The German Shepherd In Word & Picture

[Nelly]

by Max v Stephanitz.

Is it worth getting ? I heard the German-English translation is quite poor, as far as understanding what the exact terminology means ?

[onyx'girl]

It is worth it to have in your library for sure! I paid $75 for my copy...the average price online.

[AbbyK9]

It is definitely worth having in your library. I don't think there is a better way out there for you to learn about Max von Stephanitz's view on the German Shepherd, what he imagined it to be, where it originated, and what sorts of activities it was supposed to have done well at. It's definitely interesting.

The translation is disappointing, however. I believe it was originally translated in the 1920s, and there is quite a lot in the text that reads awkwardly. If you have a good working knowledge of German as well as English, you can pick out (and mentally correct) some of the awkward things that happened in the translation, such as the constant references to the "race" where the word "breed" would make a lot more sense to an English-speaking readership.

[W.Oliver]

Originally Posted by AbbyK9

It is definitely worth having in your library. I don't think there is a better way out there for you to learn about Max von Stephanitz's view on the German Shepherd, what he imagined it to be, where it originated, and what sorts of activities it was supposed to have done well at. It's definitely interesting.

The translation is disappointing, however. I believe it was originally translated in the 1920s, and there is quite a lot in the text that reads awkwardly. If you have a good working knowledge of German as well as English, you can pick out (and mentally correct) some of the awkward things that happened in the translation, such as the constant references to the "race" where the word "breed" would make a lot more sense to an English-speaking readership.

Amen what she said, plus 1.

[cliffson1]

To fully understand the breed....I think it is a necessity. Of course owning it and fully digesting it is another subject. People who own and have read this book tend to have excellent insights into the breed.

[Nelly]

Thanks for the replies so far everyone.


Despite being revised (?) several times, are the more recent editions still relatively similiar as the original/or first english translation copies ? Does anyone know ?

[phgsd]

I got mine last month...as a birthday present for myself. It is really fascinating, definitely worth buying!

[Tim Connell]

Fantastic resource, and definitely gives insight on the "old school" thought process...and as with many subjects, "What is old, is what is new" when it comes to analyzing where much of the breed, other working breeds, and working dog beliefs in general are derived from.

Use caution, however: when searching for a copy online, I saw a few counterfeits/cheap reprints. I was eventually able to locate an original 1920's copy in great condition. I found that often, early editions are written in a lot with notes, and hand numbered chapters, since some were issued without chapters numbered.

There are some minor translation issues, but frankly, I think it lends a unique authenticity which enhances my personal enjoyment of the text, for what it's worth.

[von Bolen]

Why has the GSD community gotten together to do a proper reprint so other GSD owners can get it without spending all that money?

[middleofnowhere]

There's a little something about respecting copyright, (even if out of cr which this probably is - I don't know German copyright). And on top of that, I cannot conceive of how on earth the GSD "community" would "get together" to do a reprint.
I suppose if you were to join the GSD Club of America, you might propose that they, as a group, translate the work again & print the new translation. (Which I think is what you mean by "do a proper reprint.") The way we disagree about dog training, I doubt that there's going to be much consesus on any attempt of "improved" tranlation by a bunch of dog nuts . {So my answer to your question is - as a group we are too disfunctional to do anything like this!}