To Be or Not to Be
From the beginning escalating tension has been inherent in the purebred world—particularly that of the German Shepherd—in the increasingly overt assertion that in breeding selection an overriding necessity is easy transition into the companion dog environment, and that far reaching compromises—particularly in terms of intensity and inherent drive—are an intrinsic requirement of the real world.
This stands in direct contradiction to the most fundamental principles and legacy of Max von Stephanitz and thus sets the stage for the conflict before us today. Since the intrinsic nature of the breed hangs in the balance compromise is inconceivable, either the German Shepherd is to be a police dog or he is to be an abomination repudiating the legacy, everything the founders stood for.
The counter argument—relentlessly giving ground over the years—is that the essence of the breed is and must be in the esthetic value of structure, stride and moral character attributes according to the police dog persona as the operative selection principle.
For more than a century the emasculation for the least common denominator of the pet market prevailed, but over the last thirty years, since 1995, purebred registrations, particularly of the larger and more robust breeds, have collapsed. Largely because of the advent of the internet people in general have come to realize that they are being played, sold pretend dogs in the guise of serious dogs, thus shattering the illusion of purebred integrity. It seems unlikely that the establishment is going to get this genie back in the bottle any time soon.
The German people, in an era of emergent pride and nationalism, embraced the German Shepherd because of the reflected aura, the persona, because of the sense of machismo, of vitality. For most of a century this breed became by far the most predominant worldwide, particularly in places such as America and Japan.
People, including Germans, look at the numbers, who really only want a relatively large, easy going dog are increasingly going to the Labrador and Golden retrievers, a perfectly rational choice. Emasculating the German Shepherd to compete in this market is the road to irrelevance.
German Shepherds without the plausible pretense of a real police dog are a nonstarter, lack the foundation appeal created by von Stephanitz. Growing up in America in the 1950s a police dog meant a German Shepherd, the terms were interchangeable. When this finally ceases the foundation will be gone, mark my words.
"The ideal of the Society was to develop Police trial Champions out of Exhibition Champions, our shepherd dog therefore, was further developed by dog lovers as a working dog. The Standard by which he would be judged and approved was this, namely: utility is the true criterion of Beauty. Therefore our dogs exhibit everywhere to-day (in a fittingly developed frame, and never as the caricatures of Nature, the greatest of all teachers) a build of body, compacted and designed for the highest possible efficiency, spare and powerful, with wonderfully well-proportioned lines which immediately attract the connoisseur, who soon recognizes that it imparts to its owner a swift, easy gait, a capacity for quick turning and powers of endurance."
Bernd vom Kallengarten, born in 1957, has for me always exemplified the pinnacle, the personal vision from my youth, what the German Shepherd was and should still be.
Who Owns the House of von Stephanitz?
SV Power Corrupts
Supreme Authority of the Canine World
Canine Discipline in the Animal Rights Era
Orginizations and Conflicts
German Shepherd History
GSD Police Dog Heritage Repudiated by SV
SV Abandons Schutzhund as Breeding Prerequisite
World Unions Rising
AWDF, Stillborn American Elite
Legacy Lost, the Other Breeds
The Americans
Style and Opinion Sports
Has Sport Subverted the Trial?
How We Play the Game
Commercialization of Schutzhund
The Mother State
Glossary