Alsatians and GSD's?

G

Gooby

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Sorry for my being incredibly dim but what is the difference? I have googled it and a lot of people seem to be saying there is no difference and they are the same breed
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Thank you!
 
Got it in one! I'm off out so haven't got time to go into detail, hopefully CC will fill in the gaps. Briefly, the breed originated in Germany and wsa introduced to the Uk when there was a strong anti German feeling. Therefore they were given the name Alsatian. However from the late 60s there was a strong move for the name to revert to the correct one of German Shepherd Dog (my late mum was one of the leading campaigners at the time). Eventually in the 70s the Kennel Club gave in and agreed they should be called German Shepherd Dog (Alsatian), the brackets just to save people getting confused.
So yes they are one and the same, although technically the name Alsatian on its own shouldn't really be used now. And contrary to popular belief, it is not the long haired ones who are GSDs and the normal coats Alsatians.
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Over toyou CC.
 
What MM said
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There is none. We are no longer at war with Germany and have no need to call them Alsatians any longer
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There are people who say one is a shortcoat and one is a longcoat, that is bunkum!

People, particularly servicemen, saw them in Germany how versatile and useful a dog they were (they were still a relatively young breed at the time of WWI) and like MM says, started to bring them back with them.
As anything German was a bit of a no-no (there are tales of dachsunds being kicked in the street) and the breed originated in the borderlands between Germany and France in Alsace, they got the moniker Alsatian.
Unfortunately they were first registered as Alsatian Wolf-Dogs
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but that was thankfully dropped.

Interestingly two of the early champions of the breed in the UK at the time of the Great War were Major Baldwin and Lord Brabanzon.

This is a great article, if anyone is interested
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it details the early history of the breed in the UK.

http://jetofiada.tripod.com/Story.htm
 
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