I just get tired sometimes I guess. The dal that most of us know today is a different animal than it was 40 short years ago and in the timespan of the breed, that is a very short time. there are still excellent Dal breeders who turn out fine specimens of what the dog should be, but they are few and far between. You can often see the physical transformation that accompanies the genetic personality changes.

Up until 1928, the Weimaraner was not even allowed much outside of Germany, and in Germany was extremely guarded by it's breeders and owners. after WWII, a few began to show up in the US and elsewhere in an almost "spoils of war" situation. Eisenhower had a pair that romped the grounds at his Gettysburg home and retreat. even then though, the breeders here fell into line with the german practice and though different lines had different merits, the dog was genetically pure. The American breeders became even more closed in some ways than the Germans who valued the natural longhair recessive gene. Longhairs here were culled off and still are today by some breeders. Longhair coats for instance are not recognized by the Weimaraner Club of America and neither is a naturally occurring coat color, blue. Both are recognized in Europe where the breed standard remains quite high and breeding is still tightly controlled. In this country though we spent too much time worrying over coats and not enough in maintaining the quality of personality and conformation the dog is so well known for. Once again that old "my right to do whatever" American habit came to the fore and because of recent popularity from Wegman's dogs (true beauties), it became a bit too popular and we are already seeing terrible representations. I can only hope that the breeders such as the ones I know will maintain the standard they have achieved and that the popularity will quickly pass.

Spaw