Weimaraner

The silver-grey coat of the Weimaraner has earned the epithet of the “Grey Ghost”. The breed was created at the German Court of Grand Duke Karl August of Weimar where it was developed as a pointing dog for the nobility in the early 19th century but there is a dog of Weimaraner type in a Van Dyke portrait three centuries before this date.

The nobility of Weimar wished to retain the dog as exclusive to the elite classes and a club was set up with strict enforcement of breeding and ownership. If a dog was sold to a non-member, the dog was secretly sterilised before passing it on. It was not until the advent of the Second World War, that the breed became better known outside of Germany with some exports to the USA and the UK. From that time the breed's popularity soared with much admiration of its skills in the hunting field. The breed was first seem in the UK in the 1950’s and he is now very popular in the show ring.

The breed also has a long-haired variety, which is much less numerous.

Read the breed standard

Images for this breed

The Gundog breed group

Dogs that were originally trained to find live game and/or to retrieve game that had been shot and wounded. This group is divided into four categories - Retrievers, Spaniels, Hunt/Point/Retrieve, Pointers and Setters - although many of the breeds are capable of doing the same work as the other sub-groups. They make good companions, their temperament making them ideal all-round family dogs.

Colour Watch

Category 3: Breeds with >10% to 30% registered NBS colours or between 500 and 1000 NBS registrations per annum

Breed Standard colours

Breed standard colour means that the colour is accepted within the breed standard and is a traditional and well-known colour in this breed.

Breed standard colours in this breed include:

Mouse Grey
Roe Grey
Silver Grey

Non-breed-standard colours

Non-breed-standard colour means that the colour is not accepted within the breed standard and whilst some dogs within the breed may be this colour, it is advised to only select a dog that fits within the breed standards for all points.

Colour is only one consideration when picking a breed or individual dog. Health and temperament should always be a priority over colour.

Non-breed-standard colours in this breed include:

(NBS) Blue

Other colour/s

'Other' means you consider your puppy to be a colour not currently known within the breed and one that does not appear on either the breed standard or non-breed-standard list. In this instance you would be directed through our registration process to contact a breed club and/or council to support you on identifying and correctly listing the new colour.

Whether you're considering buying a Weimaraner puppy or breeding from your dog, it's important to understand the health issues that may affect the breed and how they can be managed or avoided.

Pre-breeding health screening

Best Practice schemes and tests

These tests address conditions that are still significant for the breed, though they might be less common or newly identified, and research is ongoing to determine their full impact.

To support the breed’s health, responsible breeders should ensure they complete all tests in Best Practice.
Following our Best Practice guidelines means completing both the Good Practice and Best Practice tests for your breed.

Click here to find out more about The Kennel Club's health standard

Find out about a particular dog's results

Please visit our Health Test Results Finder to discover the DNA or screening scheme test results for any dog on The Kennel Club's Breed or Activity Register.

You can also view the inbreeding coefficient calculation for a puppy's parents, or for a dog you're thinking of breeding from.

DNA testing services

We don’t currently offer a breed-specific DNA testing package for this breed, but we have a wide selection of individual DNA tests available. To find out more and view our full selection, click here.

Breed health & conservation plan

The Breed Health and Conservation Plans

Our breed health and conservations plans (BHCPs) use evidence and data to help us understand the health issues found in each pedigree dog breed. These plans help breeders and owners identify health and welfare problems and use information, health tests and health schemes to avoid passing on those problems to future puppies. They also support and provide breeders with tools and specialist expertise to help manage genetic diversity, understand the impacts of close breeding, and find the best ways to preserve the population of their breed.

Working together for the breed

We’ve worked with breed clubs and breed representatives to gather all available evidence to help us determine the priority concerns for the breed and decide how we can work together to manage and reduce these problems.

The full evidence base is available at the discretion of the breed clubs, however if you would like to seek access to the full report, please contact our health team.

Health (The Kennel Club)

More about health

If you have any concerns about a particular health condition in your breed then you may wish to speak to your vet or you could contact your breed health co-ordinator.

Breed health co-ordinators are individuals working on behalf of breed clubs and councils who are advocates for the health and welfare of their chosen breed. They acts as a spokesperson on matters of health and will collaborate with The Kennel Club on any health concerns the breed may have.

To contact your breed health co-ordinator please email:

Health (The Kennel Club)

Breed watch

Category 1

Currently no points of concern specific to this breed have been identified for special attention by judges, other than those covered routinely by The Kennel Club breed standard.