DVWC history
The history of the Delaware Valley Weimaraner Club (DVWC) starts with the earliest importation of Weimaraners to the US and the formation of the Weimaraner Club of America (WCA). Here’s how the Weimaraner in the US and our Club came into being.
On December 8, 1942 the American Kennel Club (AKC) recognized the Weimaraner. The WCA submitted the first Breed Standard and it was accepted in February 1943. In March 1943 the first Weimaraner was entered into the AKC Stud Book. She was a bitch named Adda von Schwarzen Kamp, owned by Howard Knight who is credited with bringing the Weimaraner to this country. There might not have been any Weimaraners surviving World War II except for a few forward thinking breeders who allowed them out of Germany and Austria as war loomed.
Also, in 1943 the Weimaraner Club of America held its first national meeting and published its first breed standard. The Club was organized into geographic regions and our area was called the Mid-Atlantic Region. There was a governor who oversaw AKC and WCA events for his Region. For many years our Region was governed by Mr. Adolph Hausserman, a very early devotee of the breed. He had imported several dogs from Germany and there are photos of him sailing across the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth with his dog, the legendary Ch. Flott vom Haimberg (Imp.) SDX, RDX,born 2/6/51. Flott had been purchased by Mr. Hausserman from the President of the German Weimaraner Club. Incidentally Mr. Hausserman also founded the Valley Forge Kennel Club.
In 1967 the WCA, through constitutional revision, dissolved the geographic regional clubs and a number of successor local clubs were established as independent Specialty Clubs. By 1968 there were 11 such clubs recognized by AKC nationally (now there are 38 clubs). In July 1968 the Delaware Valley Weimaraner Club made its application to the AKC and it was accepted. Technically, therefore, the DVWC actually came into being in 1968 and we were licensed to run Field Trials and Specialty shows. Of course it was a seamless transition since the same people were involved in running the new Club and its events as had been active under the Regional set up. In 1972 we incorporated and defined our area as a 50 mile radius of the City of Philadelphia.
As the Club’s membership grew a number of National events were hosted by the DVWC. In 1984 the DVWC was one of the specialty clubs that participated in the AKC Centennial shows at the Philadelphia Civic Center. In 1987 we hosted the Weimaraner National Specialty, Futurity/Maturity and National Obedience Trial in Downingtown, PA during a brutally hot July week. National Field events included the running of the several WCA’s Eastern Field Classics. The Eastern section of the WCA’s how Futurities and Maturities were hosted in 1994, 2004 and 2009.
The DVWC also worked with the Performance Events Dept. of the AKC to pilot test the AKC’s Hunt Test program. It was our trial test and our input that led to the tests currently in use. Not only did we help to develop Hunt Tests we sponsored the very first AKC Hunt Test for Pointing Breeds at the English Setter Club in Medford, NJ.
In addition to involvement at a national level the DVWC’s members hold a variety of events and “gatherings of the greys.” Regular parts of the DVWC’s repertoire are Specialty shows and Sweepstakes in conjunction with the prestigious Trenton Kennel Club. Annual Shooting and Retrieving ratings afford our dogs the opportunity to demonstrate their field and retrieving abilities. Workshops on Agility, Rally, Tracking and Field give members a chance to broaden their scope of participation in a variety of dog sports.
The future looks bright for continued DVWC activities where our members and their dogs can enjoy everything that a Weimaraner can be.