Dramatic title do you not think? Ok, so the subject of this piece is not about whether UFO’s have really been documented by governments around the world, whether the earth is flat (it is not), if orbs are just dust or any of the other fascinating questions posed by people, it is about a subject that drives me absolutely potty when people mention this.
Are you ready?
Alsatians are a different type of dog to a German Shepherd.
Alsatians are the vicious ones, but German Shepherds are good family pets
Alsatians come from the Alsace region in France, German Shepherds are German
Alsatians are smaller with short coats, German Shepherds are bigger with longer fur
And so on.
It is all a load of rubbish, they are in fact the same dog but purely a different name, do you not believe me? Well, I shall elaborate…
Back in the mid 1800’s, the German dog world was trying to standardise the breeds but this led to many debates over whether working lines were more important than appearance, with some breeders believing that appearance should be the primary objective when creating new canine varieties and that their ability to do a roll was very much secondary. One of the people who was involved in this was Max von Stephanitz, a former cavalry officer who had studied at veterinary college and felt that to be a successful working dog (herding and guarding sheep in this case) the animal needed endurance, protectiveness, intelligence and be very courageous. He set about finding the perfect dog and at a show in 1899 found one who he bought and renamed Horand. He called this new breed “Deutscher Schaferhund” which translates as German Shepherd Dog and began to develop Horands offspring.
You all know your historical timelines, in 1914 World War One broke out and everything German was seen as the enemy, the American Kennel Club had the breed society there drop the German part of its name, so that it was now called the Shepherd Club of America. The British went even further, completely rebranding this particular type of dog and calling them an Alsatian to totally distance themselves from their European enemy.
Whilst after the Second World War (and let us not blame an entire breed of dog for the fact that a tyrannical leader favoured them, after all, it is rumoured that the death of his dog Blondi affected his followers more than Eva Braun’s demise) people did start to revert to their original moniker, although it was not until 1977 that it was officially changed back.
So, there you have it, feel free to quote any of this at people when they tell you that an Alsatian is a different breed of dog to a German Shepherd or just shake your head pityingly at them and direct them my way.