The Weims early history is hard to trace. Weimaraners are thought to be an old breed and may have existed as far
back as the seventeenth century. Fanciers of the breed have traced the Weimaraner back to several potential hound ancestors.
One theory is that the Weim was a mutation of the St. Hubertus Branchen. Another potential ancestor is the ered Schweisshund,
a scent and tracking dog descended from the Bloodhound. Other research traces possible early ancestors of the Weim to
the gray hunting hounds of King Louis IX in the thirteenth century French Court. Because the gray color is genetically recessive,
it indicates selective breeding. German breeders raised the gray hound dogs in the state of Thuringia near Weimar, in
central Germany. Because of the locale, the breed became known as the Weimar Pointers or Weimaraners.
Because breeding records were secret, lost or destroyed, there has been much peculation regarding the Weim's ancestry. In
the first half of the twentieth century, canine experts postulated various theories about the breeds used in the development
of the Weim. Although disproved, two theories in particular are often cited in the history of the breed.
Sometime after 1880, German connoisseurs of the Weim firts requested that the breed be recognized because of its
excellent hunting qualities. Many canine authorities strongly opposed the designation, because they believed that the Weim
was a color variation of the German Shorthair. In 1896, the Weim was officially recognized as a distinct breed.
Another theory is that the Weim decended from the blue Great Dane. However this theory was discounted, because the blue Great
Dane is a differnet color that the Weim.
The Weimaraner was formally recognized by the AKC in 1942. The Weimaraner Club of America was founded in 1943,
and the first American breed standard was published the same year.
