Page 52 - K9 News - Issue 15 - March2021

Pointer/Spanish Pointer Great Dane Theory

There were diverse and differing opinions as Interestingly, Dr Paul Kleeman, a grandson of
to whether crosses with either, or both, the a Weimaraner breeder yet more well known for
Pointer or the Spanish Pointer helped to create his knowledge of German Short Hair Pointers,
the foundations of the Weimaraner. Dr August somehow concluded that the Weimaraner
Stroese, a notable authority on dogs, commented was descended from the blue Great Dane. He
in 1902 that “the silver grey Weimaraner is said to had observed the flat cheeks common on both
be descended from a yellow and white, smooth- breeds, but, according to his critics, had failed
haired English Pointer bitch, imported into to distinguish between the definite blue of the
Germany in the 1820s by the Duke of Weimar Great Dane and the grey of the Weimaraner. Dr
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and crossbred with German dogs” . Kleeman’s theory gained no support at the time.
In addition, Brandt stated that it was Grand However, this sporting writer of the 1800s wrote
Duke Karl August who mated a German Short by “the beginning of the 1880s the Weimaraner
Haired Pointer to a Pointer producing in the litter was known as the king of hunting dogs and an
a grey dog and that this was the foundation of ornament of classical hunting”.
the Weimaraner Breed. This theory gained
little acceptance as it did not explain how the
Leithund/Schweisshund Theory
Weimaraner or “Chien Gris” was transformed
from a tracking hound into a dog which hunted The writer known only as ‘Fama’ put forward the
bird and small game. following theory in an old hunting book:-

The ideal hunting dog in old times was the so-
German Short Haired Pointer
called Leithund (leading dog). This dog was set
Theory
on the scent of a chosen, not wounded, stag or
Being two German dogs, it could have been other deer in the herd and was able to lead the
assumed there was a genetic closeness hunter to this single animal. For this purpose,
through cross-breeding. However, structural the breed developed the ‘Schweisshund’ brown
differences in the two breeds make this unlikely. colour. Then thy had Pointers for smaller game,
The Weimaraner is a much longer dog than the for birds, rabbits and so forth. Then came the
German Short Haired Pointer and the heads are idea to cross these races to meld the hunting
completely different. Regardless, a gentleman qualities of both. The ‘Weimaraner’ was the result
known only as R.F. expounded this theory of of this noble experiment, a dog that points with
intermingling by suggesting that the alteration in exceedingly good nose.” 5
colour resulted from a vitamin deficiency.
Saint Hubertus Bracke Theory
R.F.s theory was ultimately discredited in an article
written by Major Robert aus der Herber in 1936. A black and tan dog, the probable forerunner of
He stated:- “…but as it has been proved that two the Bloodhound, but extinct as a breed around the
black animals can produce gray ones, it seems 19th Century, this tracking hound was probably
best to look at black ancestors in the old period. the earliest known pure breed – possibly as early
There was one black breed, the Saint Hubertus as the 8th Century. Bred and reared by the monks
Bracken (sic. plural of Bracke) amongst the dogs of the Saint Hubert Abbey in France in the region
used for hunting in the old days. At the time, a dog of Ardennes, these hounds were well known for
breeder seemed to like these grey mutations, he their exceptional tracking ability.
paired them and gradually these dogs appeared
in larger numbers here in Thuringia.” 4 Described by Beckman, a 16th century writer: -
“The Saint Hubertus hounds were often used as

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K9 NEWS DIGITAL / MARCH 2021