Regarding the popularity of all existing dog breeds, the German Shepherd occupies an unchallenged leading place all over the world. The German Shepherd has been bred systematically since 1899.

The idea of the founder of the German Shepherd Association, Max von Stephanitz, to develop a capable, secure and even-tempered dog has turned into an international formula for success on four paws.

Country of origin

Germany

FCI-Standard-Nr. 166/23.03.2010/D

Breed standard German Shepherd

Diffusion

Worldwide with majority in the mother country of the breed. Over 78 member countries across all continents are organized in the world union of the associations for German Shepherds (WUSV).

Breed Group

FCI-classifikation

Group 1 - Guard dogs and herd dogs

Section 1 - Herd dogs with working trial

Stud book entries

About 10,000 per year.

In total, over 2 million stud book entries.

Currently, 250,000 German Shepherds live in Germany.

Colour

Black with red-brown, brown, yellow to light yellow marks. Black and grey unicoloured.

Current usage

Sport and family dog, service and guard dog, rescue and therapy dog, guide dog, herd dog.

Training

Absolutely necessary. Consistence, patience and understanding are basic requisites. Very adaptable working dog breed.

Character

Secure and self-confident, robust, natural, attentive, very resistant physically and psychically.

Compatibility

Good and secure social behaviour, gets along very well with humans and animals in the family environment after corresponding socialisation.

Feeding and Care

Feeding corresponding to activity and work with high quality food. Regular grooming, deworming and vaccination.

Activity

Active dog that needs regular exercise (walks, swimming, cycling, jogging, dog sports) in order to be balanced.

Health

HD combatted through breeding evaluation and checks by the SV. Life expectancy ten to twelve years.

Size and weight

Male dogs: 60 to 65 centimetres, 30 to 40 kilograms.

Female dogs: 55 to 60 centimetres, 22 to 32 kilograms.

A loyal companion for life

If you love dogs and believe yourself capable of educating a dog consistently and appropriately, you will find the German Shepherd a loyal companion and reliable partner – for all of his life. He is a companion ideally suited to living with humans. For many people, German Shepherds are a human’s best friend and therefore an inherent part of everyday life: The outgoing four-legged friends are playmates, family members and living medicine especially for older persons who live alone. And German Shepherds are the absolutely perfect choice of dog breed for active persons who love to be outside and do sports. Education and training are essential in order to turn your four-legged friend into a loyal companion for daily life and a family dog.

Family dog – integral part of daily life

As puppies, all dogs are especially cute and cause a lot of funny moments within family life. Nevertheless, the small puppy grows up quickly. At six months, the dog has the development stage of a human with about 10 years of age. A one-year old dog is equivalent to a 20-year old human and a 13-year old dog to a 70-year old person. In each of his stages of life, the German Shepherd has a special charisma. Even with a grey muzzle, he will bring much joy to his human. As this breed establishes a tight emotional tie, clear attachment figures are essential in each stage of life. This emotional tie also facilitates education, training and work with the four-legged partners. Like other dog breeds, the German Shepherd continually develops his physical and mental maturation over his life. Active phases and training at the training grounds need to be accompanied by periods of calmness and relaxation.

Leisure time with the German Shepherd

The German Shepherd is by nature a very active and energetic dog with a high willingness to learn and high adaptability. Its owners should not only enjoy long walks, but should also plan to engage in a breed-appropriate activity or, in the best case, training. The German Shepherd Association (SV) e. V. will be happy to help you at any time in your search for suitable training.Joint activities

The big advantage of the German Shepherd is his versatility: He wants to be challenged and stimulated. There are therefore lots of options for joint activities with the German Shepherd. He loves long outdoor walks and is also an ideal partner for cycling tours. For people who keep fit with jogging or walking, the German Shepherd is also a perfect training partner – and an excellent protector. Swimming is a welcome change and at the same time great grooming for the dogs. German Shepherds are robust characters for which physical fitness is important. So if you are looking for a physically robust, versatile and spirited family dog and have enough time for the education, training and fitness of your four-legged friend, you will be perfectly right to choose a German Shepherd.

Where can I buy a puppy?

Often, whether a dog will bring joy to you all his life is already decided when buying the puppy. The simplest way to find a suitable breeder is through the German Shepherd Association (SV) e. V. We will advise you with pleasure and inform you about breeders in your area. Our red SV documents, the breed authenticity certificate, are a guarantee for controlled breeding. A hobby-breeder who likes to show his puppies and the mother before selling the puppies will charge between 700 and 1000 euros per puppy, depending on the region. These puppies have also been examined by a veterinarian and the breed warden, and are chipped.

Dogs require space and time

Before buying a dog, you should always make sure that you can come up to all the animal’s needs. One factor is the financial aspect: Dogs cost money – for example for food, accommodation, vets, dog licence fee and insurances. Our four-legged friends also require space and time from their people. And sometimes even a change of your lifestyle. The decision whether to take a German Shepherd into your house or apartment should therefore be carefully prepared and discussed with the family. Central aspects of the “family addition” are expertise, a sense of responsibility and of course the love for the animal.

All SV organizations will help in the search for a puppy. In almost every bigger municipality or city, there is at least one local group of the SV. Here, you can find the appropriate contact person. The Association has also organised a network of puppy placement offices.

The German Shepherd is immensely capable of learning.

Education

You should not expect too much from your puppy too quickly. Impatience and quick successes will not lead you to your objectives when educating and training your dog. It is not very difficult to educate a German Shepherd, as the breed is indeed quite capable of learning. But be careful: The dog’s trust must never be betrayed! The dog is no machine which has to function when a button is pressed. Education means patient, planned, but also consistent acting on the dog. Force must remain absolutely in the background and should (if ever) only be used in small, considered doses. With love, consistency and, above all, positive reinforcement – for example with food rewards – the German Shepherd will rapidly turn into a partner and develop his talents.

The “Augsburg Model”: Help by an experienced trainer

People who have never trained a dog before will understandably have many questions. It is not the dog that makes mistakes, does not want to learn or is disobedient – the problem is usually at the other end of the leash. Many local groups of the SV therefore organise regular training courses based on the “Augsburg Model”. Under the direction of experienced trainers, you will learn the basics for practically-oriented dog education based on modern training methods.

Health issues

A regular health check belongs to a dog owner’s obligatory tasks, just like feeding and walking the dog. In order to detect illnesses early on, it is important for you to observe your dog carefully. As a general rule of thumb: You need to see the veterinarian whenever your dog shows a clearly disturbed general condition. In case of doubt, this applies to all changes that seem suspicious to you. Normally, the earlier an illness is detected, the easier it is to cure.

The SV makes every effort to fight against diseases such as hip dysplasia (HD) and elbow dysplasia (ED) through controls and by supporting research projects.

Elements of a healthy dog life

The German Shepherd is not very time-consuming with regards to care because of his robustness: Regular combing or brushing, deworming and vaccinating are however still necessary. It needs a high quality food containing all nutrients necessary for growth and development to ensure well-being, optimal growth and development of performance potential. As prevention against gastric torsion, the dog should be fed twice a day where possible. And of course, the dog always needs to have access to clean fresh water.

Information

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