My German Shepherd Dogs

[AnMe08]

Here's a couple of pics of my german shepherds. Their names are Leah and Blaez.

This is Blaez, he is 2yrs old

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t320/adeanme/august103a-1.jpg

And this is Leah she has just turned 5 yrs

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t320/adeanme/Loopsy11.jpg

[John(Zappa)]

Excellent pics. Nice pooches.:PDT_Piratz_26:
Hope they're well trained.
(A Pic of my old GSD is around here somewhere).

[AnMe08]

Thanks! Oooh I'll go and have a search now! I just LOVE sheps!

[Ged]

I like Leah's bling (around her neck) - does she rap :)

[drone_pilot]

A Couple of Great GSD's. I love them.

[robbo176]

lovely dogs .....my dog won't stay still long enough for me to take a photo

[ChrisGeorge]

Lovely photographs, Anne-Marie! :handclap:

[ChrisGeorge]

A question, folks. When I lived in England in the Fifties and Sixties, I had thought this breed of dog was known as an "Alsatian" and that it was the Americans that called it a "German Shepherd." Has that now changed and the term used in the UK is generally "German Shepherd"?

By contrast, I think the term "Alsatian" would be unknown here in the United States. People wouldn't know what you meant, I don't think. As if you talked about you looking under your car's "bonnet" or in the "boot" which are the "hood" and the "trunk" here. :snf (41):

Chris

[shytalk]

ChrisGeorge, The following is copied from Wikipedia.

Name

The breed was named "Deutscher Sch?ferhund" by Von Stephanitz, literally translating to "German Shepherd Dog". The breed was named as such due its original purpose of assisting shepherds in herding and protecting sheep. Shepherds were first exported to Britain in 1908 and The Kennel Club began to recognise the breed in 1919 and adopted the direct translation of the name for the official breed registry. However, at the conclusion of World War I it was believed that the inclusion of the word "German" would harm the breed's popularity, due to the anti-German sentiment of the era.[10] The breed was officially renamed by the Kennel Club to "Alsatian Wolf Dog",[a] this name was also adopted by many other international kennel clubs. Later the name was changed again to "Alsatian" as the appendance "wolf dog" caused discontent after media capitalised on the name to run a scare campaign advertising that "half-wolves" had been let loose in Britain.[10] The name remained until 1977 when successful campaigns by dog enthusiasts pressured the kennel clubs to allow the breed to be again registered as German Shepherd Dogs.[1]

The same thing happened to the royal family, their name was changed because of WW1.

[Barry-Paul]

I was just gonna say all that !

[lindylou]

Very handsome dogs. Some people still call them Alsations.

[Shankly]

My Dad loves Alsatians and won't call them anything else, regardless of the official name. He says he'll call them GSDs when the royal family change their name back from Windsor to their original German name.

[lindylou]

I use both names GSD and Alsation - depending on which word pops into my mind first. :)

have a look here -

http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/chit-chat/9242-dog-lovers.html

and here -

http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/people-pets/8316-baby-molly.html

[AnMe08]

Oh what great links! Thanks for posting them, I'm a huge animal lover and I love ooohing and ahhing over other peoples pets :)

With regards to the names for this breed Shytalk is absolutely correct because at the end of the War it was thought that the breed would not flourish if the word German appeared in its name so they decided to call the breed the Alsatian Wolf Dog after the German-French border area of Alsace-Lorraine.

[Klaatu]

Great pics AM...They're one of my favourite breeds too...My brother had one many years ago, He called it Sabre, which I think is a really cool name for a GS/Alsation.

[AntiPathos]

Great pics AM...They're one of my favourite breeds too...My brother had one many years ago, He called it Sabre, which I think is a really cool name for a GS/Alsation.

Was it in the late Eighties/Early Nineties and did he walk it in Sefton Park ?

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi Shy

Very interesting, Shy. Thanks for that information. Yes I might have suspected that the name change had something to do with the war, in this case World War I known at the time as "the Great War." As you say, the Royal Family changed their name from the House of Saxe-Coburg to the House of Windsor. Another family to make such a change was the Mountbatten family (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-BattenbergPrinceLouis.html) (remember the late Lord Louis Mountbatten whom Prince Charles called his "honorary grandfather"?)--their name was originally Battenberg.

All the best

Chris

[Klaatu]

Was it in the late Eighties/Early Nineties and did he walk it in Sefton Park ?


Afraid not, much earlier than that...early 70's