The German Shepherd, also known as Alsatian, is a very intelligent dog with a very noble look, he has elegant flowing lines and intelligent expression. He is an active dog and an obedient worker. He has all the qualities to make him what is considered to be the ideal dog. He has a very good nature and is a natural sportsman, being nimble and fast he makes a fantastic pet or work dog. They enjoy being around people and other animals. German Shepherds are well suited to obedience training.
The Alsatian is most often black with tan but can also have variations of coat color including all black. There are three varieties of coat, rough coated (short), long rough coated and long haired.
As a working dog German Shepherds are suited to various jobs, some of the more obvious are police and guard dog, in this role they can be used to apprehend criminals, sniff out drugs and explosives and find lost people. They are also used by rescue associations to find people trapped in collapsed building or buried alive in disaster zones. German Shepherds can also be used as guide or help dogs due to their high level of intelligence they are ideally suited to the task.
In the case of the German Shepherd its history is not very old, in fact the dogs you see now have only been around since the end of the 19th century, which came about from a breeding amalgamation between various Shepherding dogs by Capt Max von Stephanitz who is classed the father of the breed.
There are lots of famous German Shepherds in the history vaults, this is due to the popularity of the breed and the versatile and intelligence of the animal. Some have even become movie stars such as The Littlest Hobo and Rin Tin Tin who made 26 movies and at his peak was receiving 10,000 fan letters a week. Others just have famous owners such as Clipper who was president Kennedy’s dog. Over the years German Shepherds have rescued and saved hundreds of lives either by being trained to or just because they love their owners.
The German Shepherd will live for approximately 10 to 12 years and will need lots of exercise, including a large play area or garden. You will have to give extensive training in the early years, but with its high ability to learn good training is essential. They will also shed hair all the time and seasonally it will shed heavily. Brushing twice weekly is recommended but if hair is a problem in the home daily brushing is recommended. Bathing should happen rarely and at the most only twice a year to avoid removal of essential skin oils. Watch out for hip problems as this is an area where German Shepherds are prone to having problems.
Above all if you decide to have a German Shepherd as a pet or working dog you will have a animal which is intelligent, loving, loyal and will give you lots of enjoyment.
If you would like more information, tips and secrets on training German Shepherd dogs check out http://www.usfreeads.com/741051-cls.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Edward_Linton
