5 Reasons Weimaraners Rule

*This post is sponsored by ORGANIX®

If you know me in real life, you know I’m pretty obsessed with my dog, Ginger (who has quite the cameo on my about page).

My grandfather used to (and actually still does at 86 years old!) raise, breed, hunt and work pointers (not German Short Haired, but regular pointers, sometimes referred to as English Pointers) in field trials.

It was the breed I had growing up and probably the reason for my weird affinity for bird dogs (there was this time at a beer garden in Prague I spotted 2 weims, chased after them like a lunatic and fell through a lose sewer drain, ripping my jeans in the process – #awkward).

We spent pretty much every Sunday at my grandparents’ house growing up for macaroni and meatball dinners and every Sunday you could find me in my grandfather’s den looking at this encyclopedia sized dog breed book, turned to the exact same page every week, the one with Weimaraners and Vizslas on it.

At 7 or 8, I’ll be honest, I just liked their coloring and told my parents I wanted one. Well, they never came through on that (just like the power wheels Jeep I never got either) but the obsession never died and the year after we got married, I started stalking breeders as far as 1,000 miles away for the perfect Weimaraner puppy.

Enter Ginger.

5 Reasons Weimaraners Rule

Their gray color is so unique

As far as I know, the only 4 dog breeds with a gray coat are Weimaraners, Gray Pitbulls, Great Danes and Greyhounds. Weimaraners are the only ones that are only gray though (although, there are variations of that gray). It’s sleek looking and always throws people off. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked on walks (what breed IS THAT?!).

Their eyes are turquoise as puppies

Ginger’s eyes literally looked like the Caribbean Sea when she was a puppy, it was the freakiest and coolest thing ever. I hoped she’d be one of the few to maintain her blue eyes as she matured but like most, they turned amber as she got older.

They love human interaction but aren’t lap dogs

As someone who is actually allergic to dogs and not into animals on the furniture, animals licking my face (so gross) and up in my grill, this is perfect. Weimaraners need (no joke- we learned this the hard way after a year of trying to keep Ginger confined to certain areas of the house – hahaha, yeah right) to be near humans but nothing annoys Ginger more than us trying to snuggle her. Girl wants her space and you know what, that’s cool with me.

They suckle

In the beginning we thought it was just Ginger being weird but nope, this is apparently a funny breed quirk! They like to basically “suck” (seriously, it looks like a baby and a pacifier) on plush toys, blankets and other objects. Ginger has had the same hedgehog stuffed animal toy her entire life (well, many iterations of it – that thing starts to reek after a few weeks). She sucks on the head of it when she feels comfortable. It’s the strangest thing because she’ll only do it if we’re both home, both in the room with her and she feels relaxed. So bizarre and so cute all at the same time.

They make the best dog calendars

Chances are you’ve seen a William Wegman Weimaraner calendar at some point in your life. Don’t even try to convince me otherwise, Weimaraners in cars, on boxes, dressed up and sitting on objects as if they were humans are the funniest thing you’ve ever seen and make the best dog calendars out there.

What we feed Ginger has always been a priority to me. As a wholesome, fresh and nutritionally minded person when it comes to what Ulysses and I eat, it only makes sense to extend that philosophy to our dog. I’ve tinkered with homemade raw dog food before (and still do that from time to time when I’m feeling ambitious), I’ve made homemade dog biscuits and peanut butter pumpkin dog treats but one of the most important shifts we made in Ginger’s diet a few years back was to feed her a grain-free dry food diet.

Ginger’s always been weirdly unmotivated by food (unless around other dogs) when she’s at home alone. She’d sometimes see me pour her food in her bowl, look at it and walk away (clearly she does NOT take after me). That was, until we changed her diet to grain-free. It was literally like a switch flipped and suddenly we had a normal dog on our hands in the food arena.

Recently, Ginger’s been eating ORGANIX® grain free salmon & peas and absolutely loving it. I’ve always shied away from buying the salmon varieties of dog food for her thinking she sure as heck doesn’t need anything fishy contributing to her already stank breath but, she seems to love this variety even more so than the lamb and chicken varieties and I love the natural omega 3 & 6s she’s getting to supplement the glucosamine we already give her for bone & joint health.

Besides being grain-free, ORGANIX®, like the name implies, is made with organic ingredients produced without the use of chemical pesticides, fertilizers, preservatives and added growth hormones/antibiotics. There’s no corn, soy or wheat in any of the recipes and when you read the ingredient list, the first thing you’ll see is always organic protein.

You can find ORGANIX online, at PetSmart, Petco, and at natural grocery stores, like Whole Foods. To locate a store in your area, visit the Organix® site. If you want to save yourself a trip to the store, you can visit the brand’s shop online search menu.

Being able to partner with a brand that Ginger and I both love has been awesome, stay tuned for our upcoming adventure sponsored by ORGANIX®!