Invented by: A retired german officer Max v Stephanitz, presumably because back then you could not retire to Florida ;) so he moved to Bavaria and wrote a book. (a very long book! The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture). And opened a kennel to breed German Shepherd Dogs.

He also established the German Shepherd Dog Club in 1899, founded the breed, established a marketing strategy that should be the envy of any commercial business. The breeds looks were shaped through breed selection at shows, its origins lies with the herding stock: german sheepdogs with very different looks (different colors, conformation, temperament) from various regions in Germany.

Long coats were not allowed to be used in breeding by 1930, the long coat without the undercoat that is; as they were deemed too sensitive to bad weather conditions. The long coats with undercoat were allowed in the breeding effort until the early 1990s! Then, for political reasons (German kennel Club politics) they too were excluded. There are several non recognized (by the German kennel club) organizations devoted to breeding longcoated german Shepherd Dogs in germany, and their breeding stock is a list of the top kennels names of the SV.

The SV does have strict guidelines for breed selection, and a database of hip xrays results and now elbow xrays (checking for dysplasia: hips and elbows) that is accessible and affordable, allowing owners to make an informed decision when buying a German Shepherd Dog Puppy.