The German Shepherd Dog, also known as Alsatian is a breed of large-sized dog that originated in Germany which dates back in 1899. Developed originally for herding sheep but because of their strength, intelligence and abilities in obedience training, today they are often employed as police war dogs.
History
All the credit for the development of this highly intelligent, loyal and obedient breed goes to Max von Stephanitz. It was exclusively his idea that fused a great range of sheep herding dogs into one single breed. He envisaged a dog of principled character, wise working ability, faithful and extensively trainable. Shepherd dogs used to be the true working dogs during 18th and 19th centuries. In Germany, the shepherds used their dogs to guide their group of sheep or domestic animals. These dogs did not have any particular origin. For those dogs, the only necessity was their working ability, but not their looks.
In 1889 Captain Max von Stephanitz began the standardization of the breed. It all started at a dog show in Karlsruhe in western Germany. A medium-sized yellow-and-gray wolflike dog caught his attention. The dog was of the primal canine type, supple and powerful, and possessed endurance, steadiness, and intelligence. He was a working sheepherder, born with this ability, requiring no training other than direction and finish to become proficient at the task. This dog, Hektor Linksrhein, was purchased by von Stephanitz, renamed Horand von Grafrath, and became the first registered German Shepherd Dog.
Von Stephanitz founded the Verein für Deutsche Schferhunde, SV (German Shepherd Dog Club), becoming the first president, and in a short period of time achieved the standardization of form and type in the breed. A standard was developed based on mental stability and utility. The captain’s motto was “Utility and intelligence”. To him beauty was secondary, and a dog was worthless if it lacked the intelligence, temperament, and structural efficiency that would make it a good servant of man. A breed standard was developed as a blueprint dictating the exact function and relationship of every aspect of structure, gait, and inherent attitude.
In the historical timeline, the evolvement of German Shepherd was not always that smooth. In fact, there was a time when there was a reduction in the demand of the shepherd dogs. During that phase, the great innovator Captain von Stephanitz shaped his idea of breeding the German Shepherd in absolutely a new direction as police service dogs, where these dog were increasingly trained as police dogs in order to serve the nation. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, an increasing number of dog shows actually started influencing the breeders to take both appearance and efficiency into account.
