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The German Shepherd dog was originally called the “German Schaefferhund,” schaefferhund meaning shepherd-dog.
The colouring varied depending upon the area in which the dog was from.
The main concern of the owners was the dog’s characteristics. Their ability to watch a herd without distraction,
guarding a
property, their intelligence and their watchfulness and willingness to obey were also of most importance.
In Germany, in the late 1800’s Kavaleriekapitaen max Emil Friedrich of Stephanitz, who is
considered to be the father
of the German Shepherd breed, together with his friend Arthur Meyer, formed the “Verein fur Deutscher Schadferhund,” or SV.
Both men had for years admired the German Shepherds performance of their supervision of the herd as well as
their
strength
and their intelligence.
On 3 April 1899, when Captain Von Stephanitz with Meyer held their first
dog exhibition, it was made by a
medium sized dog, an active German Shepherd,
yellow and grey, which was called Hektor of Linksrheim.
Von Stephanitz bought it for his
kennel in Grafrath and later converted its name into Horand von Grafrath.
This was the starting point of a strict breeding program of the
German Shepherd.
On 22 April 1899, Von Stephanitz with a group of friends formed an association for
German Shepherds.
Further breeding was done and recorded, from animals recorded and numbered in a book called “Stud Book for the
German Shepherd-Dog.” (Zuchtbuch fuer deutsche Schaeferhunde) or SZ.
It contains 740,000 entries.
Horand is
the first German Shepherd in the SZ.
This was followed up by recording information on the litters in what was called a “List of Service Dogs”
(Gebrauchshundlisten) and in a book called “Breed Survey Book for German Shepherd-dogs”
(Koebuch fuer
deutsche Schaeferhunde).
Horand, registered as Horand van Graf, shaped the race strongly.
Stephanitz and his friend
looked far and for a long time for a female, who was similar to Horand.
Each
dog was checked for intelligence,
temperament and body formation.
Always and foremost was the intelligence and the ability of the German Shepherd to supervise a herd.
In time the reduction of the herds as well as the development of
the breed brought the breeder new ranges of applications.
Along with its physical and moral characteristics, its intelligence, its
ruggedness, its keen sense of smell, the German Shepherd
was fast gaining popularity.
Breeders through out the world, began importing the German bloodlines. Lack of knowledge along with greed of man, forging of pedigrees, thoughtless and unreliable breeding, started the decline of the German Shepherd.
In 1932 Von Stephanitz wrote his revised version of his book.
His motive was and remained the same, “to be of
service to all interested lovers of our best friend,” as he wrote in
his preface.
In 1950, at the request of the owners of the von Stephanitz copyrights (SV) his book was translated into English
It is today a a book that is often referred to by the enthusiasts of Schutzhund yet they must be both deaf and blind to his message. For they are also responsible for doing things that von Stephanitz warned against.
There is no comparison between the dogs in the book and the sporting dogs of today. If fact upon reading the book anyone would realize it condemns, what we today call, schutzhund.
It is my opinion that regardless of your heritage it is the responsiblity of all "interested lovers of our best friend," to recognize the tragic outcome
of poor breeding not
only in the German Shepherd dog, but many, if not most, of the dog breeds.
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