Rittmeister
"Captain Max Von Stephanitz"
"Take this trouble from me: Make sure my shepherd dog remains a working dog, for I have struggled all my life long for that aim."

V. Don Vom Rolandsteich
SchH 2, FH 2 KKL1

"Utility is the true criterion of beauty" 
               Rittmeister
"Captain Max Von Stephanitz" 

At the end of WWII, in 1949, Germany became divided politically, socially and economically. As of October 7, 1949 the DDR (Deutsch Demokratik Republic) East Germany was a fact and became isolated, and so to did it's dogs. These dogs began to follow a different path than the dogs of West Germany. East Germany and East Berlin remained under communist control until the historic events of 1989 and 1990, ending with the bringing down of the Berlin Wall and the final repatriation of East Germany. Of particular interest to us is the history of the German shepherd dog in the DDR. The DDR was a political, social, economic, and geographic entity that was physically solidified with the tragically oppressive construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, and which began its political and physical dissolution with the history-making and liberating fall of that barrier on November 9, 1989.
Just as the geo-political entity formerly known as the "DDR" no longer exists today, the "DDR German Shepherd Dog" is a historical relic of a bygone time and place, and it no longer exists today. The generations of true "DDR" bloodlines are limited to a span of roughly four decades of breeding and development in the former East Germany. These bloodlines may be found in the third, fourth, and further generations back in the pedigrees of working, sporting, and companion dogs found around the world today. These modern representatives of the German Shepherd Dog breed, with a genetic heritage in the former DDR bloodlines, have their true provenance determined by the place of their actual birth.

The SDG (Sektion Dienst und Gebrauchhundewesen) was principally concerned with the registration and trialing of the working dogs. Breeding was designed to provide dogs for the military, police, border patrol and customs. Breeding was aimed at producing temperament-filled dogs with strong character, good sharpness and drive. They sought to breed only healthy, useable dogs with strong builds that were free of genetic problems. Tough criteria and extensive testing were put in place to ensure that only the best examples of the breed were acceptable.

Only the very best were considered true DDR German Shepherds.   They were bred for strong bones to handle the great distances they would be expected to patrol.  They were constantly exposed to the harshest of weather conditions, to build stamina, genetic resistance to disease, and an ability to function in the worst of weather conditions. Under the SDG no dog received his/her registration papers until being evaluated as a young adult at the Nachwuchs Beurteiling before the age of one year. The owners of bitches had to appear for evaluation at these evaluations with all of her progeny from that litter.

Dogs between one and two years old were evaluated at the ZTP (Zucht Tauchlichkeits Pruefung). Dogs over two years of age were evaluated at the Koerung. At evaluations the Wertmessziffern system was used to rate individual dogs using a six digit system. The first three digits dealt with the anatomy of the dog, while the last three digits related to the temperament and nervous system.

Only dogs that passed rigorous evaluations were permitted to reproduce. This information was organized according to sires and dams and published periodically as a tool for breeders. This provided an exceptional tool for the improvement of the breed. Maily service dogs developed.

We believe that the ideal dog would be one with a korung of 6654/55. This would be a dog that was powerful, robust and substantial, with excellent conformation and lines. The dog would be sharp and aggressive, exhibiting very good fight drive and hardness.




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"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Unknown