Читать книгу Meet the German Shepherd - Dog Fancy Magazine - Страница 6

Impressive and harmoniously built, the German Shepherd Dog is regarded as one of the world’s most recognizable dogs. At once, this dog is strong, agile, and well muscled, while also alert and full of life. Defying definition, the German Shepherd possesses nobility and quality.

Many of the words in the above paragraph come from the official breed standard of the GSD, but words are merely words. How do they come together to describe this wonderful breed?

For the Record

The German Shepherd Dog that lays claim to winning the most Best in Shows is Ch. Altana’s Mystique, owned by Jane Firestone and handled by James Moses. With 275 BIS wins, Mystique is not only the top-winning GSD of all time, she’s also the show dog with the most wins in American history, earning the Top Dog spot in 1993 and 1994. In 1993 alone, she amassed 116 BIS wins, more than any other dog in a single year.

The question we ask is: what makes a German Shepherd Dog look like a German Shepherd? It’s not simply the dog’s size, shape, angulation, or gait, but rather the combination of all of these essential features that together create an ideal representation of the breed. Written by the German Shepherd Dog Club of America (the breed’s national parent club) and approved by the American Kennel Club, the breed standard serves as a blueprint for breeding and judging at conformation shows. In fact, the purpose of dog shows is to determine which dogs are best suited for breeding. It’s absolutely critical for breeders and judges to have an accepted “ideal” so that all of the valued qualities of the breed will be preserved from generation to generation.

To emphasize that the German Shepherd is not just a pretty face in a shiny coat, the breed standard also describes this dog’s working ability. In the section on temperament, the standard states that the GSD must be “fit and willing to serve in its capacity as a companion, watchdog, blind leader, herding dog, or guardian, whichever the circumstances command. The ideal dog is a working animal with an incorruptible character combined with body and gait suitable for the arduous work which constitutes its primary purpose.”

The German Shepherd’s working ability and temperament are just as important as the desired physical characteristics that the standard details. These traits as described in the breed standard are intended to preserve the true working character of the breed. Although the vast majority of modern GSDs do not work in the same capacities as their herding-dog ancestors, they should still possess the ability and true spirit that distinguishes this versatile working breed.

German Shepherds possess a natural drive to herd other animals—or people if the job calls for it.

HERDING COUSINS

The German Shepherd Dog belongs to the Herding Group, the category of dogs that includes the shepherd’s assistants. The GSD is the most popular of these breeds in the United States, but other highly regarded and recognized breeds in this group include the Australian Shepherd, Border Collie, Collie, and Shetland Sheepdog. In appearance, the Herding breeds vary significantly, from the Pembroke Welsh Corgi and the mop-like Puli to the tousled Bearded Collie and the rough-coated Bouvier des Flandres. The GSD appears most similar to its Belgian herding cousins—the Belgian Malinois, Belgian Shepherd, and Belgian Tervuren, all of which excel in similar disciplines. All of the shepherd breeds were developed in continental Europe and were designed to work independently and alongside the shepherd to control, protect, and move—or herd—livestock such as sheep, goats, and cattle.

A PIECE OF HISTORY

The American Kennel Club registered the first German Shepherd Dog in 1908, a female by the name of Queen Switzerland, registration number 115006.

The GSD in Brief

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Germany

ORIGINAL USE:

Herding sheep and other livestock

GROUP:

Herding

AVERAGE LIFE SPAN:

12 to 14 years

COAT:

Double coat of medium length, consisting of a dense outer coat with straight, harsh, and close-lying hair and soft undercoat.

COLOR:

Strong rich colors are preferred, including sable, black, and black and tan. Pale, washed out colors are undesirable, and white is disqualified from the show ring.

GROOMING:

Once or twice weekly brushings recommended; daily brushing required during twice-annual shedding periods. Bathe whenever necessary. Ears, teeth, and nails should be attended to weekly.

HEIGHT/WEIGHT:

Males, 24 to 26 inches at the shoulder; females, 22 to 24 inches.

TRAINABILITY:

Very high

PERSONALITY:

Confident and approachable; direct and fearless, not prone to indiscriminate friendships; willing to meet new people and to excel in role as companion and working dog.

ACTIVITY LEVEL:

High; thrives with a job to do, and can do just about anything!

GOOD WITH OTHER PETS:

Yes, with proper introductions and training

NATIONAL BREED CLUB:

German Shepherd Dog Club of America; www.gsdca.org

RESCUE:

American German Shepherd Rescue Association; www.agsra.org

The German Shepherd is the most popular of the Herding Group dogs.

POPULAR FROM THE START

Unlike the histories of many dog breeds, the German Shepherd’s genesis is well documented. When Max von Stephanitz decided to launch a standardized program for the ideal working sheepdog, he set his eyes and heart upon a canine named Hektor von Linkshein, whom he renamed Horand von Grafrath, and deemed him to be the foundation dog for his new breed, the Deutsche Schaferhund or German Shepherd Dog. So impressed with this hard-working herding dog was von Stephanitz that he founded the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SV), the German breed club. The SV went on to become the largest specialty club in the world; today it boasts 1,600 local clubs and almost 80,000 members. Von Stephanitz made lasting and far-reaching strides with his new breed and was able to exert great influence over the German breeders thanks to the success of the SV.

The German Shepherd quickly became the “it” dog for both military and police work, as well as for families seeking companionship and protection. A decade into the breeding program, the GSD made its way to America and was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1908.

SOCIAL BUTTERFLY

The best GSD owner’s home and lifestyle should be able to accommodate a big, active dog. This breed wasn’t built for apartment-dwelling. Having a large, securely fenced yard is a must, as it is much easier to provide the German Shepherd Dog with opportunities to exercise freely. However, a GSD can adapt to living in an apartment if his owner is willing to spend at least 30 minutes twice a day taking the dog for a brisk walk.

The German Shepherd is a working dog with a drive to get up and go. If not exercised enough, he will get out of shape both mentally and physically. In addition to the time spent exercising your dog, you must be willing to find an activity that you both enjoy doing, then do it on a regular basis. GSDs need a “job” to do; otherwise they get bored and unruly. When the dog is young, his job should be to attend obedience classes and practice daily. Later, there are many interesting and enjoyable activities to choose from.

The GSD will fit into any human social group, whether a single-owner household or a family with several children. In families, older children and spouses can take on some of the responsibility to keep the GSD busy and happy. If the children are instructed on “dog etiquette” (that is, how to interact with the GSD calmly and in a non-threatening manner), the dog will be a willing and devoted playmate, protecting the children with his life if necessary. With a large breed like the GSD, it is imperative that parents supervise all dog-child interactions. No dogs, even small ones, should be left alone with a young child, as accidents do happen.

A Visionary for the Blind

Dorothy Harrison Eustis (1886–1946) was born in Philadelphia and today is remembered as the founder of The Seeing Eye, the first school for guide dogs in the United States. The organization, founded in 1929, was based on principles Eustis observed at a school in Germany that trained dogs to assist blind veterans. For a while, Eustis bred German Shepherd Dogs in Switzerland. The use of assistance dogs was unknown in the United States during this period, and the mission and success of The Seeing Eye changed the lives of many visually impaired individuals. By the time Eustis died in 1946, more than 1,300 blind individuals had been matched with guide dogs. The success of The Seeing Eye (www.seeingeye.org), based in Morristown, New Jersey, has spawned other guide dog schools around the world. Today assistance dogs are used for many other disabilities, including hearing loss, epilepsy, autism, and more. Eustis’s life is celebrated in the book Independent Vision by Miriam Ascarelli, published in 2010 by Purdue University Press.

If you own a farm of any size, the German Shepherd would make a wonderful addition to help keep your menagerie in order.

OWNER SUITABILITY

Successful German Shepherd owners (meaning people who can raise a mentally and physically sound German Shepherd Dog for many years) have certain personality traits and characteristics in common. Emotional stability is a cornerstone of this breed’s personality, and the dog thrives with an equally calm and levelheaded owner. You must be predictable to the dog, or he will become insecure, and the relationship will lack the necessary trust and result in the dog developing anxiety.

Meet the German Shepherd and More!

A great place to see German Shepherd Dogs and more than 200 other dog and cat breeds is at AKC Meet the Breeds^®, hosted by the American Kennel Club and presented by Pet Partners, Inc. Not only can you see dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens of all sizes, you can also talk to experts in each of the breeds. Meet the Breeds features demonstration rings to watch events with law enforcement K9s, grooming, agility, and obedience. You also can browse the more than 100 vendor booths for every imaginable product for you and your pet.

It’s great fun for the whole family. Meet the Breeds takes place in the fall in New York City. For more information, check out www.meetthebreeds.com.

The German Shepherd works for approval and learns best when guided by positive rewards rather than being forced into a behavior, so the breed’s ideal owner must also be capable of providing strong positive feedback for the dog. Although your dog would undoubtedly like to have you with him all day, he can easily adapt to a routine, if you work during the day and are away from home—just be sure to make an extra effort to share time with him each day. At least a few quality minutes of one-on-one interaction such as obedience work or games in the yard are vital if you want to remain closely bonded to your shepherd. The rest of the time, he will be content to lounge around in your sight, perhaps giving an occasional nose-nudge to solicit petting.

Bigger Is Not Always Better!

In the past hundred years that German Shepherd Dogs have been selected for work as police, military, and home guardians, the breed has increased in body size (both height and weight), compared to the original German sheep-tending dogs. The current standard for this breed calls for a mature dog between 24 and 26 inches at the top of the shoulders. Well-proportioned GSDs at that size weigh about 70 to 90 pounds. It takes up to three years for a GSD youngster to completely fill out his large frame, although pups reach adult height by about a year of age.

Today, over-sized GSDs are often advertised as desirable. Beware, though, that GSDs that are significantly larger than the standard recommends (and all dogs much over 100 pounds, for that matter) are much more susceptible to joint problems and generally do not live as long. Bigger is definitely not better.

GSD Breed Standard

OVERALL: The breed has a distinct personality marked by direct and fearless, but not hostile, expression, self-confidence and a certain aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships. The dog is poised, but when the occasion demands, eager and alert; both fit and willing to serve in its capacity as companion, watchdog, blind leader, herding dog, or guardian, whichever the circumstances may demand.

PROPORTION:

The German Shepherd Dog is longer than tall. The desirable long proportion is not derived from a long back, but from overall length with relation to height.

HEAD:

The head is noble, cleanly chiseled, strong without coarseness, and in proportion to the body. The expression keen, intelligent and composed. Ears are moderately pointed, in proportion to the skull, open toward the front, and carried erect when at attention, the ideal carriage being parallel to each other and perpendicular to the ground. The muzzle is long and strong, and its topline is parallel to the topline of the skull. Jaws are strongly developed.

NECK:

The neck is strong and muscular, clean-cut and relatively long, proportionate in size to the head and without loose folds of skin. At attention, the head is raised and neck carried high; otherwise head is forward rather than up.

TOPLINE:

The withers are higher than and sloping into the level back. The back is straight, very strongly developed without sag or roach, and relatively short.

CHEST:

It is well filled and carried well down between the legs. It is deep and capacious, never shallow, with ample room for lungs and heart, Correct ribbing allows the elbows to move back freely when the dog is at a trot.

TAIL:

The tail is bushy. It is set low rather than high. At rest, the tail hangs in a slight curve like a saber. When the dog is excited or in motion, the curve is accentuated and the tail raised, but it should never be curled forward beyond a vertical line.

FOREQUARTERS:

The shoulder blades are long and obliquely angled, laid on flat and not placed forward. Both the upper arm and the shoulder blade are well muscled. The forelegs, viewed from all sides, are straight and the bone oval rather than round. The feet are short, compact with toes well arched, pads thick and firm, nails short and dark.

HINDQUARTERS:

The whole assembly of the thigh, viewed from the side, is broad, with both upper and lower thigh well muscled, forming as nearly as possible a right angle. The upper thigh bone parallels the shoulder blade while the lower thigh bone parallels the upper arm.

COAT:

The ideal dog has a double coat of medium length. The outer coat should be as dense as possible, hair straight, harsh and lying close to the body. A slightly wavy outer coat, often of wiry texture, is permissible. The head, including the inner ear and foreface, and the legs and paws are covered with short hair, and the neck with longer and thicker hair. The rear of the forelegs and hind legs has somewhat longer hair. The German Shepherd Dog varies in color, and most colors are permissible.

—Excerpts from the German Shepherd Dog Breed Standard

A good GSD owner absolutely must be able to interact with the dog in a self-confident manner. These dogs want their humans to be leaders; your dog will look to you for direction. It’s important that you remain self-assured and fair with both corrections and praise. The German Shepherd is very independently minded. If you fail to instruct your dog in self-control or lack assertion, your dog will decide he can act on his own without permission. The breed’s natural instinct is to protect and, if not trained properly, can result in the dog unexpectedly deciding a person is threatening and acting protectively. For these reasons, the GSD thrives best with a decisive owner who can think quickly and take firm control of his dog under all circumstances.

Once you bring a German Shepherd Dog into your home, take the time to train him properly. For training resources, including class information, search the AKC’s extensive database for a training club in your area by visiting their site at www.akc.org/events/obedience/training_clubs. Successful training will lead to many happy years together with this happy, intelligent breed.

German Shepherds are friendly when in a relaxed setting. When well-trained, they get along great with children and other dogs.

At a Glance …

The German Shepherd Dog is renowned throughout the world for his striking good looks and dutiful service to our society.

The blueprint for the ideal GSD—the breed standard—is written and maintained by the breed’s national parent club, the German Shepherd Dog Club of America, a member club of the American Kennel Club.

German Shepherds were popular in Germany, where the breed originated, long before they arrived in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century.

Highly active by nature, German Shepherds are great workers. Give yours plenty of time each day devoted to exercise and mental stimulation.