why the D in GSD

[carmspack]

"
Was watching a best in show once and one of the comments was that German Shepherds were the ONLY breed that are ref'd to as dog...as an official breed name....they are not just german shepherds, but German Shepherd Dog "
as someone else already pointed out this is not so , and I would add Australian Cattle Dog , American Eskimo Dog, Anatolian Shepherd Dog, even Swiss Mountain Dog, the White House dog Portuguese Water Dog.
No wonder they did the comedy movie "Best In Show"

[Chicagocanine]

Yeah also Bernese Mountain Dog-- well really all the mountain dogs, bulldogs, sheepdogs, etc have "dog" in the name.
Many other breeds have 'dog' but in another language like Cane Corso, Shiba Inu, those with "hund" in the name, and so on...
Other breeds that don't have the word 'dog' in the name often have words for a type of dog in their name instead which is almost the same thing-- like Dogo Argentino, Dogue de Boredeaux, Mastiff breeds, Terriers, Hounds, etc...

Originally Posted by x11

there is no Dutch Shepherd Dog or Belgium Shepherd Dog.....?

Actually I thought in at least some of the kennel clubs they are called Belgian Shepherd Dogs or Belgian Sheepdogs so it is part of the breed name?

[Liesje]

In the UKC breed standards there are 29 breeds that end in the word "dog". I did not even count ones that ended in the word "dog" in another language. So no, the German Shepherd Dog is not the only breed that ends in "dog".

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by selzer

Look, we have enough trouble getting people to spell shepherd properly. No way are they going to spell it in German properly.

No kidding! For that matter, you should see and hear the way people butcher Lhasa Apso and Shih Tzu... it's downright comical at times, when I get phone calls asking if I can make an appointment for their "Jipsu" or "Lapso apsu". I asked one client if she could repeat, because I wasn't sure if I heard her right. She snottily repeated the name, carefully sounding out the syllables, "LAHP - so - AHP - zoo" as though I was the ignorant one.

[FlyAway]

The German Shepherd is a man, the German Shepherd Dog is a dog.

Though, in the US most people know that when you are talking about a German Shepherd, you are talking about a dog, but in Germany they add the "dog" so people know you are not talking about a shepherd. LOL!

[RowdyDogs]

I'm laughing about removing the "redundant" word from other breeds. Australian Cattle has a whole different connotation than Australian Cattle Dog (much like German shepherd vs. German Shepherd Dog). Or if we switch species, should we start calling American Quarter Horses "Quarters"?

[EJQ]

I've been involved with GSDs for just over 60 years. They have always been referred to as German Shepherd DOGS - not German Shepherds. I honestly don't know the facts about the origin but I believe that is the way Max von Stephanitz named them. To him they were a German Shepherd - DOG. That's the best I can do!!

[GatorBytes]

Originally Posted by GatorBytes

Was watching a best in show once and one of the comments was that German Shepherds were the ONLY breed that are ref'd to as dog...as an official breed name....they are not just german shepherds, but German Shepherd Dog

I think this was a history thing prior to breeds such as the PWD being added in the 80's, and the American Eskimo (70's) was called just that - no "dog" but now includes "dog"...the Anatolian Shepherd...and so on...as far as I know the Dutch do not want Dutch Shepherds recognized to avert popularizing the breed and avoid having it altered like so many other breeds have been....not verbatim, just some misc. info blip in the back of my nugget, LOL

The name of the German Shepherd Dog was changed to Alsatian and Wolf Dog and then back to German.

[Peter.]

What if you're talking about a puppy? GSD puppy.. now that "sounds" redundant..

German Shepherd Dog ... Puppy..

I always wonder if I should be typing GSP...

[Liesje]

GSP = German Shorthair Pointer