The German Shepherd Dog League of Great Britain

is the original club for the breed in the British Isles. 

This is the letter being sent out to all Gsd clubs from the Kennel Club with regards the removal of the word Alsatian from the correct title of German Shepherd.

 please click here to read it.

Malcolm Willis responds below.

SHOULD THE WORD ALSATIAN BE REMOVED FROM GERMAN SHEPHERD

The Deutsche Schäferhunde was developed in Germany as a working dog in the latter part of the 19^th century.   It attracted attention from British soldiers during the First World War because of its intelligence and loyalty and many officers brought back German Shepherd Dogs and began breeding from them. Examples are Lord Brabazon of Tara and Lt. Col Baldwin of “Picardy” fame.  The British Army working dog prior to this time was mainly the Airedale Terrier.    

As a result of the war with Germany, the idea of anything German was an anathema in some quarters   and the breed was called Alsatian after the  Alsace Lorraine region of France.  But   the breed did not originate from Alsace Lorraine,  nor were many animals brought in from there. There was a period of time when the Alsatian League and Club of Great Britain called the breed, “Alsatian Wolfdog” this was as a result of its colour and wolf like appearance, but it was a political error and the “Wolfdog” name was quickly dropped. It was known as Alsatian throughout the inter war years, but in the l930s the German breed Club the SV protested, insisting that the correct name of the breed should be used. The British Kennel Club compromised by calling the breed Alsatian (German Shepherd Dog). The name Alsatian was a source of irritation to many, but a small group who were still anti German because of the war, encouraged the use of the word “Alsatian” . 

In l978 I put a proposal forward at the Kennel Club AGM to abolish the word Alsatian.  It was going to be difficult to get the proposal through so Mr Raymond Oppenheimer suggested that the name be known as, German Shepherd Dog (Alsatian). This proposal was carried and the breed became known under the new name from l978. Bearing in mind that the term, Alsatian is used only in Britain and every other country in the world uses, German Shepherd Dog, either in translated form or English version, the anomaly has lasted one hundred years and it is high time that we stopped this misnomer and called the breed by its correct title.  

 Dr Malcolm B Willis

 21^st June, 2010

 COULD ALL GSDL MEMBERS PLEASE EMAIL CAROLE LISTER WITH THEIR VOTE PLEASE ASAP. thomasmonds@aol.com