The History and Popularity of German Shepherd Dog in India

     By Sanjit Kumar Mohanty

Joint Secretary, GSD Club of India

German Shepherds have always played a big role in Indian Dog Show Scenario. Today the German Shepherd as a breed in India is very popular among the dog lovers, breeders as well as show enthusiasts. Before independence, keeping a German Shepherd in the house used to be luxury and only the elite class of people like Royals, Landlords or English Officers were privileged to keep them.

Post Independence, one could see them only in rich and royal families. It is really interesting to know that the German Shepherd Dog then an un recognized breed known as D.S.H IN ITS FATHERLAND (GERMANY) was registered for the first time in India in 1910 ,by Mr. H. Triefflich who imported dogs from Germany. Till 1919 there was no evidence or registration, but royals and canine lovers kept on importing and the dog was then known as Alsatian the wolf dog, in the year 1919, captain P. Banerjee imported a dog named FOCH who was bred by Mr. Wright of U.K, and got registered with the INDIAN KENNEL ASSOCIATION, this is the first German Shepherd which was shown in Indian soil, at the 14th championship show in CALCUTTA (KOLKATA) on February 1921.

His highness the maharaja of Jind got fascinated with the breed and brought a pair bred by Mrs. E.M Cross, these dogs were born in 1920,from the same litter Mr. A.A.L Parson got a male named VIKING, all the three dogs were shown at the 7th Mussoorie show held on 23rd September ,1921.
At the same time flt. lt. bouverie brine had two bred-in-india dogs.

In 1923 Mr. Frank Colinwood imported a bitch from U.K. during this time a lady named Mrs. Normandy Rodwell imported AIRMANS CHAUKE and AIRMANS THALIA from the U.K.

AIRMANS CHAUKE became India�s first GSD (then Alsatian) champion in 1925.

The breed was admired and loved in this time. People like MRS. C. CH. VAN DE GRAFF, HIS HIGHNESS RAJA OF POONCH, PRINCE BAHADUR SHUMSHARE, CAPT. HEM SHUMSHARE JUNG BAHADUR RANA, AND HIS HIGHNESS MAHARAJA OF PATIALA PATRONISED THE BREED.
In 1924 H.H The Maharaja of Patiala imported from Germany Alf von Eiswerdier and Asta Vom Franzosenfoch. Also in 1927, he imported MAX V.D SECRETAINERIE , BIANKA V.D SECRETAINERIE, AND ALSO THE FAMOUS GERMAN CHAMPION FRIDO V.D SECRETAINERIE, AND KORA AUS DER KATCHENSTADT. ALL THESE DOGS WERE BRED BY THEN FAMOUS BREEDER FROM GERMANY MR, SCHWABER who later moved to England.
In 1926 h.h maharaja of Jind imported BALDO V.D SECRETAINERIE,
THEN people like Raja Bahadur of Bhadri, Major J.W. Goldsmith, flying officer M. D. Ommanney, Mrs. f.e.g Godfrey, lt. col. Appleby and Mrs. G. Corlly smith took keen interest in development of the breed in India.
These eminent people decided form an association and founded the Alsatian club of India in 1928, and the office �bearers were: President-G.E.G.JAMESSON, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE �MRS LYN CARLISELE, MRS. CULLEY, MR. C. A. HARDBOARD, PRINCE BAHADUR SHUMSHERE, FLT.LT.M.D.OMMANEY, HON. SECRETARY AND TREASURER-MRS,M.D.OMMANEY.

THIS CLUB PRESENTED cup for the best Alsatian, also Frido V.D SECRETAINERIE, challenge cup for the best Alsatian born in India and many other trophies and awards from 1930- 33 in the Indian kennel association championship shows. During this period apart from the above mentioned ladies and gentlemen, people like Mr. M.A.K Fraser from south Mrs. W. Knox Chick from north, Mrs. E. H. Fido, Dr. L. C. Smith and Miss. K. H. Wheatley took up the breed seriously to popularize the breed in India. Mr. J. W. Goldsmith became the first breeder to breed a Indian�bred champion.

Due to some uncertain reasons the Alsatian club of India of 1928, ceased to function in the early part of 1934,

Again due to efforts of some earlier members and patrons, in 1934 February, there was a meeting at the Bombay show and Mrs. Lyn Carlisle was appointed hon. secretary and treasurer, capt. H. Harrison became the president, members present were, Dr. L. C. Smith, Mrs. H. C. Captain.

Mrs. Lyn Carlisle issued the first pamphlet of the club in March 1934, due to some reason, Mrs. Lyn Carlisle was un willing, Dr. L. C. Smith took over from her and published the first magazine of the club in July 1934. Then the kennel club of India (successor to the Indian kennel association) was approached for the registration and affiliation, on 4t October 1934, K.C.I gave recognition to the new club. Both Capt. Harrison and Dr. L. C. Smith put their efforts to make the club asucess story and tried to popularize the breed. Monthly meetings, discussions and seminars were conducted for members, breeders and fanciers of the breed. Workshop on the breed standard, training, health related issues were conducted by experts like Capt. Harrison, Mr. Grove, and Mr. N. C. Bose. Even Capt. Harrison in one occasion described the anatomical difference between a wolf and a Alsatian (gsd), by getting a live wolf in the seminar.
Training and obedience classes were a regular feature at the Calcutta maiden.
The first championship show of the club was conducted on the 23rd august of 1936,at Calcutta (Kolkata), there were around 54 exhibits present in the show and Capt. Harrison judged the show. In the mean time the bred was getting very popular in Bengal. When Mrs. Corley smith left India most of her dogs were brought b V.D SECRETAINERIE y Mr. G. N Dey and Mr. N. C. bose. Mr. G. N. Dey acquired the great stud dog Ch. Lipper Von Grafenstein, and Thea Vom Hain.

And was a great advocate of the breed with passion, his sudden demise lost a ardent supporter of the breed according to his last wish Dey memorial trophies were created.

Mr.n.c bose aquried golden eagle of maresquel, Ella vom Grunnensteg,Basko Von Raventhalshof,Donner vom Billhoff,mr.bose bred very good gsds, and produced many show stunners.he definitely contributed for the upliftment of the breed in India.
Mr. s.g.goho was another fancier who imported FERRO V.D SECRETAINERIE,QUANDEL V.D, SECRETAINERIE, ELLA VON HUMMELLACHE,ERLE VON HUMMELLACHE RFROM GERMANY.AND AVENGER STRATHSHAW OF ESEE FROM AUSTRALIA.

A FEW OTHER personalities who took great intreast in the breed and club were raja bahadur of rajnagar,patet saheb of dhenkanal,mrs.gardiner, capt dina nath,mrs n.d.monte,the raja saheb of rampura, and mrs hillwood of concord kennel.
In august 1937 a committee meeting of the club was held to change the breed name from Alsatian to Alsatian(german shepherd dog), and also to change the name of the club from Alsatian club of india to Alsatian (g.s.d) club of India,the proposals were approved by the committee and was forwarded to the kennel club of India,the kennel club of India on the advise of kennel club of London granted the changes on October ,1937.

With the beginning of second world war office bearers and many member from the forces went for their active service duty, it was not possible take out the club magazine and much activities from 1941.

But notably some members like Mr. a.k.bose,mrs g.wicker-sham,mr.r.p.mitter,mrs d.f.morton,Mr. ashoke mukherjee,mr.b.n.ghose,mrs Chadbourn,mrs p.dendrino,seth hari kishore,Mr. h.inwood,lt.col.d.k.oldrini,Dr.l.c.smith, mrs taylor,capt m.z.khan continued to breed and show.

In 1945 mr.harrison returned, and the club started activity,Mr. r.p.mitter took over the charge of secretaryship from mrs.I.M.ROSETTI.

MR. mitter ran the club till 1948,then he handed over the club to capt.j.m.banerjee .the club members and office bearers put their efforts and time to make it a success.with more than two hundread members the club magazine was very successful with informative writting by Mr. Harrison,.
In the year 1952 the club got affiliated to the Alsatian league and club of great Britain,and in liu of its affiliation received as a present ---�bontfield challenge cup�for the best bred in India out of sire and dam imported from great Britain.and also a trophy for the best Alsatian imported from u.k.,on attaining championship .the club regularly sponsored tropheys and prizes, in dog shows all over India.
In the mean time there was ban on importing dogs due to foreign exchange regulation act.
In 1954 ,the club obtained import licence from the government,and six dogs were imported to help the members.

In 1955 the club revised its constitution and rules,.
The glorious landmark in the history of the club under the able stewardship of r.p.mitter was on the 11 th December ,1960, when the great german authority on the breed ,herr Heinz roper, came and judged the 21st club show at Calcutta.the way in which he judged the german shepherds, and demonstrated to the exibitiors and Indian judges, the qualities to look for in a german shepherd as a working dog.

The silver jubilee show of the Alsatian(gsd)club of India was held at calcutta,in 1963 at that time the country was under national emergency rule.how-ever the show became very successful ,with mrs,g.m.barrington as the judge,she is probably one of the worlds greatest living authorities of the breed at that point of time.
For the success of this show letter of congratulation were received from raja saheb of bhadri,cdr Harrison,herr wener funk ,james .y.baldwin,german shepherd dog club of America inc,

When cdr Harrison left India to settle in Australia became the patron of german shepherd club of Australia.

. In the late 60s, German Shepherds from England and Germany came to India. People like Nawab Ahmed Hussain, Nawab Nazeer Yar Jung, R. P. Mitter, Ashok Mukherjee, Rajasaheb Bhadri, Maharaja of Baria, L. C. Smith, contributed a lot to the growth and popularity of the German Shepherds in the country. Especially, Mr. L. C. Smith from Bangalore produced top class dogs under the prefix �Sydenberg�, blending bloodlines from Ramacon Swas Buckler and Ajax von haus Dexel. Nawab Nazeer Yar Jung from Hyderabad, with his Prefix �Paighas� imported lot of quality German Shepherds from Germany, England and Australia and bred many obedience and show champions. Ch. Brando of Blue Blood, Ch. Nara von der Kahlerheide, Paighas Jung, Iccra Talismann were some of the dogs owned by them.

Then, a German Shepherd enthusiast from southern India, Mr. M. J.Krishna Mohan, owned a beautiful specimen Ch. Meridanes Dick. The dog won laurels in the show rings and created interest and love for the breed among the GSD fanciers. Mr. Krishna Mohan also imported some quality German Shepherds from top kennels from Germany, but his untimely demise was a great loss to the breed in India.

In the meanwhile, German Shepherd as a breed has become very popular for the Indian dog show ring as well as pet lovers. Mr. D. Krishnamurthy (Kingsway), Mrs. Y. Hemchandra (Yashbans), Mr. S. P. Mishra (Shivas), Capt. Pupala Ashok (Tanfield), Mr. A. Venkateshan (Sansburg), Karlstad kennel from Kolkata, Mr. Bharat Bhushan Beri form Kolkata, Chanchal Sarkar, Kolkata, Iqbal Singh Dhillon (Rising Star), Amritsar, Amar Iqbal Singh Bhinder (Super Star), Mr. C. V. Sudarsan (Chennai), contributed a lot to the steady rise in popularity of the GSD as a show and pet dog in India. In early 80s Mr. S. P. Mishra from Hyderabad imported many dogs from Germany and produced some good stock, viz., Ch. Shivas Zambo. An NRI from the US, Mr. Puri registered a kennel in the name of �Bronx Shepherds� and imported some American champions; Pride vom Cypress, a top American winner Avalon�s Hot Shot created interest and hype for Shepherds in Northern India.

Mr. M. C. Sharma of Jhajjar Shepherds came into the picture with one of Indian bred top winning Avalon�s Hot Shot son; he later imported German Shepherds from various top show winning lines in Germany and contributed to the gene-pool of North India with dogs like Till vom haus Beck, Nicos von der Wanasse, Zender van Noort.

At that time Mrs. Y. Hemchandra (Yashbans) imported lot of German dogs combining the herding and show lines. One of her famous imported female was Gilka vom Kirschental. She had got a very beautiful, darkly pigmented male nick named �Kai� who produced some good offsprings.

This was a time when India saw a large number of German imports in the show rings; the craze for German bloodlines grew among breeders as well as owners of Shepherds. A gentleman named Mr. Venkateshan with the prefix �Sansburg�, who was into Dobermans earlier, got into German Shepherds; he imported many German dogs and bitches in whelp from famous show lines of that time, viz., Norbert van Noort, Ajax van Noort, Cagney von Grahenheim (Uran son proved to be a top producer), Zambos von der Kahlerheide, Beta von der Kahlerheide, Lana vom haus Mohn, Woyna von der Kahlerheide, Gera van Noort and widened the gene-pool in the country. He won two titles of the Dog of the Year with his top winning female, Ch. Tussy von der Kahlerheide and with his dog Ch. Norbert van Noort. His kennel produced some top dogs and bitches like Sansburg Mark, Sansburg Zito, Sansburg Fiona,sansburg dino. His last German import Fox vom Wildsteigerland is still contributing to the German Shepherd gene pool in India. Mr. Venkateshan was instrumental in forming the German Shepherd Dog Club of India along with Mrs. Rajlaxmi Reguraj and Mr. C. V. Sudarsan and became the Secretary of the German Shepherd Dog Club of India. Latter on the club was affiliated to w.u.s.v germany.

At the same time, a young businessman from Pune, Mr. Sanjay Desai got involved in German Shepherd showing and breeding; he got success in shows with his Shepherd, Ch. Ago vom Kirschental (Reserve Dog of the Year) in partnership with Mrs. Y. Hemchandra. Later, he started showing and breeding under the prefix �Dogmatix�. He imported many quality German imports. He brought some of the finest Weinerau bloodline in the country. His famous winners were Orfano Blue Iris, Berny Blue Iris, Ferris Blue Iris, Fia Blue Iris, India Blue Iris, Odessa Fidelius, Stobuko Yohanessberg (one of the top producers form Germany), Uro vom Hambachtal, Dasty von der Weinerau, Uras von Blue Rose, Ful di casa Nobili (presently one of the top producers in the country), Vigor drei Birckenzwinger,2009 german v-9-igor von der rommelsh bach. Mr. Desai�s dog Hero von haus Mohn won the Dog of the Year award; he produced numerous champions like Nash of Dogmatix, Urla of Dogmatix, Quant of Dogmatix, Fan of Dogmatix, Chikey of Dogmatix, Tasha of Dogmatix and continues to breed quality Shepherds.he is the first breeder from India whose breeding is now being shown in germany. He is the present Secretary of the German Shepherd Dog Club of India.

Mr. Amar Iqbal Singh Bhinder from Amritsar, who is very knowledgeable in German Shepherds, bred some of the finest females in the country. He had a beautiful German import bitch called Senta von der Aliusburg, who was a Quino Arminius daughter. From his kennel, a bitch named Nathalie of Superstar became a showstopper and won many Best in Show lineups.

In Bangalore, late Mrs. Rajlaxmi Reguraj was a great ambassador for the breed. She joined the GSD movement by importing quality dogs and bitches. A dog owned by her �Ch. Kora�, became the first German Shepherd to be The Dog of the Year. From her kennel �Fleetwood and Artegal� came a finest female, Artegal�s Will of Fire and many others. Her son Mr. Nagendran Reguraj, who was an All Breed Judge and very knowledgeable in German Shepherds, handled all her dogs to glory and top positions. Mrs. Reguraj played a vital role in forming the German Shepherd Dog Club of India and was the first President of the Club.the g.s.d fraternity lost afriend at the untimely demise of Mr. nagindiran reguraj.

Mr. Amar Iqbal Singh Dhillon, an Ex Member of Parliament, entered the German Shepherd scene with his American import Darengo Leonhaus Journey and got some success in the show ring; he later shifted to German bloodlines. Under his kennel prefix �Rising Star�, he produced a lot of champions. The significance of his breeding is that he uses all the best import males available in the country. One of the top female produced at his kennel is �Ch. Kelly of Rising Star�. In his late 80s, he is still an active participant and makes it a point to be present in major dog shows and specialty shows.
In Delhi, Karwinder Singh and his sister Nina Anand, bred some quality dogs under the prefix �Fienberg�, with their German stock from Fidelius. They had a very beautiful Quando Arminius daughter, Gina von der Burg Reihnstein.

Mr. C. Ramaswamy from Coimbatore, under prefix �Goldwins� bred some excellent specimen, like Goldwin�s Marko and Goldwin�s Olimbus and many others from his German imports Sony von der Romerau, Dango von der Kahlerheide.

The mid 90s saw a young breeder from Bangalore, Mr. K. E. Ramesh join the group; under the prefix �Atensberg�, he imported a few bitches and dogs combining the bloodline of Quando Bohawald and Gorbi von Badboll and produced more than 50 champions of correct size and expression to everybody�s surprise. Atensberg Pinto and Atensberg Max were very popular show dogs.

Late Mr. Vijay Singh of Patiala was a great enthusiast and had a great passion for the breed. His kennel �Aye Vee�, produced very good specimens. He imported some of the famous winners like Videx Kimo, Videx Tula, Videx Nathalie, Fipssi vom Sultzblick, Rocky von haus Tepferd, Fedor von Steinwaypark. He was the Past President of the German Shepherd Dog Club of India. His untimely demise was a great loss to the German Shepherd Breed in India.

In mid 80s Mr. Bharat Bhushan Beri from Calcutta imported some quality German Shepherds from kennel �Estherlager� of Holland, owned by respected SV Judge J. G. Hann. His dog Goya von Estherlager won multi Best in Show lineups. Mr. Beri imported a beautiful female �Tina van dan Alheides Hoeve� and later imported an Ulk Arlett son �Yupp von Estherlager�; he imported many dogs from famous kennel �Bedwin� and contributed to the gene pool of the eastern part of the country. Mr. Chanchal Sarkar, from Calcutta imported a pair �Shooterways Xargas and Shooterways Yana�. This pair produced some excellent dogs and bitches from every
litter.

In south, Mr. Vijay Varghese, imported many good dogs like Xero vom Saverland, Wastly von Arlett, Jock von Restrauch, Verena vom Bewei, Tell von Winnloh and many bitches. He sold Xero vom Saverland and Wastly von Arlett to an experienced breeder from Pune, named Mr.Azim Farooqui. He produced some excellent specimens out of these two dogs, under his prefix �Fags�. He is regularly importing dogs from top German Lines like; Igor de Brunskilltal, Hulk aus Agrigento, Eros vom Nindorfer Haus for his breeding program.and his his home breds like fags fanny,and now fags nash are top specimen.

Another passionate enthusiast, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Ghosh from Calcutta imported manys from Germany and Bedwin kennel of England contributing a lot to the gene pool of the east. His famous winning dogs were Ciricho of Titenhof, Ch. Fando of Dogmatix who did lot of winning in eastern show circuit.

In early 90s Mr. S. Pathy from Coimbatore, owner of famous �Sanscraintes� kennel, took interest in German Shepherds and imported top class German Shepherds from Australia, England and Germany. He bred quality stock to improve the breed; his import Wadcre Dexi won numerous Best in Show lineups.

Mr. Guruprasad from Chennai who has a very good eye for German Shepherds, imported a glamorous dog called Yasso von der Urbecke. Yasso won a lot in Indian show circuit. Mr. Guruprasad bred some outstanding specimensout of Yasso and his import female, Gora de Grupeto and later on imported dogs like Flyn von Sanmarko,
Cent von der Urbecke to contribute to the development of the breed in southern India.now is a committee member of german shepherd dog club of India.

In the meanwhile, a lady from Chennai, Mrs. Kala Krishna under prefix �Vinmin� imported a dog from Australia, Ch. Augnadow Cruister Classic; he was a deeply pigmented, masculine dog of good proportions. Later, she imported quality dogs from Germany,viz., Farinja von der Kahlerheide, Fanti vom Murrtal, Nita vom Murrtal, Quartz vom Murrtal. Quartz vom Murrtal proved to be an outstanding producer of many champions of her kennel.still she breeds quality dogs with her imports.

The year 2001 saw a new beginning, when a young man of Afghan origin named Abdullah Noori, got fascinated by GSDs. India saw a top winning and producing dog, V 10 � Quando von Nordlandzwinger a VA Scott v Deodatus son. Before that, in the year 2000, Mr. Noori�s import SG 34 � Karly vom Murrtal (Litter brother to VA Kevin) had become Dog of the Year in India. But Quando impressed the Indian show ring and created hype and enthusiasm among GSD lovers. With his ring presence, anatomy and movement, he became Dog of the Year for three consecutive years and also was crowned twice as the Indian Sieger. Quando produced a lot of top show winning progeny. Mr. Noori imported lot of winning dogs like; V 7 Fedor Steinway Park, SG 11 Rocky vom Haus Tepferd, V 11 Bob von der Grafenburg, and 1st VA bitch Hannie vom Team Fiemereck to contribute to the gene pool in India.

At present, a young breeder named Vishwas Raj (Bangalore - Wolfenhaus), has been very successful with his imports as well as his home breds. His imports, Xavier von der Urbecke, Delfa von der Urbecke, Yossy von der Urbecke, Lutzi von Stefanopertal have been very successful in the show ring.

Mr. Kapil Krishnamurthy from Coimbatore under the prefix �Kingsway�, has imported some very good shepherds from Germany. He has a quality Nero Nobachtal son and double sieger Yasko vom Farbenspeil son, Rascos von Messebau. He also has some top quality bitches in his kennel and is producing some good specimens out of them.his home bred kings way mika became a sensation we he clinched the vice sieger tittle in open class male category, in 11th Indian sieger show at coimbatore.

A young man named p.nityananda with his kennel prefix kingsland,from south a passionate breeder ,produced many champions by using the top producing sire eros frost-krammer,kingsland presented a progeny group by eros, in 2009 indian sieger show .and his home bred dogs are continiously winnining in all breed and speciality shows.

Apart from the above, Late Mr. Rajinder Malhotra, Mr. Mukul Vaid, Mr. Jagteshwar Singh, Sheriff Dayan,Mr. vivek jaychandran, Mr. Amar Parekh, Mr. Subhash Patil, Mr. Ajit Mathew, Mr. Vijay Ramakrishna, Mr. Pradeep Kumar, Mrs. Sashikala Giri, Mr. Saibal Chakrabarty, Mr. Somnath Ghosh, Mr. Avijoy Mukherjee, Mr. S. R. Prusti, Ms. Gauri Nargolkar, Mr. Ajmer Singh Dadhwal, Mr. vishal sudam, Mr. Peter Moses, Mr. Satish Shukla, Mr.
Aniruddh Singh, Mr. Sunny Dhaliwal, Mr. Abhai Kaul, Mr. P. A. Suresh, Mr. Jaskirat Singh Sethi, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Paintal, Mr. Harchand Singh, Mr. N. Santhosh, Mr. Ramabhadran, Mr. Jagdeeshwaran, Mr. T. P. Roy, Mr. I. Dhanashekhar, Mr. M. Mothes, Late Mr. Manuben Joshuaraj have contributed immensely to the GSD movement and development in the country.