Are you thinking to get a Weimaraner?
I share my experience about having a Weimaraner from 6 month puppy to 2 year old adult.
I live with my bf in a 2 room apartment in Malmö, Västra Hamnen. When I came to buy Dexter I was quite anxious what the breeder might think of me getting an active hunting dog into a 54 m2 condo to a person who’s never been a hunter. The truth is that it all depends on the owners’ openness to new things.
Why did I choose a Weimaraner?
Here are the facts that I knew before I got my Weimaraner:
- Weims look adorable from puppy until adulthood
- Extremely smart dogs, have their own opinions, attitudes, personality
- I am an active person, I love nature and I needed to put structure into my day
- Weimaraners give lots of love to their owners
- Weims don’t require any or minimal grooming
- They are great with other dogs and kids
- I wanted to practice Swedish, with a dog it is so much easier to talk to people
What my Weimaraner taught me:
- Weims are adventurous, curious and always give their 150%.
- Weims never give up when I have food, they try literally everything to get it.
- Weims are autistic regarding time. Once you make a habit they expect you to keep it like that.
- They get annoyed when you neglect their play time. Can start carry your underwear around or lick kitchen counters.
- Dexter learns new tricks quite fast, but only indoors. Outdoors is a place where he exhibits what he has learned, or I am thankful that he can at least respond to my calling.
- A stress free walk includes: dog treats, VGW bälte (special collar), a place without rabbits.
- Weims are untrainable when they have to much energy, first you have to ”release some steam”, then train ;)
- If you neglect the active time with your weim, they tend to develop separation anxiety while you’re gone and can be detrimental to your home.
A regular day with a weimaraner would look like this:
Wake up at 7:00 – weims have very strong natural clock so don’t mess with them once they use to a certain structure. Then I have a light breakfast and take Dexter for a walk. My apartment is 10 minutes from the beach which is very fortunate, because apart of free space for running, Dexter can meet other dogs and search for rabbits or birds.
After 20 minutes of running I use to activate him and train him. Weimaraners use to behave quite individualistic outside, sometimes totally forget about you, so daily communication is important for strenghtening our relationship and forming my authority. After 45 minutes we come back home, Dexter needs to rest before feeding for about 30 minutes to prevent bloat (can be deadly).
In the meanwhile I get ready to work. I leave him from 8:30 – 16:30, when my bf returns from work and takes him out directly. Following 45 minutes consist of active play, walk and training. 30 minutes break after and the dinner is served. After we both arrive home, we are constantly followed, stared at and invited to play. It is almost impossible to overlook a Weimaraner, resist him or avoid him. Now he expects us to give him the attention that he missed during the daytime alone.
At 21:00 is the last daily walk that takes from 30-45 minutes, depending on Dexter’s or my energy level or weather or amount of work left at home. At 22:00 Dexter is automatically falling asleep and that is the time when we know we are going to sleep soon as well. If we don’t our fault, because the next day we need that stamina for Dexter.
Of course, weekends are more about Dexter, going to forests, walks for 2 hours, games, food tracking etc. Weimaraner
Good recourses and forums about weimaraners:
- JustWeimraners – everything you need to know if you are the first-time weimaraner owner
- Booklet about weims – This book really helped me while choosing the dog rase.
