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Blues Weimaraners Under the
AKC Standard
Blue Weimaraners in the United States are accepted as purebred
Weimaraners. All puppies from two AKC-registered Weimaraners
can be registered as a Weimaraner with the American Kennel Club. They
are eligible to compete for many titles. Because the blue coat color was accepted in the
standard prior to 1972, there have been
Blue AKC Champions. In 1971 the Weimaraner Club of America
voted to make the longhaired and blue coat variations disqualifying
faults. (See History.)
AKC registered Blues are allowed to compete in any AKC event, and
technically this means in the show ring as well. However, if a
Blue were entered in a show, it would be disqualified by the judge,
just as the judge would disqualify a dog who was over or under the height standard.
Since conformation is not evaluated in performance
events, Blues can compete in any AKC performance event including
field trials, hunt tests, agility, obedience, rally obedience, and
tracking. They are also permitted to participate in NAVHDA
(North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association) tests, NSTRA
(National Shoot to Retrieve Association) competitions, NADAC (North
American Dog Agility Council) trials, etc. Blues, and
other Weimaraners with disqualifying faults, are permitted to
participate in WCA Shooting or Retrieving Ratings Tests and obtain
Versatile Ratings if they are spayed or neutered.
Blues Weimaraners Under the
FCI Standard
The The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) is to the rest
of the world what the AKC is to the United States. Each breed is
the "property" of a specific country, which writes the breed
standard with the FCI. Germany, the country of origin of the
Weimaraner, is a member of the FCI and writes the breed standard for
it.
The FCI does not recognize the Blue
in their standard, but neither does it have a specific worded
disqualification in the standard other that that any other color
other than grey is a disqualifying fault. Registration of pure-bred dogs is different in most FCI countries
from the U.S. In America, any dog that has registered parents with the AKC is
automatically eligible to be registered with the AKC. In FCI
countries, each dog is examined by a qualified judge at one year of
age to determine if the dog is eligible for a pedigree and breeding
status. It is more than probable that a dog presented for
confirmation at one year of age that was very dark, with black nails
and nose would be eliminated. However, there have been a few cases
of Blue's confirmed in FCI countries that were judged to be an
acceptable variation of "grey." There is some evidence that Blue may
have been the color described by “mouse-gray” allowed in the
standard, but this is debated. (See
article on
Cäsar von Gaiberg.)
One should note that even though the FCI standard does not
specifically word a disqualification of Blues. If Blues were to
become prevalent in those countries, it’s probable it would spark
heated debate just as it has in the United States.
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