The German Shepherd Dog also known as an Alsatian comes literally from the German Deutscher Schäferhund. The Alsatian is a relatively new breed of large-sized dog originating in the late 19th century. Originally a herding dog, particularly for sheep.

Often employed by the military and police for their obedience and intelligence. The Alsatian is nearly always one of the top 5 global breeds.
The breed originates from a dog called Hektor Linksrhein. Hecktor so stunned Von Stephanitz that he purchased it and renamed him to Horand von Grafrath and founded German Shepherd Dog Society.
Horand von Grafrath became the hub of the Alsatian breeding programs and was bred with many other society member dogs.
The Alsatians popularity has increased quickly through the 20th Century, though it had some problems in popularity in the early days due to genetic health issues from poor inbreeding and after the world wars with anti German sentiment. This caused the UK Kennel Club to rename it to “Alsatian Wolf Dog”, eventually the wolf dog appendage was removed and in the late 70s, the breed officially became the Alsatian Dog. The German Shepherd popularity was fuelled by animal actors such as Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart. Now it is in most countries the third most popular dog breed.

They are a large dog of between 55 and 65 centimetres (around 24 in) at the withers and weigh between 22 and 40 kilograms ( sixty lb).

The Alsatian’s face has a long square cut muzzle, a doomed forehead, a long neck, powerful jaws, large erect ears (that are often pulled back when on the move), black nose and brown, medium-sized eyes. With a bushy tail.

Alsatians come in many colours, the most common being the tan/black and red/black versions with black masks and saddles. Less common types include the sable, all-black, all-white, liver and blue varieties, which may not fit country breed standards. Alsatians have a double coat. A dense close thick outer coat, which is shed continually and a thick undercoat. There is also the rare long-hair variant.
Like many working dogs, German Shepherds were bred for their intelligence, and are considered to be the third most intelligent breed of dog (Border Collies is deemed to be number one by Stanley Coren in his book The Intelligence of Dogs). This attribute combined with their power makes the breed desirable as guard, police, search and rescue dogs, being able to quickly learn various tasks and interpret instructions better than other large breeds.
German Shepherds have a reputation for aggression and have been banned in areas as a result. Statistically, in the States, the Alsatian is responsible for more unprovoked indiscriminate bites than any other breed, and have a known tendency to attack smaller dog breeds.

Additionally studies have shown that Alsatians are the third most likely dog breed to attack a person and in another report found that German Shepherds accounted for around fifty percent of the dog bites that mandated medical attention, versus a more normal twenty of bites requiring medical treatment, not surprising with their powerful jaws and scissor teeth.

There is no problem with the Alsatian breed, it is the fault of the owners. As with all intelligent lively dog (or child), if they are not regularly active and kept busy, they can become difficult. The German Shepherd needs to have puppy socialisation and good training from an early stage. Unlike the collie, which a lot of its aggressiveness has been breed out from show strains, the German Shepherd has not lost this streak.

The Alsatian are great with the family they know, but can be over protective of their home and family – why they are a great guard dog. This can give them an aloof personality.

German Shepherds learn well and are highly obedient and not easily diverted, but due to their tough personality, you must be very forceful with them.
The German Shepherd must have two good walks a day. They are not a dog for a busy family who cannot give them the time and attention. For this reason, busy families regularly ask professional dog walkers such as London dog walking to help out by walking them for a couple of hours a day.
Poor breeding has led to common health problems, elbow and hip joint problems (dysplasia) which often causes the dog pain and often causes arthritis. The German Shepherd also is susceptible from monorchidism (one testicle), weakness of temperament, and missing teeth, as well as folded or bent ears which never fully turn up when reaching adulthood. The Alsatian is often has ear problems due to his large and open ears.

German Shepherds, like many large chested dogs are sensitive to bloat, this is a very dangerous and often rapidly fatal problem, so if in doubt consult a veterinary. This is a gas build up in the stomach, caused by a number of different causes. The symptoms of distress for no apparent reason, a firm distension of the abdomen, general weakness, depression, problems breathing, hypersalivation, and retching without vomiting. A high rate of dogs with bloat have cardiac arrhythmias ( forty percent in one study), loss of appetite, vomiting and weight loss.

The German Shepherd also suffers from Degenerative Myelopathy, or DM is a neurological disease and are predisposed to Von Willebrand Disease, a common inherited bleeding disorder, which shows in varying degrees of bleeding tendency, commonly in the form of easy bruising, nosebleeds and bleeding gums. .

In spite of these problems, the Alsatian is sturdy with simple dog care and the average lifespan of a Alsatian is 7 – 10 years, which is normal for a dog of this size.

The Alsatian has great olfactory sensitivity so is one of the most widely-used breeds in a many roles requiring this ability, including search and rescue, cadaver searching, narcotics detection, explosives detection, accelerant detection, and mine detection dog, amongst others.

So the Alsatian is a wonderful intelligent dog that will love you, if you have the time and dedication for him. Not advised for busy working families.