The Blue Weimaraner has a distinct charcoal gray colored coat. Genetically speaking, Blue Weimaraners are dilute blacks and Grays are dilute browns.
The difference between a Blue and a Gray Weimaraner is in the tone of the color, not the deepness or darkness of the color. All Weimaraners, Blue or Gray, can be lighter or darker.
I’ve discussed the variation in colors of the Grays in my other article, “Not Just a Short Coated Gray Dog” but here are some more photos to illustrate, and in particular to compare to Blue Weimaraners.
Lighting Matters
Lighting can be deceptive, and it can make a big difference in seeing the true color!
The tell is the nose and rims of the eyes. Blue Weimaraners have noses and eye rims that are a very dark gray or black. Gray Weimaraners have noses and eye rims that are brown and/or fleshy color.
Easy Blue/Gray Genetics
The genetics are quite simple; Blue is dominant to Gray. This means:
- You must have one Blue parent to have Blue puppies.
- You can never get Blue puppies from two Gray parents.
If both parents are Gray, there is no Blue gene present, so it’s impossible for two Gray dogs to produce Blue. If one parent is Blue (which also means that dog has at least one copy of the Blue gene, because Blue is always expressed), you will likely get a Blue in the litter, but it’s possible that two Blue parents could produce an all Gray litter.
Confused? You can read more about genetics as well as information on color statistics based on mating on my other site, blueweimaraner.com.
A Short History of Blue Weimaraners
The Blue Weimaraner is basically an American “variety” that has a long and controversial history. There were few Weimaraners imported into the United States prior to WWII, but it was after the war that a large number of imports were introduced to the American public by service men. Cäsar von Gaiburg, the first Blue Weimaraner was among them.
Cäsar was imported in 1949 and was issued his German papers in 1950, but several months later the German Club president wrote to the Weimaraner Club of America that Cäsar was cross bred. And thus started the controversy.
Cäsar was AKC registered in 1950 based on his German papers, and therefore was considered purebred by the AKC. All his descendants, of both colors, are also considered purebred and are registerable.
This acceptance did not quell the controversy. It raged on in the US, as both colors were being produced under a standard that allowed them. There were two unsuccessful attempts to change the standard to disqualify but the disqualification was achieved in 1971 when the Weimaraner Club of America finally got the membership majority vote to disqualify the Blue Weimaraner. This is the standard that is still in effect today.
Gray and Blue Weimaraners have been bred in the US for over 70 years. Blues are not rare!!! They are an AKC registerable purebred Weimaraner, but are not allowed to be shown.
They are not accepted in other countries.
Are Blue Weimaraners Different from Grays?
Blue and Gray differ in coat color only!
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And Americans are still pushing the undesirable blue. You know these so called blue just dont exist in Germany. Americans trying to create another color of dog… That is a fact.
While the Blue is an American variety, it is simply not true that Americans are trying to create another color of dog. The first Blue came from Germany. The Blue issue has a very complicated and very political history. It is documented here: blueweimaraner.com.
Undesirable….. you’re oh so wrong.
I adore my blue. I also prefer the color. So unique
Ah another yahoo pushing fake news as “fact”. As mentioned numerous times Tell the single point of origin for the blues came from and was certified by Germany. We signed off on him but due to “political” pushback we tried to back track. It was a genetic anomaly but still pure. Stating otherwise is pure ignorance.
The two blues in my family have different temperaments than any of the grays that I or my family have owned going back to 1984. It is not just a coloring difference. One originated from Tennessee and the other from the midwest. They are more willful and if a person I would say selfish or jerkiness. This does not mean that when people are present they are not loving and desire to please or any lack of intelligence. Our two blues have more of a retriever head than a pointers and do not have webbed feet nor do they have the South American aggressiveness. Other than one puppy all of our dogs have been rescue animals. I wish that you had mentioned in your article what the Germans in 1950 felt that Casar alleged cross breeding consisted of.
They believed Casar was a Doberman cross. I detail (maybe too much detail) the full history on my other site at https://blueweimaraner.com. The article on Casar https://blueweimaraner.com/casar-von-gaiberg/ documents what the Germans said.
Anne, I am a longtime lover of Weims. I have had four both blue and gray, showed my gray to championship, was right in the middle of all the controversy, started a blue weim club at one time. So glad someone is still involved. Still have some of the old papers.
Hi Sherrie! I was fortunate to have “met” some of the people who were heavily involved with the Blues back in the 70’s. It sounded like such a nasty time in breed history! But I’ve found that it still gets peoples’ panties in a wad. Unfortunate since obviously the Blues are not going to go away and are now in this limbo state. Glad you chimed in!