Weimaraner

[deer]

Anyone have a Weimaraner? How difficult would it be to teach pointing, retrieving, and tracking. She is very bright and has learned everything well so far. 4 months old

[DRDUCK]

GOOD FKIN LUCK!! They are really different but the ladies seem to like them

[Duck Nitz]

I actually know some people who hunt birds (grouse and woodcock) with Weimaraners and do it successfully. I'm pretty sure that you have to pay very close attention to the breeding so that you don't end up with a show dog who has no DNA for the hunting drive.

[deer]

GOOD FKIN LUCK!! They are really different but the ladies seem to like them

Bahahaha

[deer]

I actually know some people who hunt birds (grouse and woodcock) with Weimaraners and do it successfully. I'm pretty sure that you have to pay very close attention to the breeding so that you don't end up with a show dog who has no DNA for the hunting drive.

Supposedly the grandparents are from Germany and were a hunting line.... still haven't gotten paper work to prove so.

[Catdaddy]

Socialize him around alot of other puppies now.

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[loud1]

I have one. She’s a lap dog that will find a deer.

[wcrites307]

x2 On socializing now with other dogs. Weims can be aggressive critters. They can be good pointing dogs but will never be as good as a setter or pointer, but good enough to kill birds over. I have judged a few at retriever hunt tests, they got the birds. I would think they would be very good trackers but will never bark, so a gps collar would be needed.

[prcn]

20 years ago, when I was dating my wife, she had one of those crazy eyed dogs.
Let's just say there are a lot better options for hunting and there are reasons you don't see them in the field very often.
They are like models, pretty on the outside, but bat shit crazy.

[Whackumstackum]

My dad had to have one for some reason. She was wild until the day she died which took about 12 years.

[Palmetto Bug]

I used to judge AKC Hunt Tests for pointing dogs for the local Weimaraner breed club. I've seen a bunch. Many are indeed show bred, or at least show reared, and don't have a lot of prey drive. The Hunt Tests are often filled with show people that just want that performance title tacked onto their dog's name and don't really ever hunt their dogs. However, perhaps the best performance I have ever seen from a man/dog team was a big male Weim named Maximum Tide Silversmith, running in the Master class stakes. This was back when the rules were extremely (overly, unrealistically) strict on handling and commanding the dogs when they were supposed to stand steady to wing and shot and honor their bracemate's point. The handler was not allowed to command the dog at all, either verbally or with hand signals to get them to whoa when they first saw the other dog on point and they had to stand there and watch the other dog retrieve, with no further commands. I had to DQ a guy once for quietly grunting to get his dog to stop. On one particular find, the pointing dog was the batshit crazy one. The big Weim honored beautifully. The pointing dog's handler kicked up the bird and the official gunner hit it but just barely. When the pointing dog was released to retrieve, it went nuts and ran all over the place looking for the runner, even right in front of the backing dog's face. It took maybe five full minutes before we had to call it as a lost bird. The Weim was flawless and stood like a statue through the whole ordeal.

Later when the Weim got a point in the middle of some standing sorghum, the gunner shot the bird but the dog was in stalks over his head and had no chance to mark the fall. The handler was able to zigzag the dog right to the bird with hand signals. Pointing dogs are very rarely taught to do blind retrieves using hand signals.

Through the entire brace, the handler didn't hack or yell at his dog, only very quiet, subtle directions occasionally. It was like the handler was sharing the same mind as his dog. They seemed to know what the other was thinking without so much as a glance at each other.

It was those rare, superb performances that made it bearable sitting in the saddle all day watching clueless house pets bust birds and shine their master's shoes with their close "ranging".

Most Weims still have the basic instincts if you help them develop it. The versatile breeds are very rarely quite as good at pointing as the purpose-bred English Pointers and Setters but likewise, you don't often see an English Pointer retrieving ducks and doves and tracking deer either. I've had Shorthairs that won field trials against a field full of Pointers and Setters too.

[mjiorle]

Socialize, and build the prey drive. Separate any obedience from the prey drive and field stuff at this point.