Dogs 101 German Shepherd Video Animal Planet

German Shepherd

The German Shepherd is very  adaptable and generally healthy. They do shed heavily. The German Shepherd is easy to train and makes a great family dog.

The German Shepherd  is a breed of large-sized working dog that originated in Germany. The German Shepherd is a relatively new breed of dog, with their origin dating to 1899. German Shepherds are working dogs developed originally for herding sheep. Because of their strength, intelligence, train-ability and obedience, German Shepherds around the world are often the preferred breed for many types of work, including assistance, search and rescue, police and military roles, and even acting. The German Shepherd is the second-most popular breed of dog in the United States and fourth-most popular in the United Kingdom.

German Shepherds have a variety of colors, the most common of which are tan/black and red/black. Most color varieties have black masks and black body markings which can range from a classic “saddle” to an over-all “blanket.” Rarer color variations include the sable, pure-black, pure-white, liver and blue varieties. The all-black and sable varieties are acceptable according to most standards; however, the blue and liver are considered to be serious faults and the all-white is grounds for instant disqualification from showing in conformation at All Breed and Specialty Shows.

German Shepherds have a double coat. The outer coat, which sheds all year round, is close and dense with a thick undercoat. The coat is accepted in two variants; medium and long. The long-hair gene is recessive, making the long-hair variety rarer. Treatment of the long-hair variation differs across standards; they are accepted but not competed with standard coated dogs under the German and UK Kennel Clubs while they can compete with standard coated dogs but are considered a fault in the American Kennel Club.