Facts About German Shepherds

The German Shepherd which is also known in Britain as an Alsatian is a dog breed that is well known as the protector or as some would call the police dog. The majority of K9 unit dogs on police forces are German Shepherds, which isn’t really that surprising since the breed’s temperament is watchful, alert, curious, obedient, confident, courageous, intelligent, and loyal, and they make wonderful police dogs as well as dogs for protection in general. In fact, German Shepherds have been known to be used for many different types of work such as disability assistance, search and rescue, military assistance and even acting at times.

A German Shepherd on a search and rescue mission.

A German Shepherd on a search and rescue mission.

The German Shepherd breed is a medium-to-large working dog that originated in, yep you guessed it, Germany. They generally weigh between 66-88lbs for a male and 49-71lbs for a female and traditionally stand between 24-26 inches for males and 22-24 inches for females. The German Shepherd is typically black, grey, and tan but can vary to include colors such as sable, blue, red, silver, liver, and white depending on the breeding parents and lineage.

As some of the above is pretty common knowledge we want to share with you some more interesting facts about German Shepherds that you may not know already.

  • Out of 100 popular dog breed studies, it’s been shown that German Shepherds are the third most intelligent.
  • They are the second most popular dog breed in the USA – the Labrador beat them for the first spot.
  • This breed’s bite has 238 pounds of force. To put this into perspective, a human’s bite has just 86 pounds of bite force.
  • They typically (95% of the time) obey the first command given to them.
  • They can learn simple tasks after only five repetitions.
  • When Switzerland began formal guide dog training in the 1920’s every single dog trained was a German Shepherd.
  • This breed’s original job was to protect and herd sheep in Germany in the 1800’s.
  • Their median lifespan is 10.95 years.
  • There is a thing known as a “Panda Shepherd” – this is an unusual coloring combination for the breed.
  • This breed is one of the few who has a double coat, and the outer coat sheds all year long.
  • They are very protective, sometimes going over the top.

Overall, German Shepherds are wonderful dogs. They are hardworking and highly intelligent so if you are looking for a dog that is easy to train and will protect you, this could be the breed for you.