Alsation, Alsatian, GSD, German Shepherd Dog, German Shepard Dog, German Shepherd, German Shepard, police dogs, working dogs, real working dogs, real police dogs

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#800080"> <p><font face="tahoma"><font size="+2">F</font>armer's <font size="+2">W</font>eekly</font><br> April 19 1996 <img src="images/Dog1s.jpg" align="right" width="140" height="199"></p> <p><font size="+2">W</font>hat happened to the black German Shepherds? And the white ones? And what about hip dysplasia and haemophilia? And why did test at Onderstepoort never materialise, asks Susan Spencer in the second instalment of her series. </p> <p><a target="_self" href="#references"><font size="+2">R</font>eferences</a> <p><font size="+2">S</font>urprising news to many of us is that the show shepherd has never been bred for real work. Real working lines have either not been regis tered with the German Shepherd Club (SV) - as in the case of sheep-herding shepherds still in Germany today (18) or have been registered, but kept apart from show-shepherd blood. <p><font size="+2">W</font>hen the breed was first registered in 1922 by a small group making up the SV, it was supposed to be judged as a sheep dog. However, from the start judges weren't shepherds themselves and no sheepdog trials were held to test the dogs' ability. Dogs that looked as though they could do a day's work with sheep won. What makes this even more amusing is that the real working sheepdog shepherds from which show dogs originated and that still exist today in Germany vary enormously in appearance - size, shape, hair length, colour. (l 8) In 1922, of 239 dogs examined for the SV's breed survey book, only four worked with sheep. (19) Today, 72 years later, German Shepherd dog breeders still judge their dogs as sheepdogs - not just "nor mal" sheepdogs, but those that can do a flying trot for a whole day (so the story goes). Maybe the SV are secretly breeding rnarathon-fit sheep specially for these dogs. The SV, back in the twenties, SOOIl realized the problems they were breeding when temperaments and health became poor. Alex Westfalenheim was banned from further use and his son, Erich von Grafenwerth, was exported to America owing to their bad temperaments. But the damage had already been done. (20) <p><b><font size="+2">D</font>escended</b><br> <font size="+2">B</font>y 1936, 96% of registered dogs and 76,5% of the bitches were descended from Erich's son Klodo von Boxberg. Flora Berkmeyer, the female pillar of this line (and Erich's grandmother) also had a poor temperament. (20) Schutzhund tests were introduced to test for temperament (why not sheepdog trials?), but these are of no use in breeding working dogs. Friederich Muller argued that there was a need for new blood from lines known to be physically and mentally sound and urged breeders to use working lines, possibly from old herding families to strengthen existing fashionable breed lines. (21) Von Stephanitz felt a return to the old working type was needed when he chose his 1930 Sieger Herold aus der Neder lausitz, but show breeders ignored him and didn't use the dog for stud. (22) He couldn't stop the fashion he'd started. <p><b><font size="+2">D</font>irty politics</b><br> <font size="+2">T</font>he breed itself was becoming fashion able worldwide and top show dogs were exported from Germany for vast sums of money. As in all big business, this led to dirty politics. <p><font size="+2">I</font>t seems that in the 1930s the Nazis increasingly took over the SV, purportedly even threatening Von Stephanitz with imprisonment until they forced him out in 1935. (23) - Although he had said that dog colour was of no significance and shouldn't be part of the breed standard(24), the SV campained against white dogs. They blamed them for genetic faults and encouraged a "buckets of bullets" solution to get rid of them. <br>Fanatics even committed atrocities against them. (23) <p><font size="+2">W</font>hite had been a popular colour of early sheepdogs and every German Shepherd today is descended from white dogs. Horand's grandsire, Greif, was pure white, and Beowolf's son Berno von Seewiese was white and registered in the SV Stud Book. His picture was in early versions of Von Stephanitz's book, but removed in later versions. Hettle Uckmark and Flora Berkenmeyer 's daughter Blanka van Riedekenburg isn't pictured anywhere despite many photos of her famous parents and son Erich von Grafenwerth. She was white and her name is incorrectly spelled Bianka in pedigrees. (25) Finally, the SV banned the colour (along with brindle and chocolate/liver) and only the American and Canadian Kennel Clubs stood up to the pressure and con tinued to register all German Shepherd dogs regardless of colour. The white shepherds are today known as American Canadian White Shepherds and are popular even in Germany. <p><font size="+2">A</font>s well as discriminating against certain colours, the SV has discriminated in favour of a "handful of kennels and a smaller handful of lines". (9) From the beginning, the SV has been authoritarian, only its president judging the adult males at the annual "beauty" Sieger show and the chief breed warden judging the bitches. (26) For the past 40 years (1955-1995), three SV presidents on their own determined which dogs were Siegers and so which lines were "in". (9) The extensive over-use of these few lines resulted in dogs being bred with exaggeratedly sloped backs and a large percentage of bad temperaments and hereditary disorders. But the SV and its political mouthpiece, the World Union of Shepherd Clubs (WUSV), seem increasingly unable or unwilling to publish factual material on failings (in the dogs). (27) <p><font size="+2">W</font>hen the Americans discovered hip dysplasia in their dogs after World War II, the SV simply said that it was an "American disease", unheard of in the fatherland. (28) This was a fact that need ed no proof, no x-rays. In 1968, x-rays showed that more than 90% of their dogs had the "American disease". In the April 1991 issue of the SV magazine, there's an article on hip dysplasia. It summarizes statements and relevant reference books in six blue boxes concerning what factors might influence hip dysplasia. In five of these boxes, Dr Willis's book is referred to, but in the sixth box, which states no correlation has ever been found between sloping back or hind angulation and hip dysplasia, <p><font size="+2">W</font>illis is left out. (29) His book notes Dr Verryn's scientifically accepted finding that there is a signifi cant correlation. The SV deliberately refuses to acknowledge it because it's a threatening piece of evidence against the sloped dogs that they are promoting. <p><font size="+2">I</font>n the 1980 issue of their magazine, four haemophiliac dogs descending from Canto V.D. Wienerau were reported. Many more haemophiliac descendants of his were discovered in France, Norway Denmark and Britain, but the SV "have reported no further cases and there is almost a wall of silence about implicating (him)". "It would appear that the whole German Shepherd Dog world sees haemophiliacs except Germany. It will be tragic for the breed if the W.U.S.V. and S.V. do not appear to recognise this defect and its source."(30) <p><font size="+2">A</font> friend's show dog nearly bled to death from his mouth before reaching a vet the other day. The injury was a puncture smaller than a match's head. I'd say that it's already more than tragic for individuals affected - it's horrendous that the SV seems to knowingly allow breeding with carriers. Unfortunately, the SA German Shepherd dog "fraternity" in the federation (or is I the federation?) has connections with the German SV. <p><font size="+2">D</font>escribed by themselves (June 9th) as being dedicated to fighting against "fringe opinions" and "members of other breeds attempting to undermine the development of the German Shepherd Dog", they sound like a political group rather than dog fanciers. The development that they are talking about is business development in the "dog share market " (it's a new one to me, too) and exporting and this explains their aggressiveness towards criticism of their products. Undermining their success "may have more serious consequences than the perpetrators envisage", they threaten. <p><font size="+2">A</font>fter last year's Olderhill article, the reporter who wrote it was harassed in his office. Julie was expelled from the federation. They sent the Advertising Standards Authority of SA a list of allegations about the Olderhills (which we disproved with written evidence) to stop our ads in the classifieds. <p><b><font size="+2">S</font>cientifically compared</b> <p><font size="+2">A</font>nd they campaigned orally from their head office, in their clubs and in articles against the Olderhills. When the fraternity heard that the physical performance of flat-backed and sloped shepherds was going to be scientifically compared at Onderstepoort the enterprise was stopped. Why? All breeds are being damaged by show people "cliques". The majority is excluded from success in the ring so that the gene pool of "champion stock" becomes so small inbreeding is inevitable. Some even refuse to allow their dogs to mate "non-champion stock" bitches with the result that "ordinary" dogs are sharing fewer and fewer ancestors in common with "show"'stock (and invariably fewer genetic faults). <p><b><font size="+2">S</font>olution</b> <br><font size="+2">I</font>t is obvious that attitudes have to change. The show world has to admit breeds' faults and correct them by gearing written breed standards and judges' interpretations of what health is. This will en courage show-dog breeders to breed holistically. At the moment, the FCI (International Dog Federation) rules that a judge is not allowed to interpret a breed standard "in any way that is detrimental to the dog's health" and yet most have promoted "over-typification which is detrimental to health and functionality". What is worse, breed standards themselves contain a number of requirements that prescribe physical abnormalities. In the words of the president of the German Kennel Club in his paper "Breed Standards from a Health Profile", all this has led to the show world being "wide open to severe criticism by the general public and more so by the scientists and members of the veterinary profession". (31) This leads me to the most important part of the solution - the veterinary profession and public. Every vet I've talked to - including scores at Onderstepoort - is aware of breeds' general problems and unhappy that the show world apparently promotes them. I would like to see articles by them in popular magazines such as Farmer's Weekly - publicizing this because public opinion is the most powerful tool for change. Dog breeders cannot keep all the dogs that they breed. So, if the public demands healthy dogs, they will have to start producing them. Buyers of puppies should demand a written guarantee against hereditary con ditions common to the breed and stipulate that should their puppy have such a condition they would keep the puppy and get a full refund of their money or what ever would satisfy them. I know German Shepherd dog breeders who "guarantee" their dogs' hips, but then expect people to give the defective dog back for a replacement knowing well that most people will be too attached to their dogs to do that. <p><b><font size="+2">S</font>ame genetic fault</b> <br><font size="+2">B</font>reeders, who knowingly mate a dog and bitch with the same genetic fault, but still "guarantee" the puppy free of it, can be legally held liable - not only for the purchase price of the dog, but for medical expenses resulting from the defect. If breeders are held responsible for the medical and temperamental defects they breed, then they will seriously reconsider their criteria. Making this a reality is in your hands, as is the future of all dog breeds. As far as working German Shepherd dogs go, if show people want their dogs to perform well, perhaps they should follow Mr Muller's advice and put working lines free from physical and mental defects to their show stock. Better 60 years late than never. For enquiries about the Olderhills and their progeny in South Africa (all KUSA registered), telephone (01214) 82131 or Cel 082 416-4961.0 <p><a name="references"></a><font size="+2"><b>R</b></font><b>EFERENCES</b> <br>17. KUSA Magazine, March 1994 p 98 <br>18. Faxes from Germany re the Association of Old German Sheepdogs (Alt deutsche Hutehunde) 19. Brian H. Wootton, The Gerrnan Shepherd Dog, p 21 <br>20 Brian H. Wootton, The German Shepherd, Dog p 21 21. Wootton <br>22 Nem and Percy Elliot, The Complete German Shepluerd Dog, p 21 23. Dogworld Magazine, June 1989 p 109 <br>24. Dogworld Magazine, June 1989 p 106 <br>25. Dogworld Magazine June 1989 p l05 <br>26. Wootton, p 74 <br>27. Willis p 14 <br>28. Willis, p <br>29. SV Zeitung, April 1991 <br>30. Willis, pp 224-227 <br>31. pp 1, 4. Top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dogg healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament alsatian top German Shepherd dog breeder in Gauteng, South Africa puppies pedigree Olderhill Dogs Working dog healthy good temperament Alsatian Working dog Dogs <p style="display : none;">Hosted by <a href="http://htpp://www.gam.co.za/" target="_blank">GamCo</a>.</p> </body>