Brief History:

Weimaraners come in two varieties - the shorthair weimaraner and the lesser known longhair weimaraner. Breed historians believe that both hair coats have been in the breed since it’s initial development. It is thought that when the weimaraner’s predecessor (a large grey dog used by the germans for hunting large game) was bred to the spanish pointer to develop the breeds ‘birdiness’ both the ultra-short coat (that weimaraner is well known for ) and the long coat was introduced into the breed. The longhair coat is recognized in all countries around the world apart from the American Kennel Club.

Genetics

The longhair weimaraner is produced due to a recessive gene. This means that many shorthair weimaraners carry the gene to produce longhairs even though they are not a longhair themselves. Many longhairs are born to two shorthair parents. This occurs when two shorthair weimaraners that carry the gene are mated.

Shorthair weimaraners that carry the longhair gene are called ‘longhair carriers’. Many breeder’s help identify that their dog is a carrier by writing ‘Lhc’ after their pedigree name. If two Lhc’s are mated we ‘expect’ in theory to have 25% longhairs and 75% shorthairs (25% shorthairs and 50% Lhc’s).

If a longhaired dog is mated to a shorthair dog ALL of the puppies will be shorthaired and ALL of the puppies will carry the longhaired gene. This was the case with Ayela’s first litter to BISS Ch Weisup Doctor Feel Good.

If a longhaired dog is mated to a shorthair dog that carries the longhair gene (an Lhc) we expect that 50% of the puppies will be longhaired and 50% will be shorthaired. Of the shorthairs, ALL the puppies WILL carry the longhair gene.

If a longhaired dog is mated to another longhaired dog 100% of the puppies will be longhair.

Because the longhair gene is recessive it can remain ‘hidden’ in a pedigree for a number of generations. This means that you can often look at the pedigree of a longhair dog and see only shorthairs. The percentages given above for theoretical breedings are the expected percentages of shorthairs, longhairs and longhair carriers that we expect over a large number of breedings. Think of it as a figure based on the percentage of each coat type seen if we looked at 100 weimaraner puppies born in each of those scenarios.

The Hair:

The longhair coat is generally around 1.5 - 2 inches long on the body. Longhair weimaraners traditionally have undocked tails so there is beautiful feathering on the end. They also have feathering down the backs of their front legs, their ears and running from their hock down to their feet.

The coat is not difficult to keep in good condition. It feels soft and silky to touch, and doesn’t knot. I find that the longhair does not shed hair anymore than the shorthair variety (it is simply just a different length). Longhairs do not require lots of grooming as the coat is simply not that long!

We favour the longhaired coat as they do not feel the cold as much as the shorthairs do and their hair coat provides good protection when out hunting through brambles/matagauri and through other rough terrain. We have found the longhair lines to have a high drive and work ethic which fit’s best with the type and style weimaraner we enjoy living and working with.