- Phylax Society
The Phylax Society was the first
German Shepherd Dog club, formed with the intention of creating a standardised Germandog breed .Establishment
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 which displayed superior qualities than those of other dogs.cite web|url=http://www.germanshepherds.com/thegsd/history/|title=History of the German Shepherd Dog|publisher=German Shepherds.com|accessdate=2008-08-02]Disestablishment
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 its establishment.cite web|url=http://www.oscarthegsd.com/about_gsd.htm|title=About German Shepherds|publisher=|accessdate=2008-08-02] cite web|url=http://www.german-shepherds-breeders.com/german-shepherds-breeders-general-information.htm|title=German Shepherds - Breeders - General Information|accessdate=2008-08-02] cite book | title = Training Your German Shepherd Dog | last = Rice | first = Dan | isbn = 0764108522 | page = 11]
Post-Phylax Society
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 theVerein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (Society for the German Shepherd Dog) in 1899, which ultimately lead to the creation of the modern German Shepherd Dog breed.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
