North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) promotes good breeding practices. The membership is rapidly growing for the the obvious reasons:
- The North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to foster, promote, and improve the versatile hunting dog breeds in North America; to conserve game by using well trained reliable hunting dogs before and after the shot; and to aid in the prevention of cruelty to animals by discouraging nonselective and uncontrolled breeding, which produces unwanted and uncared for dogs. http://www.navhda.org/
- For the average sportsman (non-breeder) it is an avenue whereby they can participate in training, improve their handling skills, and meet other dog lovers.
- Even if you do not plan to participate in the tests there are many benefits to joining the organizations. If you only get the magazine membership is a bargain. Sign up today! http://www.navhda.org/member.html
Now that we have educated you on the this wonderful organization, we would like to share a bit about our Weimaraners. Weimaraners are one of the Versatile Hunting Breeds. You might wonder what we mean by Versatile Hunting Dog. Here is the universal description: In the field, a versatile dog should exhibit a fine nose, staunch pointing and the desire to search for, track and retrieve game in a cooperative manner. A versatile dog needs to further prove his independence, stamina and quality of nose by transferring his search for, and retrieving of game, to the water. (http://www.navhda.org/breeds.html).
For the last decade we have been working on breeding quality Weimaraners for field and family. In our experience these wonderful companions can go out and spend the entire day hunting tirelessly and in the evening curl up with you to watch a movie. Unlike most Versatile Hunting Dogs, Weims do not thrive as kennel dogs. In some settings a kennel may be used but never as their primary abode. Most hunting Weimaraners share the family home, go on vacations, and are wherever you find the family on any given day.
Unlike the Show Weims, you will find the NAVHDA bred lines to be smaller, quicker, and to have more endurance in the field. When people often think of a Weimaraner they visual a fairly large dog similar to a thinner-looking Labrador. Today, nothing could be farther from the truth. Expect the best bred field Weims to weigh no more than 70 lbs. Smaller ones are becoming more common among the serious NAVHDA hunters. These range in size from about 50 lbs to 65 lbs. We are not saying that some of the larger Weimaraners don't hunt, however, what we are saying is that the smaller sizes are quicker in the field, demonstrate more endurance, and often have the strongest hunt-drive.
In our opinion, quality NAVHDA Weimaraner breeders should Temperament Test their litters and carefully place their pups with people who understand this breed. Temperament Testing will determine which of the pups have the most hunt-potential. Those pups (showing the most hunt-drive) should always be placed with hunters. Within each litter a breeder might identify certain pups that would make an excellent placement for a first time Weim person. In our experience, these will develop into good hunting companions, they may develop a little slower. They can also be groomed for agility or other events. The first time Weim person might become overwhelmed. It is the duty of the breeder to offer education support, and encouragement throughout the process. It is no secret that this breed can be challenging to raise and train. Having said that, the growing number of hunters that prefer the Weimaraner companion is the field is a testament to the breed's effectiveness. It is not uncommon for us to hear from a hunter that their OwyheeStar Weimaraner has surpassed their expectations in the field. Some have went to so far to say the equaled or surpassed their last GSP (German Shorthaired Pointer) and the family liked their Weimaraner better. This is not to say that GSP's are waning in popularity, only that the Weimaraner is becoming more recognized. Possibly this is due to better breeding practices. Speaking of breeding practices we do feel in this breed it more important than ever to find a hands-on breeder. Without proper rearing early-on all indications that there are more behavior problems.
Thank you for taking time to learn more about Versatile Hunting Weims. We hope you will check back from time-to-time as our Website grows.
Cliff & Shela Nielsen,
OwyheeStar Weimaraners
Note: Thanks to North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) and all they do. The information above regarding Versatile Hunting Dogs was verbatim from their Website with links.
Click Here to see all the National Amateur Field Champions: http://www.weimclubamerica.org/fieldevents/past_winners/amateur.html
