WHILE HIS men moved off on practice manoeuvres, the 30 year old cavalry officer was left for a while alone on the hillside overlooking the Rhine outside the German city of Cologne. It was autumn 1890 and Max von Stephanitz found himself watching in fascination the work of a shepherd with two dogs tending a flock in the valley beneath him. Deeply impressed by the bond between the man and his dogs, he dreamed at that moment of creating a breed of German Shepherd Dog that would possess the extraordinary versatility and intelligence of the dog he saw before him. Later, on leaving the army, he together with like-minded enthusiasts, founded the SV (the German Shepherd Dog association) in 1899 and thus began the planned breeding of what was to become the premier working dog of the world. Performing In this centenary year, it was perhaps fitting that the SV should hold it’s annual sheep herding championship trial in Kirchheim, not far from Stüttgart, for the area of Würtemberg is strongly linked with the early history and development of the breed. It was the working dogs of that area combined with the distinctive type from Thuringia in the former East Germany that formed the foundation of early breeding. Famous kennels like that of Tobias Ott of the Blasienberg affix produced many excellent working sheepdogs. And what better way to celebrate the breed’s centenary that to witness it performing it’s original work with the flocks?

Winfried Weinhold, Sheep Herding Champion 1999, with Elsa (right)

The event takes place over three days and the dogs have to qualify at area heats by gaining a minimum of 80 per cent of the available marks. This year 21 team qualified and 19 actually completed . Six of the teams came from the former East Germany. We made our way up the winding road to the SV club house outside Kircheim, which was to be the base for the trial. Set on the hillside overlooking the beautiful landscape of the Schwabian Alb, the venue offered a marvellous opportunity to watch the dogs work in natural surroundings. Over 200 sheep were penned among the apple orchards on the hillside, and after a draw to determine the running order, the first competitor, accompanied by two dogs, made his way to the pen. Willi etzel of Hessen is a shepherd of enormous experience, a previous winner of the title and runner-up last year. As first on the field he faced the difficult task of handling a fresh flock and furthermore had two new relatively inexperienced dogs, one a very young daughter of the breed Sieger, Rikkor von Bad-Boll. It was interesting to see Rikkor’s owner, Hans Peter Rieker, whose kennel is just down the road, watching round intently. Unfortunately, in spite of Willi Etzel’s skill, his dogs disappointed this year. The work began with the release of the flock from the pen. The shepherd moves one of the fence panels to form an exit and, leaving both dogs to watch the gap, he enters the flock to give the sheep a chance to become familiar with him. One of the dogs (Haupthund) is actually marked, while the other (Beikund) acts in a supporting role. The Haupthund is ordered to jump into the pen and stand calmly and under control at a designed spot while the shepherd encourages the flock to follow him out of the pen. Once the lead sheep gets the idea, the rest follow on with the dogs at rear and flank to keep the flock together. The sheep are taken next to a relatively narrow patch of grazing where the dogs must move tirelessly around a demarcated ‘furrow’ or perimeter (in this case a line left by a grass-cutter), keeping the sheep in the grazing area and dealing decisively on the thigh or neck to exert discipline, though they are penalised if they hold on, bite unnecessarily or damage the sheep.

(Kerstin Smiena, the only female trialist, moves the flock down hillside)

No Deviation:

The dog must change sides around the grazing area independently without command and keep a continuous eye on the flock without disturbing or unsettling them as they graze. After a suitable time, the flock was moved along a narrow path to a more extensive grazing area, where the dogs again work the furrow and, and on command, they change sides passing each other as they do so, without showing the slightest interest in their working partner and never deviating from the perimeter line. The Haupthund is told to stand in the furrow and then ordered to move steadily in a straight line towards the sheep without inclining towards the shepherd. He must stop and stand quietly at least three times until he is finally halted as near to the grazing sheep as possible without disturbing them. He must then return back on exactly the same line to the spot in the furrow from which he began and then continue the tireless work of running the perimeter. The way the dogs respond to the most subtle gesture or signal from the shepherd is always impressive as is their willingness to work on their own. After the grazing exercises, the flock was then led onto a length of narrow road and the dogs were required to help in stretching out the sheep into a lengthy formation with the flock now some three or four sheep wide so that room is created on the road for a vehicle to pass unhindered in both directions. If either dog or sheep obstruct the vehicle causing it to slow or stop, points are lost. Here the dog’s energy, commitment and enduring gait come into full play as they moved rapidly from the head of the flock to the rear and back again several times, pushing the sheep into line. The flock was then moved through the gate about eight feet apart in the middle of open ground with only the dogs standing calmly at the gates to ensure that no sheep moved outside them. The dog has to hold his position motionless until the very last sheep has gone through. With the final penning of the flock the round was completed and both spectators and competitors awaited the judge’s announcements of the points awarded for each exercise and an analysis of the dog’s performance. Such work with the flock shows the German shepherd at it’s best and demonstrates all the physical and mental characteristics of the breed that von stephanitz so valued in it’s beginnings. Resilience, endurance, willingness to work, responsiveness and initiative, energy without hyperactivity, confidence and self-control: all are marks of the true German Shepherd. Unfortunately rain marred the Saturday morning, although both dogs and sheep probably preferred it to the heat of the first day, which saw us sitting in the shade of the apple trees.

Saturday evening was spent at a social gathering in the huge tent erected for the purpose, where the beer flowed freely in typical Southern German style and the band played enthusiastically. On the Stage: After a wet Sunday morning the weather co-operated for the finale of the afternoon when all the teams appeared on the stage in the tent to receive their awards from the SV president, Peter Messler. Repeating his win of last year was Winfried Weinhold with the bitch, Eisa vom Burgfalken, from Riesa in Saxony. Winfried has been active as a shepherd for over 30 years and has completed at trials for 18 of them. For him bloodlines matter little and in fact he sold one of his best trials bitches as she was unregistered and the SV now requires all the dogs competing as Haupthunde to be registered with the SV. Their pedigrees and identification are checked at the trial. Beihunde, however, may compete without registration. When I asked him about the use of collies for herding, he replied that he had seen our collies working sheep on video and in his view they would not have the ceaseless, endurance gait to cope with running the furrow and probably lack the strength to cope with the quite hefty sheep at the trials in Germany. For Winfried the most difficult thing to teach his dogs was the cross-over where the dogs change sides around the grazing area. His Beihund was, I thought a most promising youngster for whom he had high hopes. Herbert Kind of Dörnfeld in Thuringia camed second, sharing that honour with Edwin Becker of Hessen. Both gained 95 marks, just one mark behind the winner. Everyone was impressed by Kind’s young very dark sable bitch, Venja vom Falkenschrei. Just 2½ years old, she worked with remarkable speed and determination. Venja was bred in Belgium but from pure DDR bloodlines.

(Winfried Weinhold's Eisa makes for the traffic)

Talking to a trials judge who had judged Venja at a previous event, I discovered that he regarded her as the most promising herding bitch he had seen. Clearly a future star! Kar Füller occupied fourth position with 94 points gained by his beautiful rich red tan dog, Farus vom Kirschental, whose gait as he moved along the flock to make room for the approaching car was superb in its freedom, scope and fluency. Herr Füller also scored a very creditable 91 with his second dog, Nufor. Kerstin Smietena, the only female competitor in the history of the competition, produced a good round with her attractive bitch, Mädi vom Schäferhaus, supported by a young daughter of Karly von Arminius Kerstin and her family had very generously provided the two large flocks used in the competition and, when the sheep where changed halfway through the trial, she volunteered to work the fresh sheep herself. She had one difficult time when the lead sheep, instead of following her, decided to leap through a gap over a ditch and retrace their earlier route through a gateway. For a few minutes the whole flock of 200 sheep simply followed in an unbroken circling carousal. Eventually, Kertin positioned Mädi cleverly to break the circle and she managed to move the flock on. We left the trials tired, very damp but elated once again to have witnessed the work that inspired the breed’s foundation and we salute all those who keep alive the true German Shepherd Dog.