Alsatian is a Great Dog.
The German Shepherd Dog also known as an Alsatian comes literally from the German Deutscher Schäferhund. The German Shepherd is a relatively new breed of large-sized dog originating in the late 19th century. Originally a herding dog, particularly for sheep.
Often employed by the military and police for their obedience and intelligence. They are also one of the most popular breeds around the world.
The original dog was named Hektor Linksrhein. He so impressed Von Stephanitz that he purchased it and changed the dogs name to Horand von Grafrath and founded the Society for the Alsatian Dogs.
Horand von Grafrath became the hub of the society’s breeding programs and was bred with many other society member dogs.
The Alsatians popularity has grown quickly through the 20th Century, though it had some problems in popularity in the early days due to health problems from poor breeding and after the world wars with anti German feelings. To such an extent that the UK Kennel Club renamed it to “Alsatian Wolf Dog”, a while later the wolf dog appendage was dropped and in the late seventies, the German Shepherd Dog was back as the official name, though it is still often known as the Alsatian. The German Shepherd popularity was helped by animal actors such as Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart. Now days it is globally the third most popular dog breed.
They are a large dog of between 55 and 65 centimetres (around 24 in) at the withers and weigh around 30 kilograms (60 lb).
The German Shepherd’s face has a long square cut muzzle, a doomed forehead, a long neck, powerful jaws, big erect ears (that are often pulled back when on the move), black nose and brown, medium-sized eyes. With a bushy tail.
Alsatians come in a variety of colours, the most common being the red/black and tan/black types with black masks and saddles. Less common variations include the sable, all-black, all-white, liver and blue types, which may not fit country breed standards. German Shepherds have a double coat. A thick close dense outer coat, which is shed all year round and a thick undercoat. There is also the rare long-hair variant.
The Alsatian, like many working dogs is very intelligent, and are considered to be the third most intelligent breed of dog (Border Collies is deemed to be number one by Stanley Coren in his book The Intelligence of Dogs). This attribute combined with the Alsatians strength makes the breed desirable as guard, police, search and rescue dogs, being able to quickly learn various tasks and interpret instructions better than other large breeds.
Alsatians are known for aggression and have been banned in areas as a result. Statistically, in the USA, they are responsible for more unprovoked indiscriminate bites than any other breed, and have a reputation to attack smaller breeds of dogs.
Additionally studies have shown that German Shepherds are the third most likely dog breed to attack a person and in another report found that German Shepherds accounted for around fifty percent of the dog bites that needed medical attention, versus a more normal 20% of bites needing medical attention, not a surprise with their powerful jaws and scissor teeth.
There is no problem with the Alsatian breed, it is the fault of the owners. As with any intelligent lively dog (or person), if they are not regularly active and kept occupied, they can become difficult. The Alsatian must have puppy socialisation and good education from an early stage. The Alsatian is different from the collie, which a lot of its aggressiveness has been removed by breeding for shows, the Alsatian does not seem to have lost this character.
The Alsatian are great with the family they know, but can be over protective of their home and family – why they are a great guard dog. Due to this they may appear a bit aloof.
German Shepherds learn well and are very obedient and not easily distracted, but due to their tough character, you need to be very firm with them.
The Alsatian must have two good walks a day. They are not a dog for a busy family without time for attention. For this reason, busy families regularly ask dog walkers to help out by walking them for a couple of hours a day.
Poor breeding has led to common health problems, hip and elbow joint problems (dysplasia) which is painful for the dog and may cause arthritis. The Alsatian also is susceptible from monorchidism (one testicle), weakness of temperament, and missing teeth, as well as folded or bent ears which never fully turn up when reaching adulthood. Due to the large and open nature of their ears, Shepherds also are prone to ear infections.
German Shepherds, like many large chested dogs are prone to bloat, this is often fatal, so if you think this may be a problem, go straight to the veterinary. This is a gas build up in the stomach, caused for varying reasons. The symptoms of distress for no apparent reason, a firm distension of the abdomen, general weakness, depression, problems breathing, hypersalivation, and retching without vomiting. A high rate of dogs with bloat have cardiac arrhythmias (around forty percent), loss of appetite, vomiting and weight loss.
The German Shepherd also suffers from Degenerative Myelopathy, or DM is a neurological disease and are predisposed to Von Willebrand Disease, a common inherited bleeding disorder, which shows in variable degrees of bleeding tendency, commonly in the form of easy bruising, nosebleeds and bleeding gums. .
In spite of these problems, the German Shepherd is sturdy with simple dog care and the average lifespan of a German Shepherd is 7 – 10 years, which is normal for a dog of this size.
The Alsatian has great olfactory sensitivity so is one of the often used in a many roles requiring this ability, including search and rescue, cadaver searching, narcotics detection, explosives detection, accelerant detection, and mine detection dog, amongst others.
So the German Shepherd is a superb intelligent dog that will love you, if you have the time and energy for him. Not advised for busy working families.
Mail this post
Tags: Alsatian, dog breed, Dog Care, dog socialisation, german shepherd