The German Shepherd (German: Deutscher Sch�ferhund, German pronunciation: ['???f??

h?nt]) is a breed of medium to large-sized working dog that originated in Germany.

In the English language, the breed's officially recognized name is German Shepherd
Dog (sometimes abbreviated as GSD). The breed was officially known as the Alsatian
in Britain until 1977 when its name was changed back to German Shepherd. The German
Shepherd is a relatively new breed of dog, with their origin dating to 1899. As
part of the Herding Group, German Shepherds are working dogs developed originally
for herding sheep. Since that time however, because of their strength,
intelligence, trainability, and obedience, German Shepherds around the world are
often the preferred breed for many types of work, including disability assistance,
search-and-rescue, police and military roles, and acting.[5] The German Shepherd is
the second-most registered breed by the American Kennel Club[6] and seventh-most
registered breed by The Kennel Club in the United Kingdom.[7]
Contents

1 Description
1.1 Intelligence
2 Temperament
2.1 Aggression and biting
3 Modern breed
3.1 Controversy
4 Use as a working dog
5 History
6 Etymology
7 Popularity
8 Health
8.1 Skeletal health and supplementation
9 In popular culture
10 Notable German Sheperds
10.1 Dickin Medal recipients
10.2 PDSA Gold medal recipients
10.3 PDSA Certificate recipients
11 See also
12 References
13 Further reading
14 External links

Description

German Shepherds are medium to large-sized dogs.[8] The breed standard height at
the withers is 60�65 cm (24�26 in) for males, and 55�60 cm (22�24 in) for females.
[1][9][10] German Shepherds are longer than tall, with an ideal proportion of 10 to
8 1/2. The AKC official breed standard does not set a standard weight range.[11]
They have a domed forehead, a long square-cut muzzle with strong jaws and a black
nose. The eyes are medium-sized and brown. The ears are large and stand erect, open
at the front and parallel, but they often are pulled back during movement. A German
Shepherd has a long neck, which is raised when excited and lowered when moving at a
fast pace. The tail is bushy and reaches to the hock.[9]
German Shepherd skeleton.

German Shepherds have a two-layer coat which is close and dense with a thick
undercoat. The coat is accepted in two variants; medium and long. The long-hair
gene is recessive, making the long-hair variety rarer. Treatment of the long-hair
variation differs across standards; they are accepted but not competed with
standard coated dogs under the German and UK Kennel Clubs while they can compete
with standard coated dogs, but are considered a fault in the American Kennel Club.
[9][11][12] The FCI accepted the long-haired type in 2010, listing it as the
variety b�while short-haired type is listed as the variety a.[13]
Most commonly, German Shepherds are either tan/black or red/black. Most color
varieties have black masks and black body markings which can range from a classic
"saddle" to an over-all "blanket." Rarer color variations include the sable, pure-
black, pure-white, liver, silver, blue, and panda varieties. The all-black and
sable varieties are acceptable according to most standards; however, the blue and
liver are considered to be serious faults and the all-white is grounds for instant
disqualification from showing in conformation at All Breed and Specialty Shows.[11]

German Shepherd with black mask and black body markings

German Shepherds are medium to large-sized; this adult male one, for example,
is large-sized

Headshot of a male German Shepherd showing the long muzzle, black nose and
brown, medium-sized eyes

Female sable German Shepherd nursing her litter of six puppies

Two German Shepherds

This 14-week-old female German Shepherd puppy's left ear is not yet erect

A female German Shepherd looks attentively at her owner

Black German Shepherd

Completing an obstacle course for military working dogs

A four-month-old female German Shepherd tilting her head to try to better

understand her owner's command

A ten-month-old German Shepherd

Intelligence

German Shepherds were bred specifically for their intelligence,[14] a trait for
which they are now famous.[5] In the book The Intelligence of Dogs, author Stanley
Coren ranked the breed third for intelligence, behind Border Collies and Poodles.
[15][16] He found that they had the ability to learn simple tasks after only five
repetitions and obeyed the first command given 95% of the time.[5] Coupled with
their strength, this trait makes the breed desirable as police, guard and search
and rescue dogs, as they are able to quickly learn various tasks and interpret
instructions better than other breeds.[17]
Temperament
German Shepherds are well renowned for their protectiveness over family members

German Shepherds are moderately active dogs and are described in breed standards as
self-assured.[11] The breed is marked by a willingness to learn and an eagerness to
have a purpose. They are curious, which makes them excellent guard dogs and
suitable for search missions. They can become over-protective of their family and
territory, especially if not socialized correctly.[18] They are not inclined to
become immediate friends with strangers.[19] German Shepherds are highly
intelligent and obedient, as well as being protective of their owners.[20]
Aggression and biting
Further information: Dog bite prevention

While an Australian report from 1999 provides statistics showing that German
Shepherds are the breed third most likely to attack a person in some Australian
locales,[21] once their popularity is taken into account, the percentages of GSD
attacks drops to 38th.[22]

According to the National Geographic Channel television show Dangerous Encounters,

the bite of a German Shepherd has a force of over 1,060 newtons (238 lbf) (compared
with that of a Rottweiler, over 1,180�1,460 newtons (265�328 lbf), a Pit bull,
1,050 newtons (235 lbf), a Labrador Retriever, of approximately 1,000 newtons (230
lbf), or a human, of approximately 380 newtons (86 lbf)).[23]
Modern breed
The typical kennel club's breeding goal for modern structure of the body of GSD

The modern German Shepherd breed is criticized by some for straying away from Max
von Stephanitz's original ideology that German Shepherds should be bred primarily
as working dogs and that breeding should be strictly controlled to eliminate
defects quickly.[24][25] He believed that, above all else, German Shepherds should
be bred for intelligence and working ability.[26]
Controversy

The Kennel Club, in the United Kingdom, is involved in a dispute with German
Shepherd breed clubs about the issue of soundness in the show-strain of the breed.
[27][28] The show-strains have been bred with an extremely sloping topline (back)
that causes poor gait in the hind legs. Working-pedigree lines, such as those in
common use as service dogs, generally retain the traditional straight back of the
breed.

The debate was catalyzed when the issue was raised in the BBC documentary, Pedigree
Dogs Exposed, which said that critics of the breed describe it as "half dog, half
frog". An orthopedic vet remarked on footage of dogs in a show ring that they were
"not normal".

The Kennel Club's position is that "this issue of soundness is not a simple
difference of opinion, it is the fundamental issue of the breed's essential
conformation and movement."[27] The Kennel Club has decided to retrain judges to
penalize dogs suffering these problems.[29]

The Kennel Club also recommends testing for haemophilia and hip dysplasia, other
common problems with the breed.[30][31]
Use as a working dog

German Shepherds are a popular selection for use as working dogs. They are known
for being easy to train and good for performing tasks and following instructions.
They are especially well known for their police work, being used for tracking
criminals, patrolling troubled areas and detection and holding of suspects.
Additionally, thousands of German Shepherds have been used by the military. Usually
trained for scout duty, they are used to warn soldiers to the presence of enemies
or of booby traps or other hazards.[32] German Shepherds have also been trained by
military groups to parachute from aircraft[33] or as anti-tank weapons. They were
used in World War II as messenger dogs, rescue dogs and personal guard dogs.[26] A
number of these dogs were taken home by foreign servicemen, who were impressed by
their intelligence.[26]

The German Shepherd is one of the most widely used breeds in a wide variety of
scent-work roles. These include search and rescue, cadaver searching, narcotics
detection, explosives detection, accelerant detection and mine detection dog, among
others. They are suited for these lines of work because of their keen sense of
smell and their ability to work regardless of distractions.[32] At one time the
German Shepherd was the breed chosen almost exclusively to be used as a guide dog
for the visually impaired. When formal guide dog training began in Switzerland in
the 1920s under the leadership of Dorothy Eustis, all of the dogs trained were
German Shepherd females.[34] An experiment in temperament testing of a group of
Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherds showed that the Retrievers scored higher
on average in emotional stability and ability to recover promptly from frightening
situations, cooperative behavior and friendliness; while the German Shepherds were
superior in aggression and defensive behavior. These results suggested that
Labrador Retrievers were more suited to guide dog work while German Shepherds were
more suited to police work.[35] Currently, Labradors and Golden Retrievers are more
widely used for this work, although there are still German Shepherds being trained.
In 2013, about 15% of the dogs trained by Guide Dogs of America are German
Shepherds, while the remainder are Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers.[36]
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in the United Kingdom states that crosses
between Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers make the best guide dogs,
although they also train some German Shepherds, as well as some other breeds.[37]
Guide Dogs for the Blind in the United States trains only Labrador Retrievers,
Golden Retrievers and crosses between these breeds.[38] Guide Dogs Queensland in
Australia also trains only Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers.[39]

German Shepherds are still used for herding and tending sheep grazing in meadows
next to gardens and crop fields. They are expected to patrol the boundaries to keep
sheep from trespassing and damaging the crops. In Germany and other places these
skills are tested in utility dog trials also known as HGH (Herdengebrauchshund)
herding utility dog trials.[40]

One Mexican German Shepherd, Zuyaqui, was dissected and his body put on display at
the Sedena's "Narco Museum" in Mexico. He is regarded to be the dog who has
captured the most drugs in Mexican police and military history.[41]