Max von Stephanitz and SV??? - Page 6

I tend to think the Captain was in that Former group, rather than in the latter.  The standard he wrote of in his books wasnt so much a written play by play of how each part of the dog should look like, and seemed more like an overview of what structure would create the best working dog.

~Cate

I agree.  The standard is a guideline to physical characteristics.  I have never seen a purebred GSD that didn't look like a GSD.  I have seen too many to count that don't act like one though or couldn't work like one.

Ceph, thank you for that info! And that's a really beautiful photo in your avatar!

Now, I have a question about the white dogs: 

Is it true that the Nazis were responsible for making the white coat a disqualification? Exactly when did this happen? I do know Max accepted white as a colour.

In searching for info on Herr Meyer, which is very very little, you see a lot of white breeders pointing out that Horand had white in his background.  The Hapsburg's also preferred the white as then the dog matched the Lippizon Horses in Spain.  I don't think Max had a preference for the color, but liked to see rich ones.  I think the bias towards white is more related to the color not being an advantage in stealth as needed for a guard dog. 

Back to Herr Meyer, does any one know anything about him other than he was Max's companion at dog shows and involved in the early SV? 

I'd love to get a translated copy of each of the breed standards.

The current standard goes into great detail about the conformational aspects of a GSD. I wonder what was written about the working aspect of the breed.

Mostly I wonder how much the breed standard has changed since its conception.

I have found very little about Herr Artur Meyer. Would be great to find out more.

Maybe some of our German members can dig something up???

Aight...here are some of the other books I have :

1955 -- This is the German Shepherd - Goldbecker and Hart
1933 -- Our friend the German Shepherd Dog - Rowland Johns
1924/25 -- The police Dog -- David Brockwell  **I adore this book**  it has alot of really good illustrations in it...kind of like this one :

~Cate

He gave up, after having managed his SV for thirty-six years.”   Stephanitz died one year after stepping down from the SV, but his legacy lives on in the veins of every German Shepherd.

the 1935 Sieger from above can be taken of the list, Max didn't have anyting to do with it..........

sunsilver , The info on the links is great stuff , just finished reading, thanks

Here are what I could find about the history in :

Denlinger :

"Stephanitz was adamant in his demands of utility and intelligence in the breed.  In its utility and intelligence, according to him, lay a dog's beauty, and it had no beauty aside from those qualities.  The standard was and is designed to describe the kind of dog fittest for herd service; and vonStephanitz saw to it that no German should ever entertain any other ideal for the breed.  Any added beauty for beauty's sake was considered by Stephanitz and his followers as beside the point.  Of any attribute a dog might posses, Stephanitz's only question was whether it might aid or hinder the dog in it's work.
  While it rentarded the acceptance of the breed in other countries for many years,  it was not a disservice to the German Shepherd Dog.  The intense concern with fundamentals enabled the breeders to construct their canine work machine just so much more rapidly.  Aesthetics, Stephanitz did not concern himself about.  Efficiency, efficiency, always efficiency.  Having developed an efficient machine, Stephanitz later tolerated, however grudgingly, some effort to develop show beauty in the dogs, but he insisted until the end that efficiency should take precedence over mere beauty."

"On the evening of April 22, 1936, there sped through the Shepherd Dog world the shocking news that Captain von Stephanitz had died unexpectedly....Captain von Stephanitz  had always hoped to die "in the service of the SV."  Unfortunatley that was not granted.  A year before he was obligated for reasons of health to give up the direction of affairs and some months later to lay down his office. "

From Goldbecker and Hart :

-Basically says the reason that Klodo was chosen was because dogs were becoming over large and overly square.
~Cate