This entry was posted on 2014-08-06 by Schalk.

The German Shepherd Dog that is large in size is classified under working dogs and is part of the herding group. If the name did not already give it away, German Shepherd's were initially from Germany and were used to herd and guard sheep. This breed requires an energetic lifestyle, but is also known to be a perfect companion and watchdog.

Traits

•    Other names: Alsatian, Berger Allemand, Deutscher Schäferhund, Schäferhund
•    Niackname: GSD
•    Weight: Males: 30–40 kg, Females: 23–33 kg
•    Height: Males: 60–65 cm, Females: 55–60 cm
•    Coat: Three types: Double coat.
•    Colour: black and red or black and tan (rear colours include all-Black, all-White, liver and blue)
•    Litter size: 5–10 puppies
•    Life span: 10-12 years

Physical Characteristics

Its double coat is made up of a slightly curly or linear, dense outer coat covering a thick undercoat. Its medium length coat sheds throughout the year. The coat colours include black and red or black and tan, but there are also some rare colours that include blue and liver, just black and just white. You can buy grooming tools for your German Shepherd here.

Personality and Temperament

The German Shepherd Dog is a loyal companion but great watchdog by keeping a close eye on strangers, retaining its manner of being distant and suspicious. It’s not very friendly towards strange dogs often showing signs of assertiveness and dominance, but generally gets along well with other pets at home. The German Shepherd is an incredibly versatile dog that shows interest in learning and is very happy to preform tasks dutifully.

Plenty of mental stimulation is a must as this is a highly intelligent breed. Exceptionally good in obedience classes, the German Shepard Dog is keen to learn and therefore easy to train, specifically with the use of voice commands. The best training would be one that is focused on rewards instead of punishment for example: clicker training. This breed is able to learn many skills e.g. tracking, agility, guarding work and rescue work. You can buy training clickers here.

Care

The German Shepherd Dog is suited to live indoors or outdoors in mild or cool climates, but much prefers to live indoors close to its family. To ensure that its body and mind remain active, exercise or training sessions are a must. This breed needs to be groomed thoroughly because its sheds all year round, you will need to brush him at least once or twice a week. This will encourage the shedding process and will help you control the amount of hair in your home.

Health

The lifespan of a German Shepherd Dog is about 10-12 years. The serious health issues that it’s susceptible to include canine hip dysplasia (CHD) and elbow dysplasia. The minor issues include panosteitis, cardiomyopathy, hemangiosarcoma, degenerative myelopathy, von Willebrand's Disease (vWD), malignant neoplasms, hot spots, cauda equine, pannus, cataract, skin allergies, perianal fistulas and gastric torsion. Attributable to Aspergillus mold the German Shepherd is susceptible to a fatal fungal disease. As this breed has many susceptible issues you need to ensure that you take him for regular check ups at the vet. The tests available are elbow blood, eye, and hip amongst others.

History & Background

Known for its hard work throughout the years the German Shepherd Dog has served as a guide dog, police dog, guard dog, explosives and narcotics detecting dog, war dog, show dog, search and rescue dog, and lastly as a sheep herding dog. In the beginning breeders developed this breed purely for the purpose of herding and guarding sheep, only few other dogs are know to be so versatile.

The first to officially breed the German Shepherd Dogs was Max von Stephanitz. He had a keen interest in the Shepherding dogs used at the time by Germans and noticed that there were numerous contrasting types of the Shepherd dogs, thus decided that the introduction of a standard breed was needed. The Shepherding dogs that attracted his attention the most were those that contained a powerful upper body, a wolf like appearance, up right ears and those who were intelligent and eager to work. As the genetic basis for his breeding program, in 1889 Max bought the ideal Shepherd Dog and proceeded to change the dogs name to Horand von Grafrath. He officially listed the dog within a new breed registry and set about on his journey to creating the standard Shepherd. Stephanitz and Artur Meyer within the same year established the Society for the German Shepherd Dog in order to better the German Shepherd Dog's breeds standard.

There is much discussion regarding the amount of wolf present within the German Shepherd breed. Horand was said to be part wolf and Stephanitz crossbred with wolves. During different times in the breed’s development Stephanitz’s studbook consisted of four records of wolf crosses. On the other hand the word “wolf” at the time was generally used to describe a pattern that is currently know as “sable”. Stephanitz wrote a book called The German Shepherd in Word and Picture in 1923 and strongly advocated breeders to not cross with wolves.

In deciding to focus purely on intellect, strength and the capacity to work well amongst humans Stephanitz managed to create a breed that is an ideal companion. This exceeded his expectations and his success allowed the popularity of the German Shepherd Dogs to grow steadily. Various countries during World War l used the breed as a war watchdog. The American Kennel Club (AKC) during the same time decided to change the breeds name from German Sheepdog to Shepherd Dog while it was renamed by Britain as the Alsatian Wolfdog. In both accounts they attempted to detach the breed from its German origin.

The AKC in 1931 decided to change the breeds name back to: the German Shepherd Dog. Over the years the German Shepherd Dog could be seen in movies such as Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin. Today in the U.S it’s listed as one of top ten most popular breeds and in many American cities even ranked as number one.

Nutrition

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