The German Shepherd Dog
"First and foremost the German Shepherd dog is a shepherd dog in his native land. He has been used as a guardian for the flocks and as an aid to…
From: 1917 C.E. To: 1917 C.E.
Location: Germany; Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Scout, Red Cross and Army Dogs by Theo Jager, 1917.
The German Shepherd dog as a breed is among the oldest, and as in the case of most of the old breeds the origin is somewhat obscure. There are many theories advanced as to its origin, some claiming that it goes back as far as the wild dogs of Europe, while another claim is that it is derived from a cross of the dog with the wolf. However true any of these theories are the writer does not feel that he cares to commit himself to the extent of advancing his own ideas nor of endorsing any of the explanations given by others. It is enough to say that the breed has been known so long that it is absolutely a true breed and as it stands to-day has no wolf blood in it and certainly has no blood of the wild dog in it.
The point that most readers of this book want to know is about the dog as he is to-day; his appearance, qualities, temperament, disposition and mannerisms; in this I will try to describe all of these characteristics in a clear unprejudiced way.
In describing the German Shepherd dog, we might say that in general appearance he is about what we expect a wolf to look like. He is a trifle long in body, has erect ears, prominent eyes, rather long head, a coat of rather coarse short hair and a heavy undercoat; strong, oblique shoulders, strong back, medium wide but very deep chest, well sprung ribs, loins not too well "tucked up," strong hindquarters and wide flank; well bent stifles and hocks well let down; a heavy boned tail, not feathered but covered with a heavy coat of hair similar to the tail of a wolf or coyote and always carried low in a graceful curve; when in motion moving with an even machine-like stride on a trot and gathering himself well together as a trained race horse on a canter or run.
Taking up the details of the appearance of the dog we find that a male weighs between fifty-five and sixty pounds; while in a female it is permissable for her to weigh somewhat less; in height the male should stand from twenty-four to twenty-six inches, and again as in the weight the female may go a little under this.
The head should be in proportion to the body, of medium width in skull, tapering a trifle in the forehead and running very slightly down from the skull to forehead.
Nose or mask is long and tapering, but not so long or tapering as to lose any strength in the jaw.
To explain the above paragraph it will probably be well to make a comparison with the head of the modern bench show Collie, as probably everyone is more or less familiar with the appearance of that breed. In the modern Collie the head is very long, being almost a straight and decided angle from the top of the skull to the end of the nose. This in the German Shepherd dog is wrong, as there must be quite a well defined stop or depression at the point where the forehead stops and the nose begins. Then in the Shepherd dog the skull should be decidedly broader from between the ears back than the Collie; also a good width between the eyes.
Again unlike the Collie the ears of the Shepherd dog should be erect from base to tip, not drooping. They should be carried erect and opening to the front, the inside being covered with a light fine growth of hair.
The eyes should be of good size, set well in the head, preferably dark in color, although a light dog or dogs with light markings about the head and eyes may have slightly lighter eyes. The expression of the eyes is quite important, as this denotes to a great extent the character and disposition of the individual. The true German Shepherd dog expression of the eye is one of honest fearlessness, in fact a bold expression, but at the same time not one of aggression. There is too a deep, soulful look which is very appealing, especially when the animal is quiet and at rest.
The lips are dry; by this it is meant the lips do not hang down below the lower jaw, while the teeth are good size, especially the tusks, which are quite large and especially prominent when the mouth is open.
The neck is strong, not overly long, and the coat about the neck generally grows in a way as to form a sort of ruff running back onto the shoulder.
The shoulder is heavy, broad and oblique, giving the appearance of great strength.
The front legs are of a weight in proportion to the body but should be a trifle on the heavy side rather than on the light, and the bone covered with well-developed muscles. The pasterns must be straight and strong, but preferably slanting back a trifle rather than knuckling over. The feet are of good size and toes close together. A serious fault and one to be avoided is the open or splay foot.
The chest is deep and of medium breadth, good spring of ribs, making a fairly broad back over the chest.
The back is straight, strong and a trifle long, bringing out the proportion called for in the standard for the breed, which makes the dog from one to two inches longer than he is high.
The loins are not too well tucked up but are in proportion to the chest.
The stern or tail is of heavy bone, set well up in the body and carried low in a graceful curve, except when in excitement; it is then permissable for the tail to be carried higher than the back, but must never be curled or twisted.
The back legs, including hips, are as in the case of the front legs in proportion to the body but should be of full weight of bone. The stifle is bent in a graceful curve running down to the hock joints which are well let down, the appearance being when the dog is standing properly of a hackney stallion, that is the hind legs standing back rather than under the dog. Feet same as front, close and round.
Although the gait of the dog has been mentioned too much emphasis cannot be laid upon this. All that we have said in describing the hindquarters of the breed are most important, as they are the units and factors that to a great extent govern the gait.
We have also spoken of how the dog travels smoothly, and to emphasize it we repeat this, as a great deal of stress should be laid upon the gait.
The gait of a well formed dog is quite remarkable. It should resemble a slink if one can picture a slinking dog with none of the characteristics of cowardliness attached to it. In other words you must picture the dog moving as quietly and smoothly as a slinking one but walking upright and showing no signs of fear.
Then, as in the case of the gait, it is well to again call attention to the coat, which is fully as important as the gait, especially the undercoat, as on this depends the dog's power of withstanding any and all kinds of weather.
In connection with the coat comes color, and to describe all the colors and combinations of them would fill a volume. Every color is permissable from black to white. The most common colors, however, are black, black with tan and all shades and tints of brown from light fawn and buff to almost a cream; then the ash grey and iron grey are quite common, also the sable, or, as it is commonly called by breeders, wolf sable. In other words color does not matter and almost any color is to be found.
Enough has been said as to the appearance and physical points of the German Shepherd dog, and we will now take up the more interesting side of his makeup, showing a few of his characteristics, peculiarities, his mental capacity and his usefulness in many walks of life and branches of work.
First and foremost the German Shepherd dog is a shepherd dog in his native land. He has been used as a guardian for the flocks and as an aid to the shepherd for centuries. In this country he is used but to a very slight degree as a herding dog, there being but two or three cases on record where they are used for that purpose here. We know the dog in America first as a police dog, then as an army and Red Cross dog, while for several years he was generally known only by the name of a French Police dog.
There is no breed of dogs in the world called police dogs and no dog is a police dog until he is trained for the work, and any kind of a dog that is trained for police work is a police dog. Let us bear this in mind and there will be less confusion in regard to just what a German Shepherd dog and a police, dog really is.
Now before going into an explanation of the work done by the breed, let us first learn something of the mental makeup of these dogs and of their characteristics.
In disposition they are naturally very kind, very lovable, enjoy being petted, are demonstrative in showing their love for their master or mistress, are splendid with children and thoroughly enjoy the society of human beings.
The above paragraph may surprise many who have never owned a dog of this breed, as unfortunately they are considered by some to be of a questionable disposition and generally ugly. This, however, is not true. They are strictly a one-man dog but by this it is meant they care more for one person than all others, but at the same time they are as perfect in manners with those whom they know as any other dog, while with strangers they merely ignore them. In a household, for instance, they will recognize their own master but enjoy all of the other members of the household, and when their master is not there they are perfectly willing to accompany some other one of the household and temporarily look up to him as their master.
They have in general many peculiarities, for example every dog; of the breed seems to have a large bump of curiosity. There is not a, package that is brought to the house that is not thoroughly inspected by them, not a caller that is not subjected to the closest scrutiny, not a noise that is not investigated; in fact, everything unfamiliar to them must be explored and passed upon. A thousand and one other little things like this add to their attractiveness as a companion.
In natural intelligence they probably have no equal in the canine world. Whether trained or not they "pick up" little tricks of their own accord that are surprising. They learn quickly the habits of the master or of a household or wherever they may be located, and conform their ways to the customs of their homes. The writer has had several dogs that could tell the sound of his motor when it passed the house, and no matter how many other cars were passing the house during the day the dog would invariably run to the door when his car passed or stopped. Another dog in the writer's house would nor only push the screen door open to get out, as many dogs do, but when he wanted to come in reach up, take knob in his mouth, pull the door back and quickly stick his head in before the door swung back, and then pushing the door open, walk in.
There are any number of other instances which could be told showing the unusual intelligence of the breed.
Probably the best way to explain the intelligence of the breed is to tell exactly how this breed of dogs have come to be so generally used as police dogs. Although intelligence is not wholly responsible for this, at the same time it plays a most important part. Police dogs were first tried out and the idea seems to have originated in the town of Ghent, Belgium, the idea first being merely to have a dog accompany the officers on their rounds at night, probably more as a companion than anything else, although the dogs were trained to attack any one upon whom they were set by the officer.
This was the beginning of the police dog. The movement was almost immediately taken up in Germany and throughout Belgium, and in a few years had developed to such an extent that several prominent men, seeing the possibilities, took up the work in a very thorough way with the idea of improving upon it.
Naturally the first step toward improvement was to find the most suitable dog, and many dogs of all kinds were in turn tried. After a number of years of experimenting the Darwin law of the “survival of the fittest" ruled and the breeds simmered down to the German Shepherd dog, the Belgium sheepdog, Doberman Pinscher, Airedale Terrier and Rotweiler. Each breed had their advantages and each breed had their disadvantages, but on a whole the German Shepherd Dog seemed to forge to the front and take the lead over all other breeds.
It is interesting to note just why the German Shepherd dog should be superior to the other breeds, and will probably at the same time explain why this breed has come into such great popularity.
In the first place the German Shepherd dog meets the requirements for a police dog in regard to size, for he is large enough to demand respect yet is not so large as to be ungainly or slow of movement. This, of course, applies to all the other mentioned breeds.
Next comes his wonderful power of scenting. This undoubtedly has had as much to do with his success as any one other trait. Although he may not be superior to the Bloodhound in this respect, he is undoubtedly the equal and far better than any of the above-mentioned breeds. Then, too, while on the trail of a human being he is far more apt to stay on the trail than the Airedale or Doberman, since being purely a shepherd dog he has not the hunting instincts of these two, and is not disturbed or does not leave the man trail when it is crossed by that of a cat, rabbit or other animal, this being one of the chief disadvantages in the trailing of the Airedale.
Next in importance comes his intelligence and ability to learn easily and quickly. In this latter quality he is far superior. The Airedale and Doberman are intelligent, and whereas it is doubtful if they rank as high as the German Shepherd in this respect, for the sake of argument granting that they are his equal, it is a very well known fact that both of these breeds are particularly strong minded, or as it is generally expressed, very hard headed, the consequence being that they are far more difficult to train, and whereas they may as a finished product turn out as well in the end it is possible to train at least two, and possibly three, German Shepherds to one of the others.
This latter, of course, is considerable of an advantage, especially in the training of war dogs, as generally when they are needed they are needed at once and most trained dogs must be turned out as soon as possible. Then, too, since they are easier trained, more people are found who can train them and this as a general rule is more difficult to find than the actual training of the dogs.
Next and last in importance is the coat of the German Shepherd and his ruggedness. Due to the exceptional heavy undercoat, of which we have spoken before, the German Shepherd Is protected to such an extent as to be able to withstand almost any and all kinds of weather. Water makes little or no impression upon his coat, and the writer has seen young puppies coated with a solid glare of ice, yet in perfect spirits and apparently enjoying everything in life a dog can or does enjoy. The protecting qualities of this coat probably has something to do with the ruggedness of the dog, but whether it has or not the fact remains that the German Shepherd is seldom sick, is able to withstand all kinds of abuse and unfavorable conditions without apparently any ill effects.
Jager, Theo.
Scout, Red Cross and Army Dogs
. Arrow Printing Company. 1917.
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