Although von Stephanitz's idea of using the German Shepherd dog as a police dog was new, the use of dogs in police work was not. It has been traced as far back as the fourteenth century to St. Malo, France. However, it was not until 1895 that the French police made serious attempts to properly train dogs for police work. And then, in 1896, Germany became interested in the idea and chose the German Shepherd Dog.

While the army scoffed at his idea of using the German Shepherd Dog in battle, by giving several dogs to policemen, von Stephanitz was able to demonstrate their usefulness as police dogs. The police were most willing to cooperate when they found the dogs were genuinely useful in apprehending and deterring criminals.

England discovered the German Shepherd Dog during World War I after many stories were carried back to Europe about its prowess in the battlefield under enemy fire. A number of German Shepherd Dogs were taken to England and the breed was furthered in that country under the name Alsatian to avoid the use of "German" in the name of the breed.

There had already been much activity in importing, breeding, and showing German Shepherds in the United States. The first imports to the States arrived in the early years of the 1900s. These pre-World War I dogs were not destined to be particularly influential on later-day GermanShepherds. After the first World War, the popularity of German Shepherds in the States rose tremendously. Because von Stephanitz had prevailed upon the German army and police to use these dogs, American soldiers were able to bring back many tales of the shepherd's courage, loyalty, and intelligence.

Between 1918 and 1926, when the breed's popularity reached its peak, the puppy factories were working overtime to mass-produce enough puppies to meet the great demand for dogs. But as these unsound puppies grew into adults, their bad disposition began to work against the money-making schemes of their breeders. During this period, many mediocre to poor specimens were imported and sold to people who only wanted the dogs as status symbols. After 1926, sales of German Shepherds fell sharply. Not everyone could handle the dogs when they became too large or rambunctious. German Shepherds were also receiving increasingly bad publicity because of the unsound temperaments being produced and the ease with which word of such got into the newspapers. It was fortunate for the breed that this over-popularity came to an end, as the unscrupulous breeders considering the harm they were doing the breed.

After the first World War, the breed became famous in Germany and unscrupulous breeders raised puppies just to sell to foreign markets, von Stephanitz put a stop to it. He introduced the Köerung, a survey in which the dogs were thoroughly examined, judged, and recommended for or excluded from breeding. In the early 1900s, it had become necessary to carefully supervised close inbreeding and linebreeding to gain a more rapid uniformity of type.

One of the prime examples of this kind of breeding was Roland von Starkenburg (above), the all black Sieger, 1906 and 1907. He was out of Heinz von Starkenburg and had both Hektor von Schwaben and Beowulf (a grandson of Horand's on both sides) as grandsires. Roland had as grandparent on both sides Lucie von Starkenburg, who also had Horand blood.

After World War II, Germany was in ruins and was the German Shepherd Dog. It was generally believed that the best German Shepherds resided in North America. Long after von Stephanitz had retired from the Verein in 1935, his principles of breeding dogs were re-applied and once again the German Shepherd was brought back to strength in Germany. The principles that von Stephanitz employed to transform a vast number of sheep-herding dogs, tall, short, long-coated, short-coated, prick-eared and lop-eared, linked together by perhaps only the single common thread of possessing herding instinct, into a uniform breed were the same practices used to bring the breed back from almost total destruction in Germany following the war. These principles are presented in his work The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture. This impressive work was widely circulated and consists of some seven hundred pages.

During the second World War, the German Shepherd Dog in Germany was slaughtered by the thousands as the military confiscated any and every dog they could find regardless of family attachment or breeding value. Malformed, stunted, and diseased puppies were born due to widespread malnutrition. The few dogs surviving the War were tough and lean, representing almost a new start for the breed in Germany. The two most influential survivors of the War were Rolf vom Osnabrücker-Land (right) and Axel v.d. Deininghauserheide (left). Together with Hein von Richterbach (below), these three dogs helped rebuild the German Shepherd in Germany after the War.

Of all the hundreds of imports coming into the States in the 1920s and 1930s, only eight had any lasting influence: Erich, Klodo vm Boxberg (below left), Utz com Haus-Schütting (below center), Ch. Geri von Oberklamm, 1921 Austrian Sieger, and his son City Bergerslust, 1922 and 1923 German Sieger and 1924 US Grand Victor, and later, Ch. Pfeffer von Bern (below right), US Grand Victor in 1937 and 1938 and Sieger in 1937 – probably the most bred to stud in the States up to that time.

The other two in this list were Sieger and Ch. Arras a.d. StadtVelbert and Ch. Odin von Busecker-Schloss ROM (right), a half-brother of Pfeffer (both being out of Dachs von Bern). Both of these last two dogs were excellent German Shepherds but were used at stud much less than Pfeffer. Also, they were used more and were more popular in the western United States, whereas the eastern Shepherds were bred to Pfeffer.

In the meantime, in Germany, von Stephanitz continued to dictate policy and initiate sound breeding laws to safeguard his beloved German Shepherds. Although the dogs became very beautiful in appearance, he never let the breeders forget that this was a utilitarian breed and that the character, temperament, and intelligence of the dogs should be their first consideration. The membership of the S.V. continued to grow and it was a singular achievement that he managed the organization so efficiently.

In the 1930s, Nazism began to spread throughout Germany like cancer. There were many S.V. members who were Nazis and they tried to meddle in the affairs of the S.V. They persistently used vile means to cut von Stephanitz off from his life's work and when he resisted, they threatened him with a concentration camp. He gave up. After having managed his S.V. for thirty six years, one year later, April 22, 1936, on the anniversary of the foundation of his S.V., Captain von Stephanitz died.

People everywhere who love German Shepherds can thank one man, Captain Max von Stephanitz, for creating these extraordinary dogs. We are all indebted to the Captain for holding fast to making his dream come true. Ca-Ji Shephereds hopes that this brief history helps you understand what it means to own and/or breed these beautiful animals. This legacy is in our hands, no one else's.

Click for more about von Stephanitz and the history of the German Shepherd Dog.