Debbie Ray - Your Total German Shepherd Dog, A Pet Owners Guide

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About the Author

D ebbie Ray, an ex-teacher , was raised in north Georgia and grew up around all sorts of animals. Her earliest memories are filled with all sorts of critters she has owned and loved over the years but it has always been dogs that she has been most drawn to - and German Shepherds in particular.

She got her first German Shepherd, a white one name Casian, when she was around 10 or 11. Since that time she has almost always been owned by one, or more, German Shepherds - be they black and tan, black and red or solid black.

Her experiences with these dogs has given her an insight into the breed and shed be the first one to admit that shes not an expert but simply a German Shepherd lover who likes to share her knowledge and vast experience with others.

She has bred them, lived with them, and been owned by them in literally every phase of their lives, puppy to senior citizen, for almost 30 years. She has been with them from initial breeding, during whelping, on through to weaning, throughout puppyhood, during many major and minor illnesses and with many of them, even through to those final moments of their life - and shes loved them all.

Introduction

O ne of the most interesting things about the German Shepherd Dog breed that I would like to cover right from the start is concerning peoples confusion regarding the name of this breed.

They have been known by several different names depending on the particular time in history or the actual physical location. Yes, German Shepherd Dogs and Alsatians are the same dog breed. Its true. Here are other names and nicknames theyve been known by in the past , and still today, such as:

Alsatian Wolf Dog

Alsatian

German Shepherd Dog (the literal translation from the German

name Deutscher Schferhund )

German Shepherd

GSD

So, please, don't confuse yourself with the different names of this breed. Just be aware that if you see the name Alsatian, GSD, Deutscher Schferhund or Alsatian Wolf Dog that they are all in reference to the same dog breed - The German Shepherd Dog.

Your Total German Shepherd Dog

A Pet Owners Guide

Chapter One - History of the German Shepherd Dog

G erman Shepherd Dog history, relatively speaking, when compared to many of the other breeds of dog, is still that of a very young breed. As of this time the German Shepherd Dog breed is just over 100 years old . And Germany is the birth place of the breed.

Captain Max von Stephanitz

C aptain Max von Stephanitz , a German cavalry officer, developed the German Shepherd Dog breed in 1899, based entirely on his vision of the perfect working dog - one type of dog which could work equally well under any conditions.

Using a variety of German sheep dogs as his foundation stock , Max von Stephanitz eventually developed a new and distinctive working dog breed, the German Shepherd Dog. He greatly admired the herding dogs of his native Germany, and believed they had the full potential to be the total all-purpose working dog.

Ahead of his time, Max von Stephanitz was very aware of the failing need for herding dogs overall and believed that the working abilities of these dogs would decline unless they were put to other uses. Those dogs von Stephanitz was most interested in had

expressive heads, good bones, good gait, erect ears and good dentition.

An idealist with both strong intellect and the financial capabilities to support his ideas, Max von Stephanitz also possessed the determination and

dedication to put his ideas into practice. His perception of a herding dog was of an extremely intelligent, vigorous dog, of stable character and with many of the physical attributes belonging to the wild dog - fast, long of wind, and untouched by the extremes of other breeds.

He saw no beauty in a non-functional dog and was ruthless in discarding what he considered weak. Tireless and determined, he laid the foundations of the GSD history that were later to make the breed the greatest all-round working dog in the world.

Until Horand (1st registered German Shepherd), herding dogs came in a variety of shapes, sizes, types and abilities. Shepherds in Germany like elsewhere in the world, chose their dogs for their fitness, mental and physical, and for work only , and cared little for the dogs appearance.

Max von Stephanitz, on the other hand, had his own very structured ideas about the mental, anatomical, and bio-mechanical characteristics required of a herding dog.

He had a great understanding of the mental and anatomical requirements of a working shepherd dog having spent some time serving at the Veterinary College in Berlin earlier in his life.