In the beginning, from the advent of serious American engagement in the Schutzhund trial program and the reemergence of widespread police service, that is the era from the end of Vietnam through the early 1980's, the police dog was in public perception as well as the reality of the street the German Shepherd. This predominance, worldwide in scope, was the legacy of von Stephanitz, whose vision and promotional acumen was second only to that of the Apostle Paul himself. Indeed the SV, the mother club in Germany, is in terms of power, wealth, history, influence and all pervasive corruption directly comparable to the Catholic Church.

Other breeds, in particular the Doberman Pincher, had passionate advocates, but objective reality is that the last significant deployment was in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War, now 75 years in the past. The ongoing prosperity and promotional vigor of the German Shepherd movement leading up to the First World War, and war service, had made it very difficult for other incipient German breeds to gain traction. This hegemony would persist for a century, and with deep irony the only real competition the German Shepherd would ever face ultimately was to arise from Belgian ashes. Continue Reading