The Early German Shepherd - Page 1

SZ-1 Horand von Grafrath SZ-1 Horand von Grafrath Born: January 1st, 1895 First registered German Shepherd Dog in Germany. Bought and registered by Captain von Stephanitz.                 Will the "REAL" German Shepherd, PLEASE STAND UP?

  I'm having a hard time getting the pics of the earliest Shepherds to post.

     With all the controvery over who is and who isn't breeding to the breed standard,I think that the original Shepherd look is all but gone. Does anyone breed for the look the Captain did?

     How about the colors he chose? I see WHITE in his original dogs!

     Why is White such bad Voo-Doo Now?  I read somehere, the reasons the whites were removed from the Gene pool was due to the fact that "as police messenger dogs", they were easily spotted in the dark? Does that make them any less German Shepherd for Todays purpose? They were in it from the get-go!

(and no, I don't have or even care for white Shepherds.)

     Just thought I'd come in with a little better topic than I've been in lately. I think EARLY SHEPHERD PICS WOULD BE NICE FOR A CHANGE>

http://www.gsdca.org/GSDReviewed/hdogs/HorandGrafrath.html

Keep in mind that you are talking about foundation dogs right now. Just because breeder starts with that look dose not mean he will not improve on what he thinks is more suitable for the full functionality of the dog. Plus you have more people involve now, so the judges and the breeders brought the breed to where it is today, by bringing forward what they believed is more desirable and correct. Like I said before, there is not a single thing that people didn't manage to F-up in this world. :)When comes to color, there are sheep dogs that are all white :) but because of where the breed originated it was believed that white markings are too visible. Personally I don't like white markings on GSD, but there are people that don't have a problem with it. I am more interested in the functionality of a dog than his looks. I do agree that there are dogs on the extreme end, but I think breeders did improve some traits, unfortunately I start seeing too much angulations in the new top dogs, once again this is just my personal opinion and expression of my own taste. I do like the old GSD look, this is why I am more into working lines as well, where there is not so much angulations.

some of those dogs are ugly  although they are straight backs. the heads look alittle chezch to me no wonder the figth so hard to not mix todays hock walkers with the old ddr     east     with todays show line how ever i think if done correctly over the corse of ten years or so the could pull the hocks back up to the right placement and maybe just breed some brains back in them.sables seems to be the the color of the era

Hi kitkat3478,

I breed those ugly sucker's (and thanks for the compliment in my earlier post, snajper69>much appreciated!)

Anyway, I recieved this pic from some very happy people that got a pup from me & I was surprised how handsome
their boy got, he has already been neutered and is pictured at 18 months, the people that got him were an older
couple, and at first the lady wanted to give him back when she saw me at puppy training class, and I told her I
would take him back if it didn't work out,(He was a brat!), now I couldn't pay her a million dollars to have him back, they are
thrilled with his brains & beauty,  also he is keeping them healthy & active with his playfulness!

 >>>Thor

mirasmom you dog looks great.its those pointy nose things i do not like.nor todays showlines.i just wonder in they mix some east ddr lines to todays show lines could that fix some of the cow hocking of today and would the gsd world except the mix to fix ??

Someone knows how to take care of that dog, it looks like he is fit to run marathon lol. I think you picked good owners.

Mira's mom, he looks great.  Do not call him ugly.  He is a handsome hunk of dog.

Thanks Guys!!

You guys are way tooooooo nice

Don't you just love the breed.... 

I've heard it was the Nazis/SS during WWII that demanded white GSD's be culled at birth. They saw white as being a weakness.

In some other breeds of dogs, white is genetically linked to deafness, and sometimes lethal recessive genes as well, but this is not the case in the GSD.

Sorry Jean,

     I HAVE TODAYS SHOWLINE, and my dogs don't 'NEED FIXING. ' As far as I'm concerned, my dogs are "the fix in the mix"!

Mirasmom,

     Your dog looks just like my dogs. I BREED FOR STRAIGHT BACKS! I am trying to keep with the ORIGINAL SHEPHERD!!!

     I don't really care what others say about my dogs. "I KNOW, I AM PRODUCING DOGS THAT WILL ADJUST AND CONFORM," "TO WHATEVER " life brings them!

  There seems to be "TWO SIDES" to this spectrum, "show lines, and working lines."."Where EXACTLY, does this line cross?"

     Does color differentiate, "show/working?" Kennel, Owner, Breeder?  "WHO??? ," decides what is right and what is wrong? The" GERMAN SEIGER", seems like it is, or at least SHOULD BE, the FINAL DECISION, on WHAT IS A GERMAN SHEPHERD!

     However,'Top SEIGERS', for many generations have been RED and BLACK, "BUT, "the original Shepherds were,SABLE,(with WHITE, in the MIX).

     REALLY NOW, WHO IS RIGHT,,,AND WHO IS WRONG????

IS A GERMAN SHEPHERD, "Pre-disposed to go out and work", for a living? OR,"CAN THEY BE A LOYAL FAMILY MEMBER", and still maintain their "STATUS QUO", AS A TRUE BLUE ' GERMAN SHEPHERD! GUARDIAN OF ?????????????