The Black and Tan Brigade
Intelligent, alert, confident, never afraid…These are the descriptions you will find most often when talking to anyone who knows and maybe loves a German Shepherd dog. Officially recognized for over 112 years, German Shepherds are most commonly associated with police or military dogs, but they are also terrific companion animals as well, placing second behind Labrador Retrievers for the past two years on the AKC breed popularity charts.
The German Shepherd breed, officially introduced to the world in 1899 by then German army Captain Max Von Stephanitz takes it’s roots from a utility dog used for herding sheep, and evolved into a movie star, then a family dog, to a working dog and now enjoys a combination of all the above.
Rightfully recognized as a herding breed by the American Kennel Club, keeping sheep in line on the German country side in the 19th century entailed strenuous demands. Needing the intelligence to keep a flock in order with the scent ability to track stray sheep and the tenacity to ward off would be predators, the German Shepherd was ideal for this type of grueling work, but it couldn’t be contained to the Bavarian back country.
The First Action Hero
Making it’s first appearance in a 1907 and being officially recognized by the AKC just a year later, the German Shepherd
shot to stardom in the 1920s thanks to the iconic popularity of Rin Tin Tin, the first canine action hero of his day. Rin Tin Tin, which was the dog’s actual name, was brought home with an American soldier stationed in France during WWI, was said to receive ten thousand fan letters a week in the mid 1920s. After that, the breed popularity flourished and never looked back. To date, the German Shepherd has appeared in well over 100 big screen movies with recent notables such as Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Hotel for Dogs.
Off to Work We Go
With a 13 year life expectancy and available in 3 color combinations of solid black, solid white (solid white isn’t a recognized variation and is termed an American White Shepherd) and most popularly black and tan, the German Shepherd’s run on fame didn’t go unnoticed. Sought after for the same original qualities that make a good sheep herder, military and police began to engage the breed. The long muzzle of the German Shepherd is keen in scent detection for both drugs and bombs and also provides a bite with forces measured at 238 pounds, second only to the bite power of his German cousin, the Rottweiler. Much like those of a wolf, the “alert”, tenacious looking ears seen on adult dogs are actually a natural occurrence. After a puppy finishes teething, the calcium gets redirected in the German Shepherd’s body to go “north” and begin to harden the cartilage in the ear structure between 5 and 8 months of age. With the desired traits of a good police dog, German Shepherds currently account for roughly 8000 police dogs around the country but are slowly being phased out due to genetic predispositions to hip and elbow dysplasia therefore making these canine officers less resilient to the demands of the job. Although German Shepherd breeders have worked tirelessly to lessen the frequency of dog hip and joint problems, the public protection industry seems to have already moved towards a smaller version of the same dog with the Belgian Malinois.
Loving Family Dog?
Although the German Shepherd is most often affiliated with the big screen and being a police dog, they are also a wonderful family dog with a very loyal human following. There are multiple websites, forums and discussions 
surrounding German Shepherd experiences and facts. Some folks, however, don’t agree and remain skeptical due to bite statistics, but others, this author included, would argue that the instances of bite occurrences is a skewed statistic with most of those being police dogs. The fact remains though, that the German Shepherd is highly intelligent (There are reports that Hitler attempted to teach German Shepherds to talk in WWII) and very protective. Due to the high level of intelligence, these dogs need to be given structure and an alpha dog established at a very early age. Allowed to act freely German Shepherds are know to establish themselves as the alpha dog in a family situation if not trained which could lead to multiple problems and give the breed an unfair bad name. These dogs respond best in the family that welcomes the dog in under set boundaries and involves them as part of that family sharing affection. It’s in that situation where you have the best possible German Shepherd experience and is probably the reason this breed is number two on the AKC registration list.
