German Shepherd
The German Shepherd is perhaps the most famous and popular breed in the world. These dogs work in the harsh conditions of the north, and in the hot deserts of Africa. This is an exceptionally faithful and attached to the owner of the dog, is the undisputed leader in work and in training competitions.
The popularity of a German shepherd is very easy to explain: it captivates everyone with its character, in which nobility and temperament, diligence, reliability in work and readiness at any time to protect the owner are concentrated. Be sure: if a German shepherd lives in your house, no gangsters are afraid of you.
The ancestor of the German shepherd is a golden jackal, not a wolf, although the shepherd is very similar to a wolf. At first, German shepherds were used to guard yards. These dogs were called "Howards," which in Old German means "yard guard." The Howard descendants were used as shepherd dogs and were called shepherds.
Max von Stefanitz is considered the “father” and creator of the breed. Once, at the All-German Dog Show in 1899, he saw a gray shepherd dog, which struck him with its composition and proportions. Stefanitz bought this dog and named it Horand f. Grafrat. In the studbook, he registered it at number 1. Horand became the distant progenitor of modern German shepherds.
On September 20, 1899, the first meeting of the German Shepherd Society was held, at which the breed standard was adopted. As the breed improved, changes and additions were made to it. According to the standard, the height at the withers of males is 60–65 cm; female 55-60 cm.
German Shepherd is a highly specialized, versatile breed of dog. It is used in almost all types of services - search, guard, shepherd. These dogs are used to search for people under the ruins of houses after earthquakes and search for drugs when checking people and baggage at customs.
Collie
Collie is an amazing combination of elegance and beauty. A dog endowed with intelligence and charm. Collie owners can talk for hours about their dogs without ceasing to admire their appearance, intelligence and quick wit.
Collie is a very comfortable dog for keeping in the apartment and in the city. Calm, friendly, clean, get along with a child and a kitten. Long chic coat makes the collie look truly royal. A feature of collie hair is that during molting, the hair does not fall, and for some time is held on a long hairline, so if you comb the dog at least twice a day, you will hardly see any wool in the apartment. Collie's homeland is Scotland. The harsh climate of this country made the collie a very hardy dog. Collies were used for grazing black-headed sheep "collins", hence, apparently, their name came from here. Among the Scottish shepherds, the collies were highly respected and respected. In England and Scotland legends were made about collies, they were talked about with admiration. In 1891, the English Collie Club approved the original breed standard, which was later supplemented. The height at the withers for males is 56–61 cm, for females 53–56 cm. Collies come in four basic colors: red and white, tricolor (black with white and red markings on the muzzle and paws), marble (smaller on a silver-blue background black spots), blue (formed by a mixture of red, white and black hair). Very rarely, the fifth color is found - white (at least 75 percent of pure white coat, but the head must be dark).
In the Austrian studbook, the first collie was recorded in 1885. In 1891, the first club was created in Germany, uniting lovers of this breed. At the same time, collies were very popular in America, where collies were imported from England, laying out fantastic amounts for dogs. A very purebred collie Omskirk Emerald was worth 1300 pounds, which corresponded to 2600 marks in gold. It was a fortune.
One of America’s foremost collie breeders was banker Pirpont Morgan, as well as some of the presidents of the United States.
The German princess de Mont Leon held about 70 dogs of outstanding appearance. Her Darwell Masterpie was estimated by the Americans at 33,000 marks, but the breeder refused to sell the dog.
The English Queen Victoria preferred white collies, the same dogs were kept by US presidents.
The exceptional working qualities of collies allow them to be widely used in a wide variety of services. In France, they are police dogs, a delicate sense of flair makes them indispensable search dogs. In Germany, collies were widely used in military service. In tsarist Russia, during the Russo-Japanese War, they were sanitary dogs. Collie's popularity was also aided by the famous film “Lassie,” which featured a Scottish Shepherd dog prepared by American trainer Rudd Witer-Wax. Lassie (that was the name of the dog) literally conquered the whole world, her name became a household name.
Collie firmly takes a leading place among dogs in beauty, quick wit, extraordinary mental abilities.