Origin of the German Shepherd Dog
Police, Military and Assistance Working Breed Genetics and History
Aug 5, 2009
German Shepherds, those intelligent, courageous, and versatile dogs, ranked third on the AKC list of Top Ten Dog Breeds for 2008. Present day, German Shepherds, sometimes referred to as Alsatians, make wonderful family pets while many work in respected fields including police, military, search and rescue, and assistance for the disabled.
First Shepherd Dogs
The dream for the German Shepherd breed was born in the early 1890s in the mountainous sheep pastures of Germany where Max Emil Frederick von Stephanitz envisioned a medium sized, agile dog who could handle and protect the sheep flocks there. Sheep herding dogs were the true working dogs at that time and, although there was no established breed consistency, all dogs used for tending sheep were called Shepherds.
Max von Stephanitz served with the Veterinary College in Berlin as a young cavalry officer and had a great interest in developing dog breeds. As he observed local shepherds’ dogs herding flocks, he vowed to establish a utility breed called the German Shepherd. It would be intelligent, able to reason, agile, trustworthy in temperament, strong, and protective if necessary.
Horand, the First Registered German Shepherd
After marrying and buying a home near Grafrath, he had two children, Otto and Herta. Herta was the one interested in dogs and took an active part in her father’s dog breeding program throughout the 1890s. In 1899, von Stephanitz attended a small dog show and happened upon a shepherd dog with which he was quite impressed. Convincing the owner to sell, he acquired Hektor Linkrsheim and changed his name to Horand von Grafrath to reflect the name of his own kennel.
Two weeks later, when he and friend, Artur Meyer, founded the German dog club called Verein fur Deutsche Schaferhunde (SV), Horand became the first registered German Shepherd Dog. SV would become the greatest single breed club in the world and Horand would be the foundation on which the German Shepherd breed was established.
Impressed with his beautiful lines and clean, sinewy build, von Stephanitz used Horand as the standard and began to mold this new working breed. According to von Stephanitz’s own account, Horand was obediently faithful with a zest for living and the few faults he had were a consequence only of his upbringing.
German Shepherd Dog Breeding Program
Max von Stephanitz spent the rest of his life in the science of breeding dogs. He bred his dogs to counteract any faults and learned to study ancestry for genetic flaws hidden in the pedigree that could be passed down, even if the dog did not display them.
German Shepherds Modern Day Working Dogs and Pets
German Shepherds became useful as military dogs during WWI. They served as messengers, sentries, and guards as well as locating wounded soldiers for the Red Cross. Later they served in WWII, Vietnam and the Middle East.and have been valuable in police work, search and rescue and drug detection, as well as excellent guide dogs for the blind and assistants to the disabled.
Max von Stephanitz died in 1936 after a life devoted to turning a sheep herder’s dog into a versatile working dog and companion.
Source:
Strickland, Winifred and Moses, James. The German Shepherd Today: A Complete Reference for the German Shepherd Owner; Canada: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1988
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