people food for your weim, they have a rather touchy digestive track, the slightest variance from their normal intake and you'll be doing some clean-up. TRAINING. As I said, they are smart, given the chance they will and do take over. Firm repetition, lots of praise, keep it fun but keep at it. Never neglect their need for getting out and taking a run, remember, HIGH ENERGY. With a pup, keep plenty of chew toys at their disposal it will save you shoes, furniture, and carpeting in the long run. Right now my dog is about 1 1/2 years old, I hunted her last fall on pheasants, grouse and of course waterfowl. I put a lot of time and effort into training last summer and it paid off in spades. She has a terrific nose, a classy point, loves to retrieve, and hits the water like a hard charging lab. Training is never done though, now we are working on hand signals as well as whistle for those windy ND days when a whistle just CAN'T be heard. Do your homework, talk with several breeders. When I was contacting them, I made a point of telling them that I didn't give a hoot about bench champions in their bloodline, I wanted a HUNTING partner. All were very truthful and upfront with me, even going as far as telling me that their dogs WERE bench dogs, although they did hunt them, but thought I would be happier with other lines. Like I said, NICE people. Good luck, I hope you find a winner like I did. Dana Thompson Manvel, ND While I am sure some people can and do use Weims for duck/goose hunting, this is NOT their primary function. They are a pointer & an excellent trailer of wounded game. They do not have the double coat, the heavy ice breaking body, insulating layers of fat or the strong, heavy necks (of retrievers) for doing cold weather or icy water duck or goose (heavy) retrieves. Weims can & should do water retrieves in warm to moderate weather. They can be used over farm ponds to bring back doves that might end up in the water. Many Weims do not "LOVE" water (unlike most retrievers) and often have to be "persuaded" to swim. I would suggest anyone wanting to do "icy" water, duck or goose retrieves get a retriever. Retrievers are "built" to stay wet, while sitting in a blind, Weims are not. Weims were bred to run for hours looking for birds (to point) and will get cold and miserable, if not working &/or not dry. Please be aware, if using them for upland bird hunting, they have a closer range than many other pointing breeds (only 50-100 yds.) and will check back with you more than many others. Their gray coat tends to blend into dead cover very well & they can be mistaken for deer (during deer season) and therefore, shot. Weims are incredibly bright & prone to be very loyal to their owners (do not work well for others). It takes more time & psychology to train a Weim, but once trained they tend to need less retraining each hunting season. E. H. Amos - Owner of Champion & hunt titled Weimaraners First let me say that I have owned and trained hunting dogs all my life for a wide variety of game from black bear to rabbits. Two years ago my son just turning twelve wanted to hunt birds, in our area in N.Y. we have grouse and phesants. I was looking for a spainal of some sort to try our luck at training a bird dog (how hard can it be?) Well we ran accross a weimaraner male pup by chance. It was love at first sight between boy and dog so reluctantly I purchased him. My buddies that bird hunt with me laughed and called me sucker. We first hit the field when smoke was four months old. First thing in the morning, very first bird that was shot smoke ventured out smelled it and brought it back to us. I was very pleased and our freinds were shocked. Smoke took interest and excelled at a rate that was shocking. His intelligence and willing to work was also shocking. Last season he was sixteen months old and took to the field as a pro. His first day out he pointed 9 birds and retreived as many with one being wounded and a 10 minute foot race. Out of all the dogs I ever raised smoke is right at the top in my book for brains, willing to learn, very strong nose,and one of the best family members we have ever had the pleasure to own. The only down fall we have had is he has had some skin problems and has problems with ear mites that calls for constant maitanence. He is an all day dog in the field and a pleasure to work with. This year we are going to try him on ducks and geese. I would recommend this breed to anyone serious about hunting. RICK FRANCE JOHNSTOWN NY www.northbush.com I Have had 2 weims and I think that they are the best dogs in the world.  My first weim was a 90 lbs male and had tons of energy he was great but we had to give him back because my parents were getting divorced.  Now I have UKC CH Grayangel Casey, she is only 2 and the best dog.  Contrary to belief many dogs that have show titles are very good hunting dogs and don't single them out when your picking out a breeder.  The grayangel line that I got my dog from is a show and field line.  The Grayangel line has produced 8 Master Hunters out of 32 total weims ever to get this title.  They have also bred 66 akc champions.  In my opinion they are the best breed.  Weimers are very high energy and cannot be kenneled during the off season they will loose there spirit!  They will retrieve as good as any lab.  I could put my dog in an RD right now with no training and she would pass.   They have a flashy and attractive point and can compete in field trials with the best of them.  They are a big dog 65 to 90 pounds on average.  With this amount of dog they can be hard to handle especially when they are young.  Also they are a very protective breed and would demolish anyone who came into your house that wasn't welcome.  They are extremely smart and stubborn (did I mention strong willed?).  They can be the best of pets in the right hands. Don't just buy one because of their beauty!