Country/Date of Origin: Germany/early 19th Century
The Weimaraner is an all-around hunter that was bred by aristocratic sportsmen in the Weimar region of Germany. It was jealously guarded and no dogs were sold outside the close knit circle of nobility in the Weimar court. It was most likely created by crossing a Bloodhound type dog with German Shorthaired Pointers to get hunters with a better nose and a larger size. This enabled them to hunt larger game such as wild boar.
In 1929, an American named Howard Knight got a pair of dogs ostensibly for breeding purposes, but the Germans had secretly neutered them. These were later replaced with fertile dogs and the breed, amidst a great public relations campaign, flourished in the states. The short haired variety was admitted to the American Kennel Club in 1943 but the long haired variety is still unrecognized here.