I have a question about your weimaraner. My inlaws have one that my sil gave my mil for her birthday back in January. He was 8 weeks then, so he's almost a year now. Now we've never met this dog (his name is Smokey), but from what my mil and fil say, he's WILD!!! They've had several dogs in the past, from Great Danes to little Terriers and they've always been very good to their pet and have never had any trouble handling them. Well they just can't handle this dog. They've even spent over $400 on a trainer and he's still a handful. Is this common for this breed? Honestly, dh and I feel sil was out of line giving them this dog to begin with, since fil is 80 and mil is 74. Sil does say she'll take him when they can't keep him anymore or when they're gone. What do you think? Any suggestions for this breed? TIA

By Katherine on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 04:01 pm:

Yes!!! They can be a very difficult breed. They are bird dogs and bred to have great stamina. They have boundless energy. You have to let them know who's boss and remind them quite often.

If your in-laws are elderly, they do not need a dog like that, especially a 1 y/o. They need lots of attention and lots of VIGOROUS exercise. I always said that Blue acted like an 18 m/o toddler. He has only calmed down for us in the last year and he is almost 8.

It is good your IL got him trained, but it is a continuous effort. They may not have the energy to keep up with him.

If they do want to keep him and keep trying, the dogs are very smart, and are very very loyal protectors. My Blue saved my ds from a snake bite a few years ago.

I wish them luck.

By Katherine on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 04:53 pm:

One other tip for them. Weimaraner owners have a saying "A happy weim is a tired weim". If they can play fetch with him with a tennis ball or something and wear him out, he will be calmer when he's in the house. HTH

By Cat on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 07:14 pm:

Thanx, Katherine. My mil works full time (we keep trying to convince her to retire!!!) and neither of them are in very good health. DH and I keep saying they didn't need a dog and certainly not that one! I don't know what they're going to do with him. They've talked about having sil take him, but she keeps coming up with some excuse not to, even though she said she would if they couldn't care for him. Thanx for the info. Hopefully they can work something out. I'm sure he's a good dog, just hyper. He is still a puppy.