The German Shepherd - Creating and Naming the Breed.

Creating the Breed.
For a dog that looks more like a wolf, an animal renowned for attacking and taking sheep, the German Shepherd seems to be a strange choice of appearance to actually be guarding and herding sheep!

The German Shepherd was actually developed via specific breeding from a mixture of 'sheepdog' types. Max Von Stephanitz, a German military cavalry officer, established a society to develop a variety of German Shepherding type dogs called Deutsche Schäferhunde.

Max Von Stephanitz was the Verein für Duetche Schäferhunde Society club president from its inauguration in 1899 until hes death in 1936.

All of today's modern dogs are thought to have one common ancestor, the Asian Wolf. When we study the appearance of the modern day dog and wolf, we can see obvious similarities within a lot of modern breeds today and namely for our interest the German Shepherd or Alsatian, as it is often called.

Alsatian Ref Wiki.
For further reading on the term Alsatian, please consult The Wiki, search Google for 'wiki Alsatian', without the quotes. Importantly, note that Alsatian is alternative name for the German Shepherd Dog that is commonly used in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations as quoted by the Wiki.

Other important links are wiki on The German Shepherd Dog and perhaps less relevant;- Alsace, a region of Northeast France.

Speaking Alsatian!
Another tidbit: Although 'Alsace' is historically a German dialect speaking region, today most Alsatians speak French!

A Dog of War!
Based on this history I've just presented, its not hard to see why the German Shepherd dog - (abbreviated to GSD), a wolf look-alike, with shepherding and military backgrounds of breeding has become known as The Dog of War!

Naming the Breed.
As Germany prepared for World War One, The German Shepherd was the 'WAR DOG' of choice for the Kaiser's German Army. The British army dog-of-war was the Airedale Terrier. With respect to the Airedale, it never had the strength, stamina and weight (averaging Airedale's 20-22.5 kg/ 44-50 Lbs, verses the GSD average weight of 28-44 kg/ 62-97 Lbs).

The 'Other Police Dog' (Who's a King)? Airedale or Alsatian..
The Airedale AKA - Waterside Terrier, (often referred to as The King of Terrier's), was used for hunting vermin, a messenger dog and police dog.
However, the Airedale lacked obedience due to a stubborn streak that seems to be a hardened characteristic of the breed.

In comparison to the Airedale, the German Shepherd is very obedient, larger and stronger, making it an all-round better choice as a police or military dog.

WW1
At the end of the first world war, British soldiers, returning from the fighting on the western front, brought back the GSD to England. However, anti-German-feeling and propaganda against Germany at that time, meant that a more diplomatic and neutral sounding name had to be given to the German Shepherd. Hence, The Alsatian...


This Alsatian name was especially apt, not only because the GSD had origin-roots in the area, but mainly because that region of Germany fought over during WW1 - had fallen to become part of France, (an ally).

The English Kennel Club only re-authorised the use of 'German Shepherd' as an official name in 1977. For many, the name 'Alsatian' remains more prominent in our minds, absolutely not because of its non-Germanic sounding / anti-Germanic history, (that's gone and forgotten), but simply because that's the name we grew-up calling it.

I for-one, did not know the history of the Alsatian name, thinking it to be separate breed of dog. In the UK, we have this image of a Sheep-dog as being of the Old English long hair, shaggy coat working dog from the early 16th century. Like the Bearded Collie type and Briard (aka Bobtail).

The advertising media is mostly to blame because, (Just like we often call a vacuum cleaner by its brand name -'a Hoover')... Since the 1960's when I was growing-up, the Old English Sheepdog used to appear in TV advertisements for the Dulux brand of paint.

So successful was this advertising, that even the Old English Sheepdog became thought of as 'The Dulux Dog'! Back then, asking any five year old child to name the dog breed from a photo, you would have got the answer 'The Dulux Dog'! So is it any wonder that, as a child in the 1960's , we did not know that an Alsatian was actually a German Shepherd, a Sheep-herding dog?

ChristopherJames.

TAGS: The German Shepherd, Creating The Breed, Dogs, Sheep Dogs, The Dog of War, Alsatian, Airedale Terrier, Waterside Terrier,