Page 50 - K9 News - Issue 15 - March2021

History of the

Weimaraner

THE FIRST WEIMARANERS the tail has been obscured due to docking.

Surely, with hunting large game being so
History - in Theory
prevalent, it was the working ability of these
It has long been expounded and continually dogs which made them so highly prized. Three
repeated that the Weimaraner was developed at different categories of hunting dogs existed in the
the court of the city of Weimar in the province of 14th Century: - “alaunt” a fierce, fast dog capable
Thuringia in Germany by Grand Duke Karl August of bringing down any large game; “levrier” almost
(1757 – 1827) around 1775. Greyhound in shape and colouring and used as
sighthounds; “courant” (running) these dogs had
Many theories abound regarding its origins full, broad muzzles and long pendulous ears and
and the breeds which may, or may not, have were used as scent hounds.
contributed to the structure and temperament of
the dogs as we know them today. The “Chien Gris de Saint Louis” was the elite of
the ‘courant’ dogs. Worked on-lead and housed
But is it German? Or is it French? separately from the other hunting dogs, these
dogs lived in the homes of their handlers. It is
In the 14th Century, at the French Court of Louis IX, easily understood that a great dependence and
there lived a pack of grey dogs called the “Chien bond would have been formed between these
Gris de Saint Louis”, most probably imported medieval dogs and humans. Is this the forerunner
from Egypt. Louis had become fascinated by their of the strong dog-to-human bond which exists
ability to track large game so, with hunting being in our modern Weimaraner? If so, then this has
all the rage then, it wasn’t uncommon for great beenmaintained throughout the Weimaraner’s
hunting dogs to be given as presents to other evolution for more that 600 years and must be
French nobleman thus the dogs were distributed recognised, and accepted, as an integral part of
throughout France. In time these dogs were the breed’s instinct and history.
prevalent in most other European countries.
Throughout the 15th and 16th Centuries,
The stunning “Le Livre de la Chasse” by Gaston the “Chien Gris de Saint Louis” maintained
1
Phoebus (Gaston III, Count of Fois) , who lived its popularity among the royal courts being
from 1331 till 1391, portrays these “Chien Gris frequently included in tapestries and paintings
de Saint Louis” in multiple aspects. But it wasn’t of the time, notable the ‘Wild Boar Hunt’ by Jost
2
just their colour which distinguished them from all Amman (1539-1591) which portrays three silver
other hunting dogs. They had flat cheeks, light grey dogs with the typical ear fold. Although born
eyes, an eel stripe along their spines, high set, in Switzerland, Jost Amman spent a great deal of
long ears with a distinctive fold at the front edge his life living in Nuremberg so this may well be the
and a tail with a curl. These features are displayed first knowledge of the dogs in Germany.
in modern day Weimaraners although the curl in

50
K9 NEWS DIGITAL / MARCH 2021