The
Dogs of the "DDR" ("Deutshe Demokratishe Republik" or East Germany) are
an interesting phenomena, from a hisorical and cynological standpoint,
due to the political history of that region of Germany and its' effect
on that society and its' dogs, especially within the last 40-50 years.
The German Shepherd Dogs of that region of Germany, (also known as "DSH"
or "Deutsche Sch�ferhunde") especially so, for they were definitely
the most popular and populous of the working breeds in terms of numbers.
With a close contention by the "RS" ("Riesenschnauzer" or Giant
Schnauzer), and the Rottweiler, they were the most conspicuous breed on
the winners podium at the working dog trials there, and the most
commonly used breed for defense duties in all levels of government. They
were a favorite and trusted breed as a home companion and guardian
also. All of the trials, shows, and registration services were held
through the VKSK and the SDG, both government directed. The SDG, or
Sektion Dienst und Gebrauchhundewesen was principally concerned with the
registration and trialing of the working breeds, such as the DSH. One
of the most fascinating things about the SDG registry are that no dog
recieved his registration papers until he had been evaluated as a young
adult, and that this evaluation concerned the overall quality of the
young dog, ie: ears, teeth, temperament, the presence of both testes,
the presence of an 'a' stamp (normally formed hip joints), coat, the
overall quality of the dog, whether an "sg" (sehr gut), or "very good"
or better... Further, such information was indexed to the sire and the
dam, with the resultant quantitative information being published and
made available to the breeders, primarily through the regional clubs and
main breeders and judges, also through annual or periodic publications
such as the "Rundschreiben". Thus, a person interested in breeding to a
particular dog could easily reference to both the actual number of
offspring surveyed, and the actual number which were dysplastic or
normal, or with faults of coat, testes, ears, dentition, temperament,
and overall conformation. Such results were not only given in actual
numbers but also in percentages! This is information which is and has
been, to the knowledge of the author, not available in any other breed
of dog, in any other country, including West Germany's SV, and such a
superior and expansive system could only be compared in terms of
quality, effectiveness and scope to the large state operated light horse
cavalry stud farms of the last century in the former German state of
Prussia. From such stud farms have come the foundation of the
"warmblood" breeds, such as the Trakhener breed, known as some of the
finest equine athletes in the world today. Breeding was a privilege
accorded only to those horses who passed the highest criteria of
performance. Such performance was evaluated in tests of endurance and
aptitude, following many months of training. In such a way, only the
best horses were able to influence future generations in their line. The
state-owned stud farms are gone, but the descendants of the line thrive
as the treasured possessions of those people who still honor their
tradition by breeding only performance-tested horses. Indeed, these
early state-operated cavalry horse stud farms may well have been a model
for one who would become known as "the father of the breed" of German
shepherd dog. This man was greatly impressed with the character and
characteristics of a dog which he saw, and he purchased that dog, named
Hektor vom Linksrhein, whom he later renamed "Horand vom Grafrath",
number "1" in the new stud books. Horand was of a type of indigenous,
but previously unregistered old breed of German herding dog, the
ancestors of which might well have been brought by the Roman invaders
1,500 years before, like the ancestors of the Rottweiler... Horand would
be absolutely recognizable as a gsd today, a sable (grey) in color.
This man, a true dog-lover and student of the history of dogs, saw in
his dog Horand a value worth preserving, and he had a plan... Other
breeds of dogs' such as the Rottweiler, were also coming under
organization, for purposes of preservation and advancement of these
breeds...So, Herr Max vom Stephanitz would also start a registry to
preserve these dogs, as a WORKING DOG! The good "Rittmeister" (Cavalry
Captain) Herr Max von Stephanitz, who originally founded the "SV"
("Verein f�r Deutsche Sch�ferhunde" or German Shepherd Dog Club) in
Germany in 1899, set that registry up in such a manner that this old
indigenous German working/herding breed could retain its' unique
characteristics under a superior system of tests and disciplines, like
the cavalry horses that he knew so well, meant to preserve and develop
overall quality, especially working ability. New tests were developed to
proof the German Shepherd Dog in a new capacity, that of a police or
military dog, as well as the traditional herding work. Thus the
groundwork was laid not only for the preservation and development of a
working dog, but also for "schutzhund", which is today one of the
worlds' most popular and useful working dog sports, which has in turn
been the foundation of all successful police, military, and working dog
programs in existance today, and a wellspring of talented animals for
use in the public service... We owe much also here not only to
Rittmeister Max von Stephanitz, but also to Herr Konrad Most, who did so
much in the early days to promote the study of dog behavior in the
context of developing modern, effective, and humane methods of training.
The winner of many prestigeous awards in his day, Herr Most is truly
the father of modern working dog training. His book, "Training Dogs, a
Manual", in print only from time to time and quickly sold out, is still a
hallmark reference for serious trainers and a classic in its' own
right. By the beginning of World War 2, the German Shepherd Dog breed
had become very popular in Germany, and numbers and quality were
increasing, but World War 2 would prove devastating to the breed, not
only in terms of the disruption of food supplies and the lives of the
people who kept them, but many dogs were recruited forcibly into
military service. Untold numbers were lost, but there were many stories
of dogs being kept hidden by their owners, fed what little available
food could be afforded them to save them. At the end of World War 2,
after the Allied Forces entered Germany, the city of Berlin was split in
two, and the rest of the country also was divided into an east and west
zone, with the entire former capital city of Berlin located far into
the interior of communist East Germany. East Germany and East Berlin
remained under Russian and communist control until the historic events
of 1989 and 1990, beginning with demonstrations in Leipzig, and ending
with the falling of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, and the final
repatriation of East Germany to the Bundesrepublik Deutschland. During
the first 40 years of separation of East and West Germany, the German
Shepherd Dogs, and the other breeds as well, began to follow their own
different paths. This was largely of necessity and circumstance, for the
East Germans had little or no access to the dogs in West Germany. A
combination of political, bureaucratic, sociological, and perhaps most
importantly economic separation prevented much intermingling of the
bloodlines. Although they came from the same original stock before the
war, they inevitably began to develop somewhat differently in their new
and very different environments. Indeed, it was really the German
Shepherd Dogs of West Germany which began the most conspicuous
divergence from the original characteristics and concepts around 1975.
Following along certain family lines (principally the descendants of
Jalk vom Fohlenbrunnen x Dixie von der Wienerau and their offspring,
Lido and Liane von der Wienerau, and finally Canto and Quanto von der
Wienerau and their myriad descendants, the breed in West Germany began
to gradually to be more consumer driven, in a world market that was just
beginning to heat up. In the space of the next 20 or so years, the
breed in West Germany began to lose much of its genetic diversity, as
emphasis shifted from the concept of a dark-pigmented indigenous herding
dog, from many families gathered from all over Germany, to a concept of
a highly bred show dog, with special preference to a light color
scheme, from a small selection of family lines. During this time, many
entire bloodlines were lost to obscurity and are now virtually extinct.
By a combination of actions and omissions of the West German SV and its
judges, the main breeders and a white-hot consumer market worldwide,
powerful forces were being brought to bear. In the orient and in Japan
particularly, the rise of popularity of this breed paralleled the rising
fortunes of the Japanese super-industrial economy of the 1980's. In
Japan, lighter pigmented dogs were preferred and a high value was put on
the prestige of an important show win. Thus sales of individual dogs
reached to $100,000 and well beyond, for "VA" dogs. Sales of regional
winners went in the range of tens of thousands of dollars per dog very
commonly. The world demand for the German Shepherd Dog not only as a
show dog but as a working dog, which demand peaked in the late 1980's to
early '90's definitely had a profound effect on the development of the
breed in its' homeland, Germany, for better and for worse. The best
specimens of the breed now are often superb and evidence a high degree
of evolution in some regards, and yet some say that the breed is losing
its prominance as a working dog, and not enough has been done overall in
the reduction of hip dysplasia so far. The 'a' stamp program has been
in place, but we have not seen as many benefits of this program as
should have been realized, for reasons which could only be speculated
at... On this note I would like to say that the enhanced 'a' stamp
program of the SDG in East Germany, which also offered statistical
information to the breeders by which to evaluate a dogs' production
ability, in terms of actual numbers and percentages, also reported an
average annual percentage of 85% or better normal hips. The author has
found this number to be accurate in her experience in the radiographic
evaluations of mature pups from East German bloodlines. The experienced
breeder who has for several years placed an importance on a radiographic
program to control the incidence and severity of hip dysplasia will
also know that this is a very acceptable and superior percentage.
Happily, the remaining 15% or less also show a marked reduction in the
severity of hip dysplasia, and thus are usually good candidates for
adoption into pet homes, reducing the need for euthanasia or invasive
surgery, which is a very great expense to the owner. Although now
increasingly rare, and with many lines unfortuneately extinct, there are
still enough East German bloodlines here and in Europe to serve to
increase the genetic diversity and vigor of the breed of German Shepherd
Dog, and in the authors opinion, to retain much of the original
characteristics of the breed, while offering very good working ability, a
more robust and well-pigmented dog, and improvement by a reduction in
both the incidence and the severity of hip dysplasia. Thus, the DDR
bloodlines, wherever found, are worth preserving and very worthwhile to
the breed and the breeder of this remarkable dog, the German Shepherd
Dog. In the presence of new leadership in the SV and its associate
organizations worldwide, it is hoped that the promotion of bloodlines
and families within this breed will not be so subject to the proprietary
interests which dominated this breed for the last decade. It is not
altogether surprising, in hindsight, that the most successful families
of dogs, and the kennels which worked with them, were from the kennels
"vom Arminius" and "von der Wienerau", belonging to brothers Herman (SV
president) and Walter Martin, respectively. These two men wielded an
inordinate amount of influence over the breed in many ways, remaking it
after their own model. Tragically, their days were cut short and both
brothers recently passed on from separate causes. While these
bloodlines, kennels and breeders have made a big contribution, which
cannot be denied, perhaps now there will be a little more room and
tolerance for genetic diversity, a healthy and desireable asset for any
species or breed of animal.
By Janice L. Bartmess "Copyright LLC;ALL RIGHTS RESERVED".
