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Ok, so the quest is still on?

No one has been able to talk you out of getting a Weimaraner, and they did try; it seems like these dogs are a bit too highly protected, loved, admired, and the puppies from these dogs are impossible to get.

A waiting list for a puppy? Get serious. And even if you get on a list your chances of getting a puppy as a pet are not good.

Why?

Because breeders are arrogant and think all of their puppies are ‘show quality' and should go to show homes?
You will get that impression.

The truth is that breeders pay a high price to maintain their animals in their homes; few can ever afford to build structures to house multiple dogs as was common in the past. Zoning laws and covenants prevent people from having multiple dogs. Food is expensive, vets are more expensive, and litters are few and far between for the majority. Travel expenses, entry fees, handler fees—it all ends up as a not-for-profit business in the long run. Especially if breeders are soft-hearted enough to keep any dogs not able to contribute to their breeding program—such as health problems requiring spay/neuter, or retired dogs. If a breeder doesn't re-home these dogs then they are less able to keep or purchase puppies with future potential.

So how is this getting you closer to finding a puppy?

If you introduce yourself to breeders at the shows who expect to have litters you should be asked to submit an application in order to get on their waiting list or be directed to their website to do this. You should not have to pay a deposit for a puppy unless you have visited the kennel and know there are pups available now, or will be soon. The terms and conditions of the deposit should be clear and in writing.

One good thing is that if one breeder doesn't have a puppy for you and your application puts you in the ‘desirable' category, you can request that your name be given to other breeders who have or will have puppies. So once you get in the loop and have your information on record, and continue to go to shows and remind the breeders you are serious, you will get a dog.

The Colorado breeders know breeders in other states. If you ask, they might tell you who to contact. Then you might end up driving across the country, but you will likely end up with the puppy of your dreams.
The other thing I often hear from people is that they don't want a show dog, they just want a regular one that is pure-bred (or pet quality). This term is misunderstood, I think, because many people believe that breeders can tell which pups in a litter are show quality and which are not. This usually isn't true. Breeders have criteria for evaluating pups, but the maturation process can and does change things dramatically. Breeders take their best guess from experience and either keep the pups they feel are most promising for the show ring both temperamentally and physically or sell them to another breeder. The differences between pups deemed ‘show' or ‘pet' quality are usually very slight. Good breeders care for pups so intensively from birth that there are rarely ‘runts' or pups that don't receive adequate nutrition. If you look at photos of a litter of pups the average person would not be able to see differences between them. Breeders can only hope that the dogs chosen for the show ring are the ones that mature into the most conformationally correct ones with a flashy attitude. The chance that the ‘best' dog in a litter will end up going to a pet home and be neutered is good. So, the attitude on the part of breeders that all of the pups are show quality is probably more true than not if they have done a good job.

Vaccinations:
Your breeder should be familiar with the vaccination problems associated with the Weimaraner. Follow the WCA recommendations for vaccinations on the web site. Combination vaccinations should be avoided and are thought to contribute to auto-immune problems, among other more serious reactions. The breeder can give your pup injections that they order for their own dogs if you live close enough. Most vets don't have anything other than the combos and can't order what you need. Holistic vets are more likely to have the vaccines. The best thing to do is get the serum from the breeder and keep it in the refrigerator and take it to your vet following the schedule you are given. Otherwise your vet may convince you the combo vaccines are not a problem and you will go ahead and do it. It is really not worth taking the risk.

What is co-ownership?
If you want a puppy that is available only to a show home you might consider a co-ownership contract with the breeder and either showing the dog yourself or work out an agreement with the breeder which would allow them to train and handle the dog to its championship. There can be a lot of problems with this arrangement, but it can work. First, you need to live close to the breeder so that transporting the dog for training sessions and shows is practical. If you are required to train the dog for the ring you need to be interested in doing it and have classes in your area. This training (basically running, standing still and not biting the judge) can be an extension of puppy and obedience classes you would do anyway. If you are interested in dog shows and would enjoy going to a lot of them yourself (local shows are ok if you don't want to travel out of state) or allowing the breeder to take your dog for several days at a time this is great.

Some breeders stay in Rv's, some in hotel rooms. They may leave dogs in crates in vans in the parking lot overnight. You need to find out and decide what you are comfortable with. It is difficult to turn a loved, spoiled pet over to someone for days knowing that the dog is going to be treated like the other show dogs—which may mean they will be stressed and unhappy. You would not want to do this to a dog under one year old or if the dog was overly sensitive or didn't form a loving relationship with the breeder prior to going on the road with them. You will need to decide whether you and the breeder will be likely to form the kind of trusting friendship that will allow you to comfortably co-own your child with them. You must not, under any circumstances, agree to co-own a dog if you do not intend to abide by the terms of the contract which should be written and read carefully. Telling a breeder you will show the dog just to get the dog is unfair and defeating to the breeder's purpose. Contracts are legally binding; it is your obligation to follow through. If you want a no strings attached pet you should wait for a dog that will be sold to you as a pet.

The co-ownership contract should include a clause that allows it to be cancelled if your mature dog does not conform to the breed standard. You will need to study your dog and the AKC breed standard as he matures so you will not get into the situation of having to pay to show a dog that will never finish his championship. You should have a pretty good idea after one summer of dog shows. If your dog wins no ribbons the first year, (or never does better than 4th out of 4), you will want to be able to cancel the contract, neuter your dog and live happily ever after with your wonderful pet.

You will also want to have the ability to choose not to breed the dog, to limit the number of time a dog is bred, and have the option to neuter the animal when their use for breeding is no longer desirable.

The next big thing is that show dogs have to be left sexually intact. This requires you to deal with heat cycles in females that start at around nine months of age and occur twice per year.

Intact males have a strong instinct to protect their territory, which is as far as they can see including inside the house, and will mark with urine both inside and out (and on people and other pets.)

You may always have to limit an intact male dog's access inside your house even after neutering. All of this is a way of explaining why breeders use the term ‘show home'. It just means that the people who take the dog are aware of and accept the extra responsibility involved.

This ultimately allows the breeder a greater pool of genetic resources to draw on for their breeding program if the ideal puppy they decided to keep doesn't mature into the perfect show dog and yours does, a common situation.
Be aware that you will never have, (and should not be given) control over if, when, how and to what dog yours may be bred to if he finishes his/her championship or becomes major pointed and the OFA x-ray is favorable. You should have input, but it will be secondary to the breeder's. The dog has their kennel name, and a breeder's reputation is very important. Also consider if you violate AKC rules as a co-owner, the punishment you receive also is the breeder's punishment and could end their business forever.

You should also know that not all dogs/bitches who finish a championship should be bred, especially if they do not exhibit a good temperament.

Male dogs should be able to finish a championship before they are bred. Females, however, may not. Breeders prefer to have puppies as soon after she turns two as possible and the OFA x-ray done indicates a score of good or excellent. Since a bitch is healthiest from two to four, and she should have no more than one litter every other heat cycle, the potential for the females is usually no more than 3 or 4 litters. With an average of 8 pups per litter, and the fact that the females don't simply get pregnant upon request from the breeder, the reason why puppies from ethical breeders are not more plentiful becomes clear.

So breeding females should be over two years old, with an OFA of good or excellent (or Penn-Hip cleared) and be major pointed—which means they will have been awarded three or more points under one judge on a particular day. The breeders will often work to finish her championship after the first litter. Dogs (males) don't have the same biological clock so they have more years to finish and still be equally viable to be bred as long as they are healthy and able to perform in that capacity. Male dogs may be ‘collected' so the semen can be used later when the dog is no longer able to reproduce naturally.

So, if you are still reading this, you may want to know how it is we know this stuff, and decided to write it all down.

We have always loved pure-bred dogs. You tend to know what you are going to get temperament wise, size wise, and all the other things that go into the individual breeds. It took thousands of years to get them this way and it is pretty reliable. There is more information available now than ever to help people choose dogs that fit with their preferences. We never had more than a few hundred dollars to spend on a dog when we were younger, so we ended up with backyard and puppy mill dogs--Great Dane, Bulldogs, Doberman Pinchers, Bull Mastiff. Each and every dog was a wonderful, loved and seriously flawed example of sloppy breeding practices on the part of people who should have known better, including us. We both worked full time and left dogs alone all day only to return home to destruction in the house or to dogs that were teased through fencing when left outside. What resulted ranged from destructive behavior due to separation anxiety, aggression between dogs resulting in re-homing, and in one case required a young dog to be euthanized.

They had bleeding disorders, thyroid disease, cancer, fear biting; the list is a long one. You could experience all of this with a well-bred dog, but it probably would much be less. And that possibility is what you want.
Our first Weimaraner was purchased with a co-ownership contract which required us to make every effort to finish the dog's championship. We wanted a pet, but understood the responsibilities in choosing a dog from a reputable breeder, so we were ‘open' to having her shown even though we really didn't know what it meant at the time.

The distance between us and the breeder (over two hours) was a problem. We enjoyed going to the shows, and were not required to enter the dog in a show unless we wanted to. I took her to obedience classes, and then to handling classes, which was fun. But the dog responded only to me and resented being turned over to any one else for training or in the ring. She was very stubborn and completely uncooperative. After a year of shows the decision (fortunately) was mutual that she did not have the right stuff, either mentally or conformationally to be a champion and she was spayed. She is a wonderful pet, but her stubborn independence (and large size and energy) required a great deal of obedience work, both in classes as well as private sessions with a good behaviorist.

Our second puppy was purchased from another breeder as a pet. We had a limited registration and contract requiring neutering. We were still interested in going to shows and keeping up with the ‘Weimaraner people' so when we looked at this incredibly gorgeous 6 month old boy with his muscled body and his wonderful attitude we easily allowed ourselves to be talked out of neutering him by the breeder. She agreed to handle him to his championship at no charge. We agreed to a co-ownership arrangement, and the AKC registration was changed to reflect this. We decided together which shows he would be entered in (after he was 9 months old) and we paid the entrance fees, around $20 per show, two shows per weekend. We would split travel expenses if I accompanied her to shows requiring an overnight stay. We became friends and companions, enjoying the sights along the way in addition to dog show activities.

Storm finished his championship just before he was two years old and was bred to a Ch. girl. They are both OFA excellent. We are not dog breeders and don't pretend to be. Storm's breeder was approached by another local breeder and a contract was signed. We agreed. Storm will be collected soon and the semen frozen and stored, then he will be neutered. It is a big responsibility to have an intact dog; not only is it healthier for them to be neutered in the long run, there is always a chance that the dog could be lost or taken and used for breeding purposes by unethical people. Intact dogs/bitches should never be left in yards while you are gone; they must be securely locked in the house. We now have a new puppy and have high hopes that she will be a show girl, but you never really know.

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