Information about German Shepherd dog Breed

 

About the Breed

Generally considered dogkind's finest all-purpose worker, the German Shepherd Dog is a large, agile, muscular dog of noble character and high intelligence. Loyal, confident, courageous, and steady, the German Shepherd is truly a dog lover's delight. German Shepherd Dogs can stand as high as 26 inches at the shoulder and, when viewed in outline, presents a picture of smooth, graceful curves rather than angles. The natural gait is a free-and-easy trot, but they can turn it up a notch or two and reach great speeds. There are many reasons why German Shepherds stand in the front rank of canine royalty, but experts say their defining attribute is character: loyalty, courage, confidence, the ability to learn commands for many tasks, and the willingness to put their life on the line in defense of loved ones. German Shepherds will be gentle family pets and steadfast guardians, but, the breed standard says, there's a 'certain aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships.'Breed Standard:

 A description of the ideal dog of each recognized breed, to serve as an ideal against which dogs are judged at shows, originally laid down by a parent breed club and accepted officially by national or international bodies.

Average sizes and life expectancy of the breed.

Height

24-26 inches (male)

22-24 inches (female)

Weight

65-90 pounds (male)

50-70 pounds (female)

Life Expectancy

12-14 years

The German Shepherd,^[a] also known in Britain as an Alsatian, is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899.

It was originally bred as a herding dog, for herding sheep. It has since been used in many other types of work, including disability assistance, search-and-rescue, police work, and warfare. It is commonly kept as a companion dog, and according to the Fédération Cynologique Internationale had the second-highest number of annual registrations in 2013.^[

History

Max von Stephanitz, the founder of the breed (with Horand von Grafrath), circa 1900

Illustration from 1909

During the 1890s, attempts were being made to standardise dog breeds.^[4] Dogs were being bred to preserve traits that assisted in their job of herding sheep and protecting their flocks from predators.^[5] In Germany this was practised within local communities, where shepherds selected and bred dogs. It was recognised that the breed had the necessary skills for herding sheep, such as intelligence, speed, strength and keen sense of smell.^[5] The results were dogs that were able to do such things, but that differed significantly, both in appearance and ability, from one locality to another.^[4]

To combat these differences, the Phylax Society was formed in 1891 with the intention of creating standardised development plans for native dog breeds in Germany.^[5] The society disbanded after only three years due to ongoing internal conflicts regarding the traits in dogs that the society should promote;^[5] some members believed dogs should be bred solely for working purposes, while others believed dogs should be bred also for appearance.^[6] While unsuccessful in their goal, the Phylax Society had inspired people to pursue standardising dog breeds independently.

With the rise of large, industrialised cities in Germany, the predator population began to decline, rendering sheepdogs unnecessary.^[5] At the same time, the awareness of sheepdogs as a versatile, intelligent class of canine began to rise.^[5] Max von Stephanitz, an ex-cavalry captain and former student of the Berlin Veterinary College, was an ex-member of the Phylax Society who firmly believed dogs should be bred for working.^[5] He admired the intelligence, strength and ability of Germany's native sheepdogs, but could not find any one single breed that satisfied him as the perfect working dog.^[5]

In 1899, von Stephanitz was attending a dog show when he was shown a dog named Hektor Linksrhein.^[5] Hektor was the product of a few generations of selective breeding and completely fulfilled what von Stephanitz believed a working dog should be. He was pleased with the strength of the dog and was so taken by the animal's intelligence, loyalty, and beauty, that he purchased him immediately.^[4] After purchasing the dog he changed his name to Horand von Grafrath and von Stephanitz founded the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (Society for German Shepherd Dogs).^[4] Horand was declared to be the first German Shepherd Dog, and was the first dog added to the society's breed register.^[5] In just a few decades of the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde's establishment, the breed became one of the world's most popular and numerous, a position it has maintained to this day. By 1923, the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde claimed 50,000 dues-paying members in more than 500 branches in Germany alone.^[7]

Horand became the center-point of the breeding programs and was bred with dogs belonging to other society members that displayed desirable traits and with dogs from Thuringia, Franconia, and Württemberg.^[5] Fathering many pups, Horand's most prolific was Hektor von Schwaben.^[5][8] Hektor was inbred with another of Horand's offspring and produced Heinz von Starkenburg, Beowulf, and Pilot, who later sired a total of 84 pups, mostly through being inbred with Hektor's other offspring.^[5] This inbreeding was deemed necessary in order to fix the traits being sought in the breed.^[5] Beowulf's progeny also were inbred and it is from these pups that all German Shepherds draw a genetic link. It is believed the society accomplished its goal mostly due to von Stephanitz's strong, uncompromising leadership and he is therefore credited with being the creator of the German Shepherd Dog.^[9]

Adult GSD

During the first half of the twentieth century, the breed came to be strongly identified with Imperial and Nazi Germany, because of its association with purity and militarism.^[7] German Shepherds were coveted as "germanische Urhunde", being close to the wolf, and became very fashionable during the Nazi era.^[10] Adolf Hitler acquired a German Shepherd named "Prinz" in 1921, during his years of poverty, but he had been forced to lodge the dog elsewhere. However, she managed to escape and return to him. Hitler, who adored the loyalty and obedience of the dog, thereafter developed a great liking for the breed.^[11] Hitler kept several more of the breed, including Blondi, who was among several dogs in the 'Führerbunker' during the Battle of Berlin at the end of the Second World War. Dogs played a role in Nazi propaganda by portraying Hitler as an animal lover.^[10] Preparing for his suicide, Hitler ordered Dr. Werner Haase to test a cyanide capsule on Blondi, and the dog died as a result.^[12] Erna Flegel, a nurse who worked at the emergency casualty station in the Reich Chancellery stated in 2005 that Blondi's death had affected the people in the bunker more than Eva Braun's suicide.^[13] German Shepherds were also used widely as guard dogs at Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.^[14]

When the German Shepherd was introduced to the United States it was initially a popular dog.^[15] But as the dogs' popularity grew, it became associated as a dangerous breed owned by gangsters and bootleggers.^[16][17][18] The reputation of the German Shepherds as a dangerous breed had grown to such an extent that importing them was briefly banned in Australia in 1929.^[19] Potential legislation was even considered to require that all German shepherds in South Australia be sterilised.^[20]

Naming:

The breed was named Deutscher Schäferhund, by von Stephanitz, translating to "German Shepherd Dog".^[21] At the time, all other herding dogs in Germany were referred to by this name; they thus became known as Altdeutsche Schäferhunde, or old German herding dogs.

The direct translation of the name was adopted for use in the stud-book; however, at the end of the First World War, it was believed that the inclusion of the word "German" would harm the breed's popularity,^[22] due to the anti-German sentiment of the era.^[23] The breed was officially renamed by the UK Kennel Club to "Alsatian Wolf Dog",^[22] after the French region of Alsace bordering Germany.^[5]

Eventually,^[when?] the appendage "wolf dog" was dropped,^[22] after numerous campaigns by breeders who were worried that becoming known as a wolf-dog hybrid would affect the breed's popularity and legality.^[5] The name Alsatian remained for five decades,^[22] until 1977, when successful campaigns by dog enthusiasts pressured the British kennel clubs to allow the breed to be registered again as German Shepherds.^[24] The word "Alsatian" once appeared in parentheses as part of the formal breed name of the American Kennel Club and was removed in 2010.