V. Stephanitz - The German Shepherd Dog In Word And Picture

BY

V. STEPHANITZ

PRESIDENT OF THE VEREIN FR DEUTSCHE SCHFERHUNDE, SV.

ENGLISH EDITION

REVISED FROM THE ORIGINAL GERMAN WORK BY

J. SCHWABACHER

SECRETAINERIE KENNELS, AUERBACH, HESSEN

FOR THE SOLE COPYRIGHT OWNER FOR GREAT BRITAIN
& THE COLONIES

MAJOR C. E. W. BEDDOES

FALLOWDALE TRAINING KENNELS WARREN ROW Nr HENLEY ON THAMES

My chief aim in undertaking this task has been to supply the urgent need for a really standard book on the German Shepherd dog, whose sterling qualities are winning him an ever-increasing chorus of approbation, not only in his own land, but from all quarters of the Globe as well.

To make this book accessible to his lovers and friends in all English-speaking countries I entrusted the translation from the original to my colleague

the Rev. C. CHARKE, Hon. C. F., M. A. Oxon.

who has fulfilled his part with that fidelity both to the text and meaning of the author, which are so important in a work of this description.

The Copyrights for Great Britain and the Colonies have been secured by the great fancier and admirer of the breed, Major C. E. W. Beddoes, who with Mrs. Beddoes has spent several years in Germany, devoting all their spare time in studying the breed thoroughly. Their enthusiasm for the Shepherd Dog, the sound knowledge which they gained by attending all the big shows, and having all the important points minutely explained by the well known experts, their apprenticeship to the well known Trainer of Police Dogs in Bavaria, and their experience gained in breeding from their own dogs whilst staying in Germany stamp them to be the pioneers of the breed in England, whose advice should be of great value to all who keep the German Shepherd dog in England.

It is only fitting that I should say something about the work of the well-known Shepherd dog Conoisseur and President of the Verein fr deutsche Schferhunde, whose activities on behalf of the race have been a labour of unremitting love, extending over so many years.

Rittmeister (Cavalry Captain) von Stephanitz, in conjunction with Herr Artur Meyer of Stuttgart, founded the Verein fr deutsche Schferhunde on the occasion of the Karlsruhe Exhibition in April 1899, and for more than twenty-five years has devoted his energies to the interests of the Shepherd dog, as the first President of the same Society. He has accordingly, so to speak, grown up with the race; he has formed the Statutes of the Society, and this, along with the compiling of his own Stud Book, marks him out as one of the leaders in this important movement. Further, he is a breeder, who from his own ripe experience, has done more than anyone else to set up and fix those ideals for our dogs which will be a continual challenge and an encouragement to our efforts to improve that which, just because it already has so much, holds out the prospect of all the more.

Rittmeister von Stephanitz is then to-day at the head of the greatest and most important Society for the German Shepherd dog, which has a membership of 50.000, and over 500 local branches. It is to the tireless efforts and the wise counsel of our President in all that pertains to breeding and education, that the German Shepherd dog has attained the physical exterior and the wonderful fullness of his nature which impresses all who really begin to know him. Rittmeister von Stephanitz, in common justice to himself, must be considered as the Authority on the race; on his race, one could almost say with equal justice in the light of what he has attempted and accomplished for it.

Such a work as this from the pen of such an author, will give us all that has to do with the Shepherd dog, described in that most detailed and thorough manner which is only possible from one whose long activities, unwearied service, and unrivalled experience mark him as the essential and ideal lover of the race.

That the results of such work as his may redound to the service of the breed, and prove a source of ever-increasing benefit to the German Shepherd dog, wherever he may find a home, is the heart-felt wish of all the friends and admirers of Rittmeister von Stephanitz, and of

J. SCHWABACHER.

AUERBACH, HESSEN

JANUARY 1923.

Dear Sir,

In order to satisfy a long desired request for a reliable book on the German Shepherd Dogor Alsation Wolf Dogby which name it is known in England, I have obtained the copyright for Great Britain and the Colonies of a book entitled The German Shepherd Dog in word and Picture.

To obtain the copyright I went to a great expense and trouble, but I felt that I could not let such an opportunity to benefit the breeder and fancier in Great Britain pass by, especially after my own experience in Germany, where for three years I was given every facility to study the breeding, training and judging of this breed by the experts of the German Shepherd Dog Club.

The English Edition will shortly be ready for distribution: The author of this book is Capt. v. Stephanitz, who is recognised throughout the world as the greatest living authority on this now popular breed. The Work is without doubt the most complete that has yet been published on any breed of dog.

It would give me the greatest pleasure to dedicate the English Edition of this Work to the Kennel Club, a club that since its inception has done so much for dogs and dog-owners, and which is looked up to as the final authority on all questions relating to the wellbeing of the Dog world.

Yours faithfully,

C. E. W. BEDDOES.

Dear Sir,

I placed your letter of the 18th before my Committee at their meeting held yesterday, and beg to inform you that my Committee will be pleased for you to dedicate the English edition of the work on the Alsatian Wolf Dog to the Kennel Club, and to thank you for having suggested so doing.

Yours faithfully,

H. T. W. BOWELL

Secretary.

By the intelligence of the dog was the world created.

o says the Vendida, the oldest book of the Zendavesta, in a chapter which treats of The Creation of the World. The Zendavesta is a compilation of ancient Iranian beliefs. Like all similar traditions, it owes its origin to the process by which popularly accepted sayings and moral principles were committed to writing at a later date. For its material it drew on the bygone civilisation of one of the most ancient of heroic stocks of time immemorial. Notwithstanding that its foundation and its lore are lying far behind those remotely anterior and prehistoric events, this is the source from which we deduce the right to use the motto with which we have commenced our opening chapter. The World in the naturally narrow idea of Zoroaster, which even to-day has not been entirely superseded, and which does justice to man alone, is conceived of as the result of an evolution and development of humanity. We can imagine such thoughts and feelings arising in the minds of a people to whom the dog was not only a well-tried companion and comrade(an old Persian legal code, the Bundehesch already distinguishes between dogs who roamed in packs and those who were domesticated)but also, for whom, together with the cock and the fire, he had become the dispeller of evil spirits and of magic, the vanquisher of their enemy, the dark and evil of the night. His voice destroyed the evil, says the Bundehesch when speaking of the dog.