The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

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The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Naga_Fireball »

This week, i stumbled across a goldmine of information on eugenics. By accident. If you go to Wikipedia and simply read the article generated by searching "German Shepherd", you will be astounded by some of the information.

Did you know that the German Shepherd breed is less than 150 years old? Making it more recent than the US civil war...

Yet this breed stands among the top 3 working dogs and ranks 3rd in terms of intelligence. The only barrier it faces is aggressive tendency and a trend toward needing a lot of social guidance as a juvenile.

Apparently the creators of this breed had a clear objective in mind when they started the project. The Phylax Society did not stop until they had produced the perfect working dog.

Germany of course was so unpopular during world war 1 that the name was temporarily changed to Alsatian. Curiously enough, after world war 2 no one really cared anymore.

My question is, if you can breed the perfect dog in 10 years, how many do we really need to produce similar humans?

What if the world wars have been nothing more than the catalyst needed by eugenics experts to create conditiond capable of producing novel breeds?

No wonder USA is called The Great Experiment.
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
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Re: The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Naga_Fireball »

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylax_Society" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Phylax Society was the first German Shepherd Dog club, formed with the intention of creating a standardized German dog breed.

Throughout Europe, unofficial groups had been operating to selectively breed dogs with profound qualities. While distinct breeds were being established they often differed dramatically, both in appearance and utility, across localities. As a result, in 1891 the Phylax Society (Phylax being Greek for "guardsman") was formed with the intention of creating a standardised German dog breed by hand-picking, from sheep dogs belonging to local German shepherds, those that displayed superior qualities than those of other breeds.

The official existence of the Phylax Society was short lived. Early in the group's history there was constant bickering regarding the desired traits of what would become the German Shepherd Dog. Some of the members felt aesthetics were not important in a dog breed, instead desiring that the dog be useful as a working breed, rather than having a pleasing look. Other members preferred that the dog be bred more for beauty with less of a focus on having a working breed. This argument was never settled and after numerous attempts to breed the German Shepherd dog failed by producing dogs with little to no utility, many of the members left; resulting in the Phylax Society disbanding in 1894, only four years after[1][2][3][4]

Although the Phylax Society had disbanded, many former members continued in attempts to breed a dog with superior qualities. It was due to the original formation of the Phylax Society that Max von Stephanitz was inspired to form the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (Society for the German Shepherd Dog) in 1899, which ultimately lead to the creation of the modern German Shepherd dog breed.
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
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Re: The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Naga_Fireball »

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Shepherd_Dog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Image

Alsatian (UK) Alsatian wolf dog (UK) Berger Allemand Deutscher Schäferhund Schäferhund

The German Shepherd (German: Deutscher Schäferhund, German pronunciation: [ˈʃɛːfɐˌhʊnt]) is a breed of medium to large-sized working dog that originated in Germany. The breed's officially recognized name is German Shepherd Dog in the English language, sometimes abbreviated as GSD and was also formerly known as the Alsatian in Britain. [5] The German Shepherd is a relatively new breed of dog, with their origin dating to 1899. As part of the Herding Group, German Shepherds are working dogs developed originally for herding sheep. Since that time, however, because of their strength, intelligence, trainability, and obedience, German Shepherds around the world are often the preferred breed for many types of work, including disability assistance, search-and-rescue, police and military roles, and even acting. [6] The German Shepherd is the second-most popular breed of dog in the United States [7] and fourth-most popular in the United Kingdom. [8]



In Europe, during the 1850s, attempts were being made to standardize breeds. [39] The dogs were bred to preserve traits that assisted in their job of herding sheep and protecting flocks from predators. [25] In Germany this was practiced within local communities, where shepherds selected and bred dogs. It was recognized that the breed had the necessary skills for herding sheep, such as intelligence, speed, strength and keen senses of smell. [25]

The results were dogs that were able to do such things, but that differed significantly, both in appearance and ability, from one locality to another. [39]

To combat these differences, the Phylax Society was formed in 1891 with the intention of creating standardised development plans for native dog breeds in Germany. [25] The society disbanded after only three years due to ongoing internal conflicts regarding the traits in dogs that the society should promote; [25] some members believed dogs should be bred solely for working purposes, while others believed dogs should be bred also for appearance. [40]

While unsuccessful in their goal, the Phylax Society had inspired people to pursue standardising dog breeds independently.

With the rise of large, industrialized cities in Germany, the predator population began to decline, rendering sheepdogs unnecessary. [25] At the same time, the awareness of sheepdogs as a versatile, intelligent class of canine began to rise. [25] Max von Stephanitz, an ex-cavalry captain and former student of the Berlin Veterinary College, was an ex-member of the Phylax Society who firmly believed dogs should be bred for working. [25] He admired the intelligence, strength and ability of Germany's native sheepdogs, but could not find any one single breed that satisfied him as the perfect working dog. [25]

In 1899, Von Stephanitz was attending a dog show when he was shown a dog named Hektor Linksrhein. [25] Hektor was the product of few generations of selective breeding and completely fulfilled what Von Stephanitz believed a working dog should be. He was pleased with the strength of the dog and was so taken by the animal's intelligence, loyalty and beauty, that he purchased him immediately. [39] After purchasing the dog he changed his name to Horand von Grafrath and Von Stephanitz founded the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (Society for the German Shepherd Dog). [39] Horand was declared to be the first German Shepherd Dog and was the first dog added to the society's breed register. [25]

Horand became the centre-point of the breeding programs and was bred with dogs belonging to other society members that displayed desirable traits and with dogs from Thuringia, Franconia and Wurttemberg. [25]

Fathering many pups, Horand's most successful was Hektor von Schwaben. [25][41] Hektor was inbred with another of Horand's offspring and produced Heinz von Starkenburg, Beowulf and Pilot, who later fathered a total of eighty-four pups, mostly through being inbred with Hektor's other offspring. [25] This inbreeding was deemed necessary in order to fix the traits being sought in the breed. [25] In the original German Shepherd studbook, Zuchtbuch für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SZ), within the two pages of entries from SZ No. 41 to SZ No. 76, there are four Wolf Crosses. [42] Beowulf's progeny also were inbred and it is from these pups that all German Shepherds draw a genetic link. It is believed the society accomplished its goal mostly due to Von Stephanitz's strong, uncompromising leadership and he is therefore credited with being the creator of the German Shepherd Dog. [43]
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
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Re: The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Cathryn »

Hmm interesting speculation. Couple of things would possibly influence the time factor. 1. the 7 years to human 1 year, and 2. The number of offspring which might be the same 7:1.
There have also been some glitches in the traits and temperament, hip displacia, and agression at age 8.
Personally I prefer daschunds.lol
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Re: The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Naga_Fireball »

Cathryn wrote:Hmm interesting speculation. Couple of things would possibly influence the time factor. 1. the 7 years to human 1 year, and 2. The number of offspring which might be the same 7:1.
There have also been some glitches in the traits and temperament, hip displacia, and agression at age 8.
Personally I prefer daschunds.lol
Very good points. However 130 years is a long time indeed, it makes me wonder a lot about people.

The hip displasia fortunately is prevalent largely among the show dogs more than the police dogs, according to wikiplop.

The aggressive tendency is what saddens me most as I see it in human families -- pretty =\= sane.


The same diseases that plague german shepherds run in some royal families -- hemophilia actually happens to them...

Perhaps humans and dogs have more in common than we realize.. When inbreeding is used to "fix" genes there are always unintended accidents.

Another thing to keep in mind is in vitro fertilization. There could be more of it going on than we think.

In vitro fertilization allows scientists to accelerate the modification process, they toss the "non viable" and grow the keepers.

@@

It's OK to call me crazy but remember where you heard it, lol
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
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Re: The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Naga_Fireball »

P.s. omg you should see the dachshund in the building next door. I call him Rumpelstiltskin because he is so vicious. He belongs to this hilarious old lady with a hunched back and they are an incredible team.

When he barks it sounds like a cross between Mickey Mouse and the Big Bad Wolf @@
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
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Re: The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Cathryn »

lol they do say ....oh never mind lol.
I will stick with my dalmations for now. Sry for off topic :lol:
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Re: The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Naga_Fireball »

Cathryn wrote:lol they do say ....oh never mind lol.
I will stick with my dalmations for now. Sry for off topic :lol:
Lmao, I was too slow getting that but now I can't breathe. Oh gosh.

Those sound like fun, they are so pretty :)
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
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Re: The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Naga_Fireball »

Back to topic for me, I can't help but introduce "vaccines" as another piece of the puzzle.

If you were a mad scientist hellbent on producing the perfect "working dog" (human), and vaccines shortened the process by tagging genes you know and eliminating genes you don't need, wouldnt you try it?

Fascinating and horrible.
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
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Re: The Phylax Society and the Miracle of thr German Shepherd

Post by Naga_Fireball »

Hi friends.

This morning I thought of a possible addition to this thread, something from evolutionary science to make the ideas more interesting.


Those of you who are comfortable with evolution as a concept should be familiar with the term "punctuated equilibrium".

If I recall, this was a term used to describe a huge physical change within a terrestrial species occurring within a relatively miniscule timeframe.

Fixation does tend to rest on the species undergoing change and not the factors and guiding environmental changes that trigger them.

Although the German Shepherd was artifically evolved, it is a great example of how punctuated equilibrium works in practice.

Hopefully lol
Brotherhood falls asunder at the touch of fire!
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not coloured like his own, and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.
~William Cowper
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