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    The Police Dog: A Study Of The German Shepherd Dog (or Alsatian)
    The Police Dog: A Study Of The German Shepherd Dog (or Alsatian)
    The Police Dog: A Study Of The German Shepherd Dog (or Alsatian)
    Ebook139 pages1 hour

    The Police Dog: A Study Of The German Shepherd Dog (or Alsatian)

    By David Brockwell

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    Originally published New York 1925, this scarce early work on theGerman Shepherd Dog (G.S.D.) is very hard to find in its first edition. VINTAGE DOG BOOKS have now republished it, using the original text and photographs, as part of their CLASSIC BREED BOOKS series. The book was originally published to assist American breeders and owners of the "Police Dog", which at that time was a relatively recent introduction in the U.S.A. Its objective was to provide a complete and concise knowledge of every phase of this breed. The book's two hundred and ten pages contain seven Comprehensive Chapters: Origin and History. Appearance and Characteristics. Breeding. Care and Rearing. Training (Emphasis on Police and Guard Dog Work) Various Uses. Diseases and Accidents. The book is well illustrated with text drawings and full page photographs of Champions of that era. This is a fascinating read for any G.S.D. enthusiast or historian of the breed, and also contains much information that is still practical and useful today. Many of the earliest dog breed books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now increasingly scarce and expensive. VINTAGE DOG BOOKS are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateMar 29, 2011
    ISBN9781446548813
    The Police Dog: A Study Of The German Shepherd Dog (or Alsatian)

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      Book preview

      The Police Dog - David Brockwell

      CHAPTER ONE

      ORIGIN AND HISTORY

      CHAPTER I

      ORIGIN AND HISTORY

      Research has not yet fully determined in what territory the original of our present genuine dog existed. Most things point to its beginning in some cold climate. The reasons for this belief would take too long to enumerate here, and would be of little interest to the average lover of the dog as he exists to-day.

      We all know, however, that the dog is of a very old species. The wolf, which he most closely resembles, has existed for about two million years. At the same time, or soon after, there also existed quite a number of small, wild dogs which were wolf-like. As late as the beginning of the nineteenth century, a wild dog was found in South America. This animal showed, in appearance, very few characteristics of the genuine dog, except that the teeth were exactly the same, though they lacked the last two molars. In shape, this wild dog was long and low to the ground, with a long, flat tail, and short muzzle. Its color was light gray and black, and the hair thick and woolly. It might be mentioned in connection with the similarity of this species to our dog, that most pups have thick, woolly hair, but with them, the long hair gradually pushes through this down.

      Since it is admitted that our dog was originally wild and not at all like the fond and useful animal he is to-day, it will be interesting to note his early introduction to man and his gradual development. No doubt the first meeting between man and the wild dog came about through the desire of the dog to steal from the food câches of the primitive man, and to feast on the carcasses of larger animals left by the hunters. Thus the dog, whose sense of smell was as keen then as it is to-day, became accustomed to the scent of man. It is a strange fact that every domesticated animal, except the cat, has a keen sense of smell, and the cat, as we all know, is not yet a really domesticated or man-loving animal.

      HECKTOR

      Cosalta Kennels            Greenwich, Conn.

      As these wild dogs followed the hunters, they were often killed and the young taken captive. At breeding time they usually ran away to find a mate and sometimes never returned. Often, however, they came back and brought their young with them. As they became more tame and accustomed to their new environment, the desire to seek the wilds left them and they began to mate in captivity. Thus each succeeding generation was less wild. As they settled more into the family life of man the latter realized how keen was their knowledge of approaching danger, and often profited by their warnings. As man’s eyes are meant only for daylight, the dog, with his keener vision, was a useful watcher after dark. Not because of any desire to protect, in his early domesticated days, but merely from instinct, he warned his master.

      The dog, at first, no doubt, kept close to the women and children in the camps. The children, because they would play with and not hurt him, and the women because they cared for him, since only puppies were at first adopted. Later, the hunter, realizing how much better the dog could trace an animal scent, began to take him on hunts. Naturally, a long time elapsed before the dog was put to this use, as his instinct was to find the game and then tear it to pieces. The dog species is, however, very easily tamed and taught.

      Some students of the dog claim that our dog cannot have originated from the wild species because the domestic dog barks and the wild dog does not. This statement is not borne out by fact, as there are some families of dogs in certain parts of the high northern countries that seldom, if ever, bark. Besides, we have so little chance of studying the dog in its really wild state, it could not be positively stated that it does not bark. Since most wild animals can be taught innumerable things, when domesticated, why could n’t a wild dog be taught to bark?

      It would hardly be possible to say at what exact period of time the domestication of the dog began. There is no definite line between the time when he was simply a scavenger of early man and a fully domesticated dog. The time at which he began to be tamed was probably about the beginning of the neolithic period, as bones of the dog have been found in the relics of the peoples of that time. Thus the first time of domestication of the dog can be placed with accuracy at least twelve thousand years back.

      Since the ancestors of our dogs began to be domesticated so many years ago, it can easily be seen how in that length of time they could be changed and developed to the various breeds we have to-day. The exact origin of most of the earlier breeds is somewhat obscure, but the dog with which this book deals—the German Shepherd, or Police Dog—is thought to date back to the Bronze Age. This dog, crossed with a wolf-strain, has retained almost its original form.

      The breed has been known in Alsace for a thousand years. That it existed on farms as a shepherd dog when the Romans came to the Rhine is evidenced by the fact that the historian, Cornelius Tacitus, calls attention to the wolf-like dog of that country.

      The so-called Police Dog, or German Shepherd Dog, although variously known as the Alsatian Wolf Dog, Belgian Police Dog, and French Police Dog, was most generally recognized by its true name, the German Shepherd Dog. The word German was arbitrarily dropped by the American Kennel Club in 1918, and the breed has since been called the Shepherd Dog. At this time there can be no possible doubt of the overwhelming popularity of the breed, which is proven by the immense increase in recent kennel showings.

      The Germans know the breed as Deutscher Schaferhund, or German Shepherd Dog, when trained for duty as the Policehund or Police Dog. In Germany as early as 1911 there were between four and five hundred police stations provided with these specially trained dogs. This dog is most surely a pure, straight breed, as all pictures and stories of him as far back as the seventh century show him to have been the same type as today. The efforts of breeders, however, have greatly improved his appearance and value. Thus to-day he is the most strikingly handsome member of the canine race. The principal fact which disproves the relationship with the wolf is the difference in their eyes, the pupil of the dog being oval, whereas the form of the pupil in the eyes of the wolf is oblique. Therefore, the breeders responsible for the fixed type have provided most wisely for a combination, that in preserving beauty of outline has lost nothing in usefulness as a work dog.

      The public generally labors under a mistaken idea as to the true and natural disposition of the dogs of this breed. This misapprehension may be due to the name Police Dog, which might imply that he was a species of blood-hound, but this false opinion is mainly the result of his marked success as a Police Dog.

      According to von Stephanitz, founder ana head for twenty-five years of the German Shepherd Dog Club, there are six root stocks that mark the beginning of the breed.

      Louis XI, who ruled in France early in the fifteenth century, was the

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