15 German Shepherd Facts You Don’t Know but Def. Should


German Shepherd Facts

Do you think you know all about German Shepherd facts out there? Read this article and see if you could get a full score.

German Shepherd breed is considered as a relatively new breed, it is originated back to the 19th century. Although they are kind of a new breed, they are liked by most of the people, especially in America. GSD is taking second place in the U.S as the most popular dog breeds.

German Shepherd breed is highly intelligent, active, devoted to their families, good looking, loyal, and even heroic when it is needed!

German Shepherd Facts

The history of German Shepherd dog has facts that will make your eyes wide open and even would be surprised by of some them. Let’s get to know 15 German Shepherd Facts that should definitely know!

1# The Origin of Its Name

GSD has an interesting story behind its name, they were given the name of German Shepherd because they were bred for that reason, to take care of the sheep, gather them and protect the kettle from any predators, this is not the interesting part!

GSD is one of few breeds that it’s official name has the word “dog” in it.

It was labeled first as German Shepherd only but it made some confusion in many conversations as German Shepherd is also the name of the person who is responsible for the sheep, so they put the word dog to differentiate the man shepherd from the dog one.

2# German Shepherd Facts; Who Named It?

Max von Stephanitz is considered the father of the German Shepherd breed, he was the first to put the guidelines for the breed’s standards and launched the German Shepherd Dog Club.

Max von Stephanitz first notice a wolfish-like dog with yellow and black marks at a dog show in the west of Germany in 1899. He admired the dog’s intelligence, so he purchased it and changed its name to be Horand von Grafrath instead of Hektor Linksrhein.

Stunning looks was not one of the traits that Mr. Stephanitz wanted this dog breed to have, he looked for intelligence and utility.

3# GSD Bite Is So Underrated

Believe me, when I tell you, you don’t want to try a GSD bite even in your worst nightmares. The pound-force for a German Shepherd equals 238! If you compared it to a human bite, it has superiority over it with about 2.5 times harder!

Human bites are equal 86 pounds of force, so imagine getting a bite that the babies’ bite will be like a mosquito bite compared to it!

4# Being Intellectual Is One of His Highest Traits

Many case studies were made over 100 dog breeds including German Shepherd. The results of these studies showed that GSD came in third place as one of the most intelligent breeds out of those who participated in those case studies.

Be careful all smart people out there, German Shepherd is on the right intellectual steps!

5# German Shepherd Facts; The Story of Schutzhund

Schutzhund (German word of protection dog) is a sport that was developed in the beginning of the 1900’s and it was inspect the suitability of the GSD. The game helped in ruling out all the untrained dogs and dogs that were unstable.

6# Female GSD is hella Strong!

15 German Shepherd Facts You Don't Know but Def. Should |

We all know that German Shepherd is a large dog, hence strong, but did you know that a female GSD could knock out an adult man even with poor training or sometimes with no training at all?

7# GSD Could Live Til They Become about 11 Years

Your dog is like a child for any pet owner and after a while of having a German Shepherd, a pet owner may start to wonder about the life expectancy of his beloved canine. It is heartbreaking to think about death and its related matters for anyone you love and your German Shepherd is no different.

For a dog Breed, German Shepherd is considered to have a relatively long lifespan that ranges from 11 years to about 13, of course, a GSD could live longer but the common cases live for about this range.

8# They are Fast Learners

A German Shepherd dog would learn any simple task in a very short time. You would like to repeat that simple command or task five times only and you will find your GSD getting it fully.

This is not the only incredible thing, with most commands maybe about 90% of them, your German Shepherd will actually obey it from the first time! Read about basic commands on Dog Training Tips: What Basic Training Your Dog Needs?

9# German Shepherd Facts; They Adore Their Owners

GSD loves its owners dearly, but it could be different when we are talking about strangers. Normally, they won’t be keen so much to strangers, but with good training, they would be less aggressive towards foreigners. But they will always alert you if they found any strangers in your territory.

10# They Tends to Be Very Protective

Along with being not so good with dealing with strangers, they will greet anyone coming to your door with a scandalous barking unless you are expecting the knocking door and prepared your dog for it.

German Shepherd are very protective when it comes to its pack, and you and your family are its own pack now, so always be prepared to see her in a defense state when something is unexpected is on the door, especially if you have small kids, they tend to be extra cautious with children around.

11# GSD was The First Guide Dog Ever

This breed was the first to be used to fulfill the mission of the Seeing Eye mission. Seeing eye is an organization that supports enhancing independence and self-confidence for blind people by using guide dogs.

It started in 1929, founded by Dorothy Harrison. A man called Morris Frank contacted Mrs. Dorothy and got a guide dog for himself, but his main goal with to spread the word about guiding dogs, and indeed he did that.

12# German Shepherd Conquered The Dog Guide Training in the1920’s

Is Switzerland, when formal guiding training began, all the dogs that participated in this training were German Shepherds.

13# They are Heroes On and Off the Screen

Who can forget Strongheart or Rin Tin Tin, they were considered to be from the first canine stars to appear on the screen. Both of them have a star at the Hollywood walk of fame! Other GSD appeared on screen like in OldYeller and Inspector Rex.

As they were heroes on the silver screen, even in real life events German Shepherds have a lot of heroic tales. One of them is for a dog in World War One, his name was Filax of Lewanno. He saved over 50 wounded soldiers by bringing them to safety. For this heroic act, he was honored in Westminster.

This is not the only heroic story you can find for GSD as heroes, the internet is full of stories that sometimes these dogs sacrifice their lives for the sake of their companions!

14# German Shepherd was not Called German Shepherds For a While

15 German Shepherd Facts You Don't Know but Def. Should |

After GSD became popular in the U.S in 1914, there were talks about changing the breed’s name to “sheepdog” or “shepherd dog”-dropping the word German from it. And indeed that happened in 1917 and for five decades GSD was called ‘Alsations’ to drop the German word from its name due to the poor reputation Germany had back then because of World War One.

15# German Shepherd Facts; GSD is found in various colors

GSD has many shades and colors than the black tan, black and white color. you can find German Shepherds with eleven recognized colors according to AKC. There is also a GSD that is called “Panda Shepherds” because of their unique colors and incredible looks.

So, here are our 15 German Shepherd Facts, Share with us your score and tell us how many of these facts you already knew and what was considered new info.

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