The History Of The German Shepherd – Part 1

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404 – November/December, 2024

By Amy Fernandez

It’s no secret that German Shepherds have made news over the past year, and not the good kind. The overtone of these stories invariably leans towards vicious, terrifying, aggressive, dangerous…blah, blah. blah. There is no question that dog bites are a serious issue, but it is also impossible to deny the sensational element of these reports. Let’s drop that stuff and consider the damage it’s doing to the breed because news like this instantly transcends the case in question. So many breeds have been harmed by this media cash grab and the scope of that wreckage is almost incomprehensible.

Back in 2007, author Karen Delise took a critical approach to this issue in her book, The Pitbull Placebo, examining America’s history of vilifying breeds for the sake of media profits. She combed through a century of news reports, health department stats and legislative records to reveal a whole lot of bad math underpinning these damning portrayals. Unfortunately, once it’s out there, it sticks. For instance, the other day, while trashing junk email, what caught my eye? It was titles “The Worst Dogs to Have as Pets According to Vets.” I had to look. Guess what breed topped the list

German Shepherd temperament is just the latest spin on bad press which has haunted the breed for a century. The general public–along with many people who should know better–reflexively recite a litany of reasons why purebred German Shepherds should be recalled. In more recent decades, structure has been the main source of condemnation among that uninformed, highly opinionated sector. But at the same time, German Shepherds consistently rank high in AKC registration numbers. That weirdness may be the only consistent aspect of the story.

Click here to read the complete article
404 – November/December, 2024

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Posted by AnthonyA on Dec 2 2024. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.