best book/dvd/classes/info on training a weimaraner puppy.

[Vaguely]

???

dp has found a good breeder with a litter available soon. he says he'll do the training, but i obv want to read up on the best info possible on what im getting into as ive never had a dog before, let alone a specific kind.
if i google for a book, how will i know whats bull and whats quality?

Are you bonkers?

Has your DP had a dog before?

Weimeraners that I've met are all bonkers and need a seriously alpha owner or they take control of the whole relationship.

We have a 15 month old bitch. Please please be really sure that BOTH of you are willing to be very firm with the puppy. DH did most of the training with ours and she is very well behaved for him, but is a nightmare for me as I wasn't a 'pack leader' to begin with.

They are incerdibly wilfull, clever and very affectionate dogs, see my profile for pic of ours when we first got her.

I have to say that she has started to respond really well since I started getting much firmer with her, but it has taken a while.

You will need to be totally committed to teaching the puppy that s/he comes WAY down the pecking order, even below your DCs. We have 5 and 6yos and although she would never intentionally hurt them, and you can see she adores them, there have been many occasions when she has just barged them over as they are very dominant/excitable dogs.

I would recommend that you pay the money for 1 to 1 classes with a trainer that matches up with your general outlook on how a dog should be trained. I would also ask if they have any experience with Weimararners in particular.

Don't get me wrong, I adore ours and wouldn't be without her for a second, but please don't underestimate how much work they are.

I know a really great trainer in Surrey...not sure where you live. He did some training with our GSD and he is just amazing. He owns a Weimararner and he is the most well behaved dog I've even seen. He could probably rustle up a cup of tea if you told him how to (the dog not the trainer!)

My dog trainer has one and she finds him hard work...

ah hello!

have just been reading out these answers to dp.
we agree that we would both be very firm with the puppy, if and when we get one. we both want a well behaved dog and she has to know that the kids come before her and to do as either dp or i say. i think, given that we'll both be doing the twice daily walks and all the discipline stuff at home that it could work out well.

and yes please to the 1to1 training - bananapaddlepop's one sounds great! bit far to get to surrey tho.

hmmm... i am finding myself slightly hesitant about getting one just now. it was me who wanted one and dp saying no before (he has had dogs before and has peeled a badly trained one off the road before, which broke his heart he says. the bad training was his ex's fault, natch.). he has found himself coming round to the idea v recently... i reckon we ought to wait and see if he stays feeling that way. if we really want one, we'll still want one in a bit. and if we dont still want one in a few months time, then we certainly didnt want her enough.
hmmmm.

I can see you point, Ruby. I recently got a lab and, although he is fantastic, I do miss the challenge that previous dogs like my dobermann gave. So, as a lab owner, am not insulted at all!

There is a big difference between certain breeds and some will slot relatively easily into your life, some need a lot more work.

Good luck OP whatever you decide.

I love weimeraner's but knew lots when younger (my parents bred hounds and ran training clubs so I knew lots of breeders) more recently, however, they seem to become to dog of choiice for many parents at my DD's school. They are a bit of an accessory dog as they are so attractive and these ladies who lunch/tennis/have nice nails do not seem to be the most suitable dog educators ime (of being leapt on in the school car park by out of control dogs - we are allowed to use the huge grounds for dog walking after drop off).

Also I think, due to popularity, there has been a tendancy for 'amateur' breeders and unscrupulous breeders to give it a go and not consider suitable temperaments/genetic breed faults.

I am going for a similar breed, but a Slovakian pointer - which originated from a weimeraner cross many decades ago. They are, if you believe the PR blurb spouted by owners of this breed - many of who also seem to have Weimies and German Wire haired pointers, a much calmer/easier to train dog. fingers crossed eh?

thank you ruby, i shall indeed be back for further info when (if?) the time comes.

thanks for the support from you knowledgeable sorts, appreciated.

yes marmaduke, i noticed that the breeder dp had chosen also did one slovakian something or others too. i hadnt realised it was coz they are 'easier', hope that goes well.

funnily enough, with you mentioning wire haired, ages ago when i was looking into all this, i had decided, via a breeds info site that i needed a hungarian wire haired vizsla, which id never heard of. looking at the pictures, theyre not as 'pretty' as the normal vizsla but a better temperament for us.

hmmm, much to ponder.