ALSATIAN DOGS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21979, 14 June 1933, Page 13

ALSATIAN DOGS

TO THE EDITOR. SIR,—A correspondent, “Fancier,” In your columns of this mornings paper must indeed have a perverted sense of humour when he describes as humorous an attack upon a woman by a half-breed wolf in our city streets.-—I am, etc., , Safety I ibst. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l beg to extend my thanks to « Fancier,” the writer of a letter in this morning’s issue, who so quickly admits that he struck a vein of humour in my previous letter. That, at least, is something attained. Now, concerning dogs and netting wire enclosures, I did not, as “ Fancier ’ states, approach too close to the particular Alsatian of which I "'rote. I kept at a safe distance, and watched this dog wolf from a balcony. I mentioned the animal’s peculiarity of always loping the one way round. I have since been informed that this is a wolf trait. Again, “ Fancier ” miscontrues when he writes of the quotation I made with reference to wild dogs causing havoc in tho sheep flocks in Central Otago some

considerable time ago. I knew, of course, that the wild dogs to which I alluded had no strain of the Alsatian wolf in them. The sheepmen, farmers, and politicians of that-period had too much sense to allow such a menace to be imported. ‘ Fancier” says that Alsatian dogs are intelligent and clever, etc. To that I may add that there is a vast difference between cleverness and cunning. Anyhow, to people like “Fancier” I would say that if they fancy an Alsatian they should keep him well chained up: the public has a right to protection. It appears to me when I see an individual coming along with a dog of this breed on a leash that he almost challenges all to say: “ What a dog! What a man! ” —I am, etc., June 13. R. S. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Undeniably, Alsatian dogs have bitten people, but even the generally benign St. Bernard has done that. Cage or chain any dogs very much and 99 per cent, of them will be liable to bite, because when freed they are excited and nervously distrustful of strange persons or surroundings. A caged man is usually a savage animal when loosed. Ask a returned soldier about the larger dogs used in Belgium for turning treadmills, drawing carte, etc. He will tell you that although they are kindly-looking dogs they are often savagely unapproachable. Chained at night, cooped in the treadmill or harness all day, beaten; what wouldn’t be savage? A similar existence is led by many Alsatians in this country,- in the respect that they are chained and caged. These are the biters. The Alsatian, wolf dog, as he is called, was so named by the English breeders who imported specimens from Germany and other parts of the Continent of Europe. He did not originate in Alsace, nor is he any more wolf than a bulldog is. If you should tell a German farmer that his sheepdog contained wolf blood he would do things which would make you conclude that Germans were nasty. The wolf is absolutely abhorred by the back-country shepherd. If the Alsatian is part wolf, why does he not show it in his physical make-up?—-even in occasional specimens? The wolf s bead is flat and wedge-shaped, with narrow, obliquely-set eyes, whereas the Alsatian’s eyes are set to_ look straight forward. The wolf’s eye is always one colour according to his specie; the Alsatian’s eyes differ in colour according to his coat. The wolf’s ears are set on low, arising at the origin of _ the masseter muscles; ; the Alsatian's are set high. The legs of a wolf are extremely thin and venous. A thin-shanked Alsatian is as rare as a green fox terrier. The two middle toes of hind and forefeet of a wolf are very much longer than the two outer ones. The Alsatian’s forefeet are invariably round-shaped. The claws of a wolf, are low in and central in each toe; look at an Alsatian's! The wolf never has dew-claws on the hind legs. These excrescences are common on Alsatian pups. The wolf’s tail is never curled, hooked, or twisted, and is always bushy. It is quite common to see Alsatians with curled, hooked, or twisted tails. These dogs were not a standardised breed, and certainly were never “ shown ” in their native country forty to fifty years ago. At that time the German sheep dog (Alsatian) was as great a mongrel as the New Zealand '‘coolie” is to-day, or greater, as there are more breeds in Germany. As our sheep and cattle dogs contain nearly every kind of breed in the country, so did the German sheep dog. Farmers in that country often imported thoroughbred English and Scotch collies. Whilst these dogs were superior in many -ways to their own, they were of little use in back and timber lands where the -wolves depleted the flocks. (The German sheep dog_ is trained to stay wdth his sheep.) The imported dogs, although capable of dealing with one or two wolves, often succumbed to larger numbers of these brutes. The Continental wolf is a small, mean-looking animal certainly not a thing to mate with a dog to give the dog courage or strength. The German farmer kept a powerful dog with a big voice. His dogs were a pretty mixed lot. Farmers, fanciers, and shepherds became interested enough to make a dog combining the best qualities of tfibse they possessed. In their thorough way they evolved the German sheep dog (Alsatian) of to-day, of which there are now hundreds of thousands in the world. This is no exaggeration. The greatest enemy the Alsatian ever had was the body of “ salesmen ” who dubbed him wolf-dog. People like to feel that they have something unsual; a wolf in a dog’s hide was just the _ thing. The fact that breeders would never confess that their article was not long ago very “doggie,” strengthened this wolf idea. They even wrote books trying to prove it, but they “ fizzle out with their history after thirty-odd years tracing. So the big breeders sold a fine dog with an absurd name that has “ stuck.” The next enemy of the Alsatian is the breeder of other kinds of dogs, for the Alsatian’s enormous sales have harmed these men’s business. Then there are the people who don’t like the Alsatian because nine of them ate a woman somewhere. . , ... If the Alsatian did not have pricked ears he would not sell half so well to private persons, nor would there be any Little Red Riding Hood story. The Alsatian gets his pricked ears from the Thungurian sheep dog, the Keshond chiefly. There are many breeds of dogs in Germany with pricked ears. His peculiar gait, long jaw and fangs, his slack hide and the pronounced articulations in ribs (midway between spine and sternum) derive from some of the great hounds of his country; his occasional erratically curved tail from the Keshond; and his hind leg dewclawe from his odd mixture of ancestors. He is found in all colours, even brindle, another sign of the hound—by which I do not mean the English greyhound. Now, if he throws back even yet with distinct signs of a certain kind of dog, why does he not show a little wolf in some place? The dewclaws will disappear in time as will other odd points, for, remember, he has_ had only 30 years’ attention to his breeding. My observation is that many owners of these dogs are not fit persons to have them. If any of those with gumption would only take their dogs among strangers’ strange dogs, and varied surroundings from the beginning they would have a grand ineorniptable companion. Cage an Alsatian and hig vast natural energy will be misdirected when he is free, causing irreparable harm to the reputation of his breed. _ His undoubted intelligence turns to cunning for his own ends. In fact, he goes mad. It is seldom that a dog is at fault, but always his owner. —I am, etc., G. Collett. Herbert, June 12.