THE COLOR

THe First Blue?

"Tell"

 In the late 1940’s  Cäsar von Gaiberg, also known as “Tell” was imported from Germany to the U.S. He was one of the first imports and also an unusually dark Weimaraner. Tell is generally considered the progenitor of today's beautiful blues in the U.S.
TELL'S PUREBRED STATUS
The German Weimaraner Club issued purebred Weimaraner papers and the AKC accepted and also registered Tell as such. There is rumor that the Germans possibly changed their minds about Tell's status after issuance but there is no indication that his German registration was ever revoked. Some believe that that Tell was a product of cross breeding but there is no evidence of such. Others believe that the blue color could have been the fault of genetic mutation. Still others believe the blue color was simply called "mouse-gray" in Germany and had been around all along - perhaps just lost in translation in the 40s. None of these theories have been proven. Most likely we will never know the real answer as to how blues came into being since many documents were lost or destroyed in Germany during and after WWII.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TODAY?
So many generations have now passed that that point is moot.  Blues are not any more subject to health problems due to their coat color (e.g. Color Mutant Alopecia AKA Blue Dog Disease/Blue Doberman Disease) than Grays. A poorly, bred Weimaraner of any coat color may be more subject to health or temperament issues.  So what matters is that you select a good breeder that properly cares for and breeds healthy, fully tested, well-suited matches. 
 

WHAT ABOUT BLUE DISQUALIFICATION?
If you care about AKC showings, you should know that The Weimaraner Club of America voted to disqualify the blue coat color in 1971. Blues may participate in any AKC event but would be disqualified by the judge in the conformation ring at a bench show. Performance events do not evaluate conformation and disqualifying faults, so Blues may freely compete in obedience, agility, field trials, hunt tests, tracking, etc. Ironically, Blues today may descend from champions several generations ago, since the disqualification did not appear until nearly 30 years after Tell arrived in the United States. A large majority of well known and well bred Gray Weimaraners have Tell in their pedigrees.