Klodo was not an
unknown dog. He had been Czechoslovakian Sieger in 1923, but he was
a different type from that which had previously won in Germany. Former
winners had been high, square dogs, but in Klodo, von Stephanitz had
selected a dog of lower station, deeper and longer than his competitors,
yet short in loin and back and with a far-reaching and fleeting gait.
This gray-and-tan son of the premier sire and show dog, Erich von
Grafenwerth, and out of Elfe von Boxberg, was within the required
height measurement, beautifully proportioned, magnificent in outline
and movement, and firm and fearless in character. He was line-bred
on Hettel Uckermark and combined the best of the Uckermark and Kriminalpolizei
inheritance
With the elevation
of Klodo to the Sieger title, it became apparent why von Stephanitz
had called the meeting of the breed wardens before the show. He had
realized the danger inherent in the oversized square dogs prevalent
at that time and feared that this trait was threatening to become
the standard by which the breed would be judged. He brought this distressing
fact to the attention of the breed wardens, and it was agreed by them
that drastic measures should be taken without delay to check this
departure from the basic standard. The dramatic choice of Klodo von
Boxberg as Sieger accomplished this end admirably. The new Sieger
was so definitely different in type than those that had gone before
him, and he was so prepotent in handling down that type to his get,
that the year of the 1925 Sieger Show was from then on known to the
Shepherd fancy as the line of demarcation between the "old blood"
and the "new blood."*
Klodo von Boxberg
sired many great dogs and others of near greatness that were valuable
in stud or brood pen. He was undoubtedly the best son of his sire,
Erich. One of Klodo's best sons was Curt von Herzog Hedan who in turn
sired the great Odin von Stolzenfels. Long coats were occasionally
produced by both Curt and Odin, especially when bred to Klodo bitches.
This characteristic was further concentrated in Curt von Herzog Hedan's
dam, through Roland von Park and Liese von Geusnitz. Curt and Odin
are prominent in German pedigrees as they are in ours in America.
The other important
son of Klodo, to present-day breeders, was Utz von Haus Schutting.
There has been great controversy over the merits of Utz. He triumphed
in Germany and then was imported to America. From evaluation and descriptions
of knowledgeable persons who saw the dog, we can gather that he was
not overly large, on the bench was not impressive, and lacked spirit
and nobility. But in the ring he became a different dog, beautifully
made structurally and wonderfully balanced in motion.
By the end of the
year, Klodo had been purchased and brought to America by A. C. Gilbert,
of erector fame. The Sieger was at stud at Mr. Gilbert's Maraldene
Kennels in Hamden, Connecticut. On the day
that Klodo arrived
at the Maraldene Kennels, a boy of fourteen walked eagerly through
the high iron gates of the Gilbert estate toward the kennels, his
mind filled with the exhilarating eagerness known only to the enthusiastic
young. Today he would see KIodo von Boxberg, the Sieger of Germany,
the Shepherd said to be the greatest dog of his breed ever known.
A big, richly pigmented dog trotted to the boy and wagged his tail
in recognition. The boy petted the dog without lessening his stride
toward the wire-enclosed runs, and the dog, Alf von Tollensetal, moved
along beside him toward where his trainer and a young man stood before
an outside run, watching a gray dog float back and forth. The boy
stopped beside them, and in the silence stood with rapt attention
centered upon the gray Shepherd. No need to tell him that this was
the great KIodo. The trainer's proud glance, the keen-eyed watchfulness
of the young man, weighing and evaluating every move of the Sieger,
the dog himself, filling the eyes and hearts of the observers as a
living creature so near to perfection must always do, were the obvious
clues to the gray dog's identity. Presently the boy and the young
man looked up at each other and smiled. There must be talk now, for
the beauty of this dog would not be completed in the being of the
individual unless shared with one of like enthusiasm. They spoke;
and the words they spoke then and the words they spoke through the
years that followed became a thread of like interest loosely thrown
around them. Finally, there came a time when these two people, alas
no longer a boy or a young man, came together and the thread, stretching
back through the years to the magnificent gray dog, was gathered up
and woven bit by bit into a book. The book you are reading, This
Is the German Shepherd, is that book; the authors are the boy
and young man of that long-ago day.
In 1925 and 1926
the Shepherd steadily climbed in popularity, until in America there
were 21,596 Shepherds registered out of an all-breed total
of 59,496. The breed began to decline from this peak in 1926, until
in 19M only 792 Shepherds were registered. This rapid falling off
in popularity was the result of puppy factories run by unscrupulous
individuals who climbed on the bandwagon of breed popularity; bad
publicity; and stupid breeding practices engaged in by breeders who
should have known better.
In the
excitement caused by Klodo's win, another triumph was swept aside
and, even to this day, forgotten by shepherdists. This was the triumph
of the breeding practice of Tobias Ott, whose Seffe von Blasienberg
was awarded the Siegerin title while her litter brother, Sultan von
Blasienberg, was reserve Sieger to Kiodo. Both Seffe and Sultan were
home-breds. Sultan later became one of the basic studs used in the
valuable Fortunate Fields experiment. Even though he was gun-shy,
a trait which he passed on to his progeny, he was sound in character
in all other respects, had a great willingness to please, trainability
and type, and was invaluable in the production of basic stock to further
the Fortunate Fields program in which working qualities were paramount.
A fairy Tale,
by Robert Hope
Once upon a time,
four St. Bernard exhibitors were coming home from a big show. They
were driving over a mountain pass in the middle of a violent snowstorm
when suddenly their car went into a skid, hit a guard rail, and wen
careening down a slope about a mile into a ravine. The trailer which
they had been pulling, containing their four dogs, landed relatively
undamaged next to their car. No one had seen the accident in the blinding
storm. As luck would have it, the Saint breeders wre trapped inside
their car. The door to the trailer, however, had popped open.
The first dog was
a very "type" Saint, as this is what his breeder cared about
the most. He made it about a quarter of a mile up the slope before
he was gasping for air, and his nasal passages began to freeze because
of his foreshortened muzzle. After another 200 hundred yards he was
blind and hopelessly lost because the driving snow was piling up in
his paws.
The second Saint
out of the trailer was bred for the "important things" like
prettiness, size, color and perfect markings. He was a beautiful sight
to behold, but unfortunately, he too collapsed after only a few hundred
yards from the ravages of hip dysplasia.
The third dog to
try to summon help had been bred for "soundness" His breeder
wouldn't have dreamed of using a dog that wasn't X-rayed free of hip
dysplasia. He made it halfway up the slope before he collapsed from
exhaustion. He could not cope with the high drifts. His breeder hadn't
realized that there was more to "soundness" than hip dysplasia
and had neglected to include the head, back, shoulders, forelimbs,
feet, chest, lungs, heart and hindquarters in his "breeding for
soundness."
The fourth breeder
was conscious by now and knew that at last all those years of breeding
would pay off. He had bred for type, being careful not to shorten
the muzzle so far as to obstruct the breathing or ruin the bite. He
was proud of his dog's "tight eyes" His dog had "storybook
markings," a "richly" colored coat, and was a very
"powerful, proportionately tall, strong and muscular figure"
He had an OFA number, of course, but was also big boned, a "very
strong and powerful neck" that was properly muscled; his shoulders
were well laid back. He had a 'good rig spring"; he had strong
pasterns and strong feet. He had perfect rear angulation and his hocks
couldn't have been any stronger. When moving, he was absolutely flawless....
With great pride and tears in his eyes, the breeder saw his big, beautifully
Saint Bernard drive off into the blinding storm just like the hospice
dogs of old.
The last Saint
made it up the slope to the road almost effortlessly. A passing state
trooper saw the dog and stopped to investigate. As he got out of the
car, the dog attacked and ate him........
