Dossier
To begin with, we invite you to familiarize yourself with a brief dossier of the breed.
- Adult height: 55-61 cm – females; 60-66 cm – males.
- Weight: 25-40 kg.
- Characteristic color: white.
- Coat length: There are two types of white shepherd dogs - long-haired and short-haired.
- Life expectancy: 11-14 years.
- Advantages of the breed: it learns easily and quickly. The dog is very kind towards children and is an excellent watchdog.
- Difficulties of the breed: since dogs of this breed are large, keeping them in a city apartment will not be the most suitable option. And also be prepared to provide your friend with regular physical activity.
- Average price of a white German Shepherd: from $300 to $500.
- Classification: large, guard, herding; companion dog.
Choice
If you want to purchase an American-Canadian White Shepherd, then it is important to determine exactly what such a dog is needed for.
If for show exhibitions, then be prepared that the snow-white handsome man (beauty) can present an extremely unpleasant surprise in the form of a weak nervous system - nervousness, cowardice or aggression.
And you will have to put up with a cowardly shepherd dog next to you for 12-14 years, since this is the lifespan of the BShO.
If this suits you morally, then be prepared to pay about 30-50 thousand rubles for a puppy.
BShO gets along well with all family members, children and other pets
In addition, show-class dogs rarely have the qualities necessary to actually protect the territory and the owner. Demonstration sports performances with BShO have little in common with real protective qualities, which are based, first of all, on the instincts of the breadwinner and the protection of offspring. These qualities have been artificially exterminated in show dogs!
Moreover, this shepherd dog must be TAUGHT TO BITE - she loves people so much that without special training she cannot break this “taboo”.
Of course, a white handsome dog (beauty) is quite suitable for scaring off intruders from a car or along the perimeter of a site - they love to bark, but in a direct attack the dog will become confused if the owner is not nearby or the BShO has not completed a special course. training.
“Ein Hund, der seinen Schwanz schützt” - the Swiss themselves say about the shepherd dog - “A dog that protects its tail.”
The other side of the coin is that the owner does not have to fear for his children and other pets. The loving nature of the American-Canadian woman will not allow her to cause the slightest damage to her household. The shepherd will be happy to “graze” everyone who lives with her under the same roof, but even here you can’t count on protecting the “herd.”
In Canada and the States, this breed is used as a rescue and search breed (after training) with the same frequency as retrievers in Russia.
When choosing a companion and protector, a watchman and a family friend, you should pay attention to shepherd dogs from working breeding lines, where dogs are selected not only for their appearance, but also for their behavior.
Good dogs are not obtained after studying various training disciplines; their attitude to work must be embedded in the genetic characteristics of the breed.
A good working BShO is a large, strong individual with a well-controlled type of desired behavior.
Puppies from working lines are cheaper - from 10 to 30 thousand rubles, depending on the working qualities of the parents.
If you do not plan to participate in exhibitions, it is better to purchase a BShO working line
History of the origin of the breed
This breed is also very often called the Swiss White Shepherd, as well as the American-Canadian Shepherd. The fact is that breeding of the breed began in the United States. And representatives of the breed came to Switzerland in the early seventies. Then the number of dogs imported from Canada and the USA began to increase, and soon the white shepherd was registered in the Registered Swiss Stud Book.
Since then, active breeding of the breed has begun in Europe. Interestingly, in the USA and the Netherlands, short-haired representatives of the breed are more common. And in countries such as Germany, France and Austria, you can most often find long-haired white German shepherds.
The history of the white dog or almost everything about the BShO breed
The development of cities is always associated with the development of crime on any continent and in any country. During the era of enlightenment and infrastructure development of the 18th century, the German principalities were literally covered with a wave of new crimes. It was then that the question arose about creating a service dog to help the police.
The BShO breed standard was adopted by the FCI only in 2002
Philax Society
A voluntary cynological community "Philax" appeared, which set itself the goal of obtaining service dogs from local shepherd dogs from different regions of Germany. The basis was based on small, nimble working “shepherd dogs” from Thuringia, Bavaria and Saxony, and they were paired with bony, broad-chested shepherd dogs from Württemberg, with long powerful legs, erect ears and a zone-gray wolf color.
“Philax” even managed to organize several exhibitions, where it presented a new, still raw breed under the general name “German Police Service Dogs” (Büropolizei Schäferhunde Deutschland):
- Hanover 1882 – gray and white males;
- Hanover 1887 – males and females of zone gray and white;
- Hamburger 1888 - overwhelmingly white dogs;
- Kassel 1889 – all the “Germans” represented are the same white color.
Torn by internal disputes about what the breed should ultimately become, the Philax community did not last long, but it managed to sow positive seeds:
- Drew society's attention to the value of many qualities inherent in herding dogs.
- Developed a certain view on the required type of service police dog.
- The talent of a great dog handler was discovered in the retired cavalry captain Max von Stefanitz, whose life resulted in the creation.
German Shepherd
After the dissolution of Philax, Max Stefanitz acquired his own kennel in Grafrath, where he and his friend Arthur Mauer continued to try to create the desired type of police dog.
On April 3, 1889, as usual, they visited a dog show in Carlorue, where they noticed a zonal yellow-gray male, the size of a wolf, standing at the feet of the dejected owner. The despondency of the dog's owner was explained by the fact that they were not allowed into the ring, because... The judges were unable to determine the breed, although the owner once paid a lot of money for the puppy.
But friends immediately determined that this dog was the result of mixed blood of dogs from Saxony and Württemberg, and, most likely, the puppy was purchased from the Philax society.
The first of the first - Horand
Both friends knew a lot about shepherd dogs, and this representative was a perfect representative of the desired breed - strong, springy, free in movement, harmonious, in the type of a primitive wolf dog.
The owner explained that the dog is a working dog, he is more than satisfied with the quality of its work and added that the dog differs from other herding dogs in its endurance, intelligence, independence and obedience. Plus, despite the external resemblance to a wolf, the dog tends to be in human company more often. The gray-yellow shepherd's name was Hector Lynx Rain.
After some arguing with the owner, Max and Arthur bought Hector and settled him in Stefanitz's kennel, giving him the name Horand von Grafrath.
A few days later, a new society SV was registered - Gesellschaft Zucht Deutsche Schäferhunde (German Shepherd Breeding Society), where the first number in the stud book of pedigrees was Horand von Grafrath; information about parents: “UNKNOWN” - unknown.
Horand von Grafrath
From the moment Horand was registered, the search began for females similar in quality to the male for breeding the desired type. It turned out that the most suitable type would be the Old German Shepherd Dog Kuchhunde or the Old German Shepherd Spitz-Tiger (the common name in Southern Germany for all herding dogs of the marbled white and black color “merle”).
Unknown danger
Back in 1889, no one had yet imagined that in the homozygous state the white merle color gene, which gives a solid white color, when compacted in the genome, carries such dangers as:
- various anomalies of eye development;
- deformities or non-viability of fetuses;
- partial or complete deafness;
- blue pigmentation of the iris and nose or light inclusions;
- oddness of eyes;
- high degree of sterility.
Fortunately, females of other colors were also involved in mating, bringing in new blood using standard inbreeding for several specimens with strict selection, both in terms of external characteristics and working qualities.
Horand as a producer
Soon, a fairly diverse population began to take shape, like a mosaic, in the direction of the desired type of appearance and behavior. The uniqueness lies in the fact that an excellent high-quality breed was bred from one male, possessing a perfect exterior appearance and excellent service qualities.
Judging by the history of origin, the “father of the breed” Horand von Grafrath himself was related to marbled and white herding shepherd dogs, so the transmission of the white gene to his descendants was inevitable. This is partly confirmed by the fact that many of his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren have white markings on various parts of their bodies.
Horand sired many puppies, 140 of which were included in the Society's studbook, but his most outstanding son was Hector von Schwaben. Hector's sons Beowulf, Gates and Pilot became the founders of outstanding pedigree lines, where the white gene was present, which later played a very cruel joke on snow-white German shepherds.
By the beginning of the 20th century. The popularity of the German Shepherd, used not only in pastures, but also in the police and army, has increased so much that the fame of its endurance, obedience and intelligence has gone far beyond the borders of Germany.
Although the emphasis in breeding was primarily on working qualities, the white coat color still gave these dogs a special charm.
The snow-white, smart dogs quickly won the hearts and souls of private dog breeders, and many tailed police officers were sold to the countries of Great Britain, and from there brought to Canada and America.
BShO descended from old-type German Shepherds
Expulsion of the white dogs
Meanwhile, work on improving the German Shepherd in Germany continued. Color for a working dog was considered something of secondary importance; breeding work under the patronage of Max von Stephanitz was aimed at increasing the requirements for the breed and expanding its professional capabilities.
But in 1936, the greatest dog handler who closely monitored his brainchild - the German Shepherd - Max von Stefanitz died.
He had long ago realized that when 2 white shepherds are mated, only white puppies are born, but these offspring have too many health problems, and he made sure that the white shepherd was always paired with a normally colored male.
The descendants of such a pair carry the white gene in a latent state. The next mating between normally colored dogs in 90 cases out of 100 will definitely produce one or more white puppies in the litter, if at least one of the parents has a homozygous white gene. By crossing white offspring with normally colored individuals, we get all puppies of normal color. And such a cyclical breeding process should not be disrupted in order to preserve the health of the entire breed.
Left without a strict “look,” the newly minted breeders-improvers-amateurs-destroyers redoubled their efforts in obtaining the shepherd dogs that are in greatest demand - light-haired ones, violating all the rules of genetics.
The offspring they bred not only did not correspond to the title of “Perfection Itself,” but led to the degeneration of the breed as a whole.
When crossing two white shepherd dogs, the offspring were very often sick
Even during the life of Max von Stefanitz (1933), the All-German Cynological Society raised the issue of excluding dogs with the recessive white gene from further breeding, but then Stefanitz was able to defend them. After his death there was no one to do this.
Pragmatic Germans correctly associated degenerative tendencies with the presence of individuals with light or completely white hair. German breeders had no time to understand the intricacies of the “genealogical method of establishing the type of inheritance with the predicted probability of the appearance of certain characteristics of the future generation” (Mendel’s Laws of Heredity) - Germany was starting the World War.
Weak, prone to allergies, producing a large percentage of blind, deaf or non-viable puppies, white shepherd dogs of the “post-Stephanitz period” did not in any way meet the needs of the Wehrmacht army, and were mercilessly eliminated from breeding in Germany. Since that time, the paths of white and colored shepherds have completely diverged.
It must be said that the remaining individuals in the breeding still benefited from this split, acquiring the familiar external features and character of the black-and-red Old German Shepherd Dog today.
But distant interrupted kinship is a no-no and reminds of itself with “gray hair” on the muzzles and bodies of the BUT and small white “stars” on the chest.
What is the breed for?
These dogs were bred to be herders. After all, their color helps them practically “merge” with the herd of snow-white sheep, so that a predator may not immediately notice them. And these shepherds cope well with their shepherding duties. In addition, the white German Shepherd can be an excellent watchdog, family guard and your companion. Representatives of this breed are very hardworking and intelligent.
Description of character
In addition to a high level of intelligence, the white shepherd shows extraordinary obedience and responsibility. For this reason, they are considered to be easy to train. This dog is very inquisitive. She will happily follow you wherever you go, watching your actions with interest. A cheerful and sociable character allows you to establish contact with the dog almost at first sight.
They are ready to communicate with strangers (although at first they are very wary), and they happily play with children. In addition, such a pet will also get along well with other four-legged friends in the house. It is believed that white shepherds can talk. They communicate with their owner using a wide range of sound signals, which often surprises random passers-by.
How to choose a puppy
Choosing a White German Shepherd puppy can be made much easier if you listen to the following tips.
- Buy a puppy from a kennel or from a trusted breeder. And be sure to ask for documents for the puppies’ parents.
- Feel free to ask questions. The more interested you are, the easier it will be to choose the best puppy.
- An important point is also the conditions for keeping dogs. If this is a good nursery, then, as a rule, there should be no problems. Well, if you are a random breeder, pay special attention to this point.
- The appearance of the puppy itself is something that you simply must take into account. Take a close look at his fur. It should be snow-white, without bald spots. The baby's ears and eyes are clean, without any discharge. The teeth are white, and the gums of a healthy puppy are always pink, without inflammation.
- The puppy must be active, playful and well-fed.
Care and maintenance
It is best to keep such a dog if you live in a private house. This is not only because of the size of the white shepherd. Such a dog needs regular walks in the fresh air, active exercise and attention from the owner. As for grooming, it is first of all important to take care of your pet’s snow-white coat.
It must be combed at least once a week, and during the molting period - 2-3 times . Also take care of the hygiene of your ears and eyes (you need to wipe them with a damp cloth every day). It is recommended to brush your dog's teeth at least once a week.
Rules of care
Like all large breed dogs, the Swiss White needs plenty of space to live and play. Therefore, it is better to have such a pet for owners of the private sector and a wide yard, because even in a two-room apartment the pet will be cramped and uncomfortable.
To stay fit and healthy, the shepherd needs regular walks and training - running with weights or running with small obstacles.
From the very beginning, the animal must be accustomed to order and following basic commands - this will greatly simplify further training. The puppy adapts to new conditions much more easily, gets used to people and animals living in the apartment. When purchasing an adult dog, it will be much more difficult to accustom him to new routines.
But a properly raised white shepherd will become the best companion for children, an affectionate friend for the owner and at the same time a formidable guard for any strangers.
In order for a puppy to grow into a healthy and beautiful dog, every day he must consume at least 150-200g of meat, two eggs, 150-200g of cottage cheese, as well as bone meal, herbs, and cereals as a supplement.
IMPORTANT!
Among dry food, you need to choose premium class options. They are more expensive, but saving on your pet’s health is also risky. On cheap food, animals more often suffer from cholelithiasis and kidney stones, and sometimes even cancer, after which their life expectancy is significantly reduced.
Training
White Shepherds are easy to train. They tend to become very attached to their owner and are very sensitive to aggression. Never show your aggression to a white shepherd. After all, this can cause your pet to develop depression. They need to be trained persistently, but without raising their voice. It's better to calmly talk to your dog if he is doing something wrong, and next time you will be surprised at the changes in your snow-white companion's behavior.
Some content features
White Swiss Shepherd puppies are more like a plush child's toy with a cat-like, affectionate demeanor, and often owners begin to treat them like decoration for the home. This is a global mistake!
White shepherds easily “switch on” to defend their “pack” in the event of a real threat (in their opinion) and make the decision to attack the aggressor on their own, often without “consulting” with the owner.
BShOs are highly trainable
The breed belongs to the working group, it is a serious working dog, in many cases competing in ZKS and K-9 with other famous breeds.
BShO, in order to avoid unpleasant surprises as he grows up, it is imperative to teach him to obey. And you need to achieve obedience through proper upbringing from the first days of purchasing a puppy.
Otherwise, you can get a shepherd dog, no, not aggressive towards the owner (“the Swiss” are softer in character than the “Germans”), but completely ignoring the demands of the family and the owner’s command.
From birth, white shepherds are oriented towards communicating with the human “pack”, but in raising and training the owner will need to show constant persistence, consistency and firm, but not rude, pressure on the puppy.
The Shepherd is very active and needs a lot of exercise and exercise while walking.
Another distinctive feature of BShO is his love of conversation. The dog willingly “talks” with the owner, with family members, almost constantly says something to himself, voicing his actions, when left alone he loudly complains about his fate, and during sexual heat he “whistles” incessantly.
Advantages and disadvantages
This is a very active dog. She can spend long hours walking, playing with you, running next to you while you ride a bike, and maintaining all sorts of activities. The German White Shepherd is almost impossible to tire out. And representatives of this breed are often not aggressive at all. On the contrary, they are distinguished by their openness and good nature. This is especially a plus if you are choosing a dog for the whole family. They become very attached to one owner and will accompany you always and everywhere.
Categorically not suitable for inactive people . After all, if you do not provide the white shepherd with sufficient activity, it can ruin the wallpaper, furniture in the apartment, or your shoes. Consider this factor before getting a pet. If you are in a bad mood, the shepherd will feel it and when meeting people you don’t want, it can growl and bark at them.
On the forums of white German shepherd breeders, you can often come across the opinion that it is difficult for these dogs to choose food. After all, it greatly affects the condition of the pet’s coat. Of course, we are talking more about premium food. What kind of food did you choose for your pet?
Education and training
In order for the Greater Swiss Shepherd to comply with most traditional commands, the help of a dog handler may not be necessary. The BShO is a smart breed, it grasps everything on the fly. Even a child can train a Greater Swiss Shepherd to respond to the most common commands: come to me, sit, lie down, place, fetch. Literally from the third time this smart girl starts following commands. When training a dog, it is important not to hit him, especially with a leash.
The dog perceives a shout, irritation, or dissatisfaction in your voice as disapproval of his actions and quickly corrects himself. All problems with training and accustoming this dog to commands can be solved with words and affection; physical impact will make the animal stupid and cowardly. Talk to the dog as to a person, this is a very smart breed, he understands everything. It is important to conduct training regularly, so the memory of the commands will be permanently ingrained in the puppy. The high level of intelligence, well-developed intuition of the BShO is the ideal soil for creating such a dog as an ideal assistant not only at home, but also at work (law enforcement units, guides for the blind, bloodhounds). Representatives of this breed can get bored due to frequent repetition of commands.
For good health, the BShO needs not only good nutrition, but also regular games, walks, and exercises with the dog. By playing with him, you show him your love and make him even more attached to you. You become not only an owner for the dog, but also a friend, not only an object of adoration and protection, but also a mother and father. A snow-white friend will try to please you in everything.
Devotion and fidelity - this is what a dog of the BShO breed can give, this is what we have come to see so rarely in people. If you need a truly loyal friend, a reliable watchman and security guard, the White Swiss Shepherd is the ideal choice. Plus, she's very beautiful. The long, snow-white coat, smoothly combed and clean, looks amazing, pleasing to the eye. Yes, such wool is not for lazy owners, it needs to be combed regularly, but how beautiful it is! Give her your care and love and you will receive all the same, only in a much larger volume.
