The Origin of a Breed of Excellence;
The History of the German Shepherd Dog
The German Shepherd Dog (GSD) came to be, through the dreams, vision, and persistence of one man, Captain (Rittmeister) Max Emil Frederich von Stephanitz(1864-1936). His dream inspired him to provide his countrymen with the ultimate herding dog and in the late 19th century, just such a movement was begun. The movement also influenced his decision to establish his own organization Verein fur Deutsche Schaferhunde where both talent and beauty were prioritized. Although von Stephanitz also put his primary emphasis on the working ability of the German Shepherd, the attempt of increasing good appearance was also found to be important. Similar to any other great innovator of different times, von
Stephenitz always put his effort on exploring and gathering new knowledge about breeding German Shepherd dogs with the help of his extensive experience and experimental aptitude. He relied on several different ideas that were used by the British at that time His powerfully intense vision enabled Von Stephanitz to see the potential of an average looking gray and yellow dog named Hektor Linksrhein (1899). It is almost as if he saw into the very soul of the dog. Von Stephanitz renamed Hektor as Horand von Grafrath and decided on the spot that the .jpg)
dog possessed the essential make up of the perfect dog.
Horand was intelligent, agile, obedient, a willing worker, and beautiful. He also had two coats, one undercoat of soft insulating fur, and then a top coat that was considerably more course and longer in length that allowed water to run off rather than soak into the undercoat. Horand von Grafrath became the foundation for the German Shepherd Dog breed. Von Stephanitz possessed compelling eyes and an indomitable spirit that we can easily recognize as the inherent personality of the German Shepherd Dog today. In 1906 and 1907 a Shepherd named Roland von Starkenburg became the Grand Champion and is known today as the ancestor of most of the American German Shepherd Dogs.
Von Stephanitz founded the Verein fur Deutsche Schaferhunde (SV;club for the German Shepherd Dogs) in 1899. He had a steely control of this club and ruled over all with an uncanny sense of his way was not only the right way but the only way. Horand von Grafrath was of course the first registered German Shepherd Dog, and his number was SZ1. Von Stephanitz was the Judge and the Jury, and although he enjoyed the beauty of Horand von Grafrath, he felt that beauty was not important to the breed but naturally followed suit from the versatility and utility of the dog. He was quoted as saying “A pleasing appearance is desirable, but it cannot put the dogs working ability into question” lets us say that Von Stephanitz placed the importance of the Utility and Intelligence before Beauty.
History witnessed that the developmental journey of the German Shepherd was not always hassle-free. In fact, there were several ups and downs in the demand of shepherd dogs in earlier times. By that time, von Stephanitz shifted his idea into a new direction and trained the German Shepherd for the purpose of police service, where these dogs once again proved their robust efficiency. However, later in 19th century and early phases of the 20th century, the increasing number of dog shows made the breeder think about both the efficiency and appearance of the German Shepherd and beauty began to gain importance provided it did not become detrimental to the overall utility of the breed.
Continuous involvement of Captain von Stephanitz and the formation of Verein made the development of the modern German Shepherd possible. During the First World War the German Shepherd was discovered by the British people and they brought this dog to England under the name of the Alsatian. During that phase, all the breeding techniques and policies were regulated by Verein fur Deutsche Schaferhunde in Germany. In the post World War II phase, Germany was in total ruins, the same happened with different organizations including Verein fur Deutsche Schaferhunde. It is assumed that North American was acclaimed for the best the German Shepherd of that time.
Von Stephanitz solely conceptualized a great variety of sheep herding dogs into one single variety. He visualized a dog of righteous character, great working ability, loyalty, and trainability.
Horand von Grafen SZ1
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