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The ‘Deutsche Schäferhund’ or 'German Shepherd Dog' originated from herding breeds in
Germany in the late 1800's under the guidance of Captain Max von
Stephanitz. It was not long before people realised that this was a
dog of extraordinary intelligence and that it had a suitability for
working. In 1899 a breed society known as Der Verein fur Deutsch
Schaferhunde (The Club for German Shepherd Dogs) was formed in Germany. The first registered dog in
the stud book was Horand v Grafath.
By around 1918
the breed had reached the shores of the UK following the First World War.
A breed club was formed in 1919 in the UK and the breed was known as
Alsatian Wolf Dog, a name which was to undergo change later due to the
connotations that the breed was aligned with the wolf breed. Hence the
name was changed to Alsatian.
In Australia early imports of German Shepherd Dogs known as "German Sheep Dogs" were known to have
hit West Australian shores around 1904. Two of these imports were Freia vom Park and Stephen vom Park. Others were known to have been
imported into Melbourne around 1925 and many other imports followed in other
states.
In October 1928
the Federal Government of Australia placed an importation ban on the breed
which was enforced in 1929.
During the course of the import ban, which was to stretch for another 43 years,
a number of imports were smuggled into the country.
Unfortunately
the import ban was not lifted until 1972 with some restrictions remaining
until 1976. With the lifting of the import ban the breed enjoyed a
surge in popularity with record numbers of German Shepherd Dogs being shown
at National shows during the 1980's. The popularity of the breed peaked during
the 1990's and the German Shepherd Dog became the most popular breed in
Australia in terms of
registrations of puppies.
Today the breed
is still one of the most popular breeds in terms of registrations.
In 2011 the long stock coated variety, which were previously
not allowed to be shown, have been accepted to be registered in a separate
register for long stock coats from 2012 and will be allowed to be shown in the show
ring separately from the short coated variety.
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An early representative of the breed in Australia
Claus v Eulengarten (circa 1929)
Ch Almark Black Prince, Grand Victor of
1st National Show, 1967 |
