The New York herald., 1921-07-24
GERMANS CAREFUL
BREEDERS OF DOG
Robert McCallum Tells of
Methods Employed in Rails
ing Shepherds.
BY FRANK r. DOLE.

BY FRANK r. DOLE.
German dogdom is stronger than be-
fore the war. This is the word brought
back by Robert McCallum. who has just
returned from an extensive trip. during
which he attended number of German
shows and purchased a number Of Ger
man shepherds. which he Will use in
breeding here.
I have known Robert McCallum for
more than twenty years and have come
to place great reliance on shat he says.
He certainly knows what he Is talking
about when 1t comes to shepherds. He
makes a number of suggestions that
should prove helpful to American breed
ers and fanciers and which he firmly be-
lieves should be followed II America Is
to retain its supremacy over England In
raising German shepherd dogs.
He arrived in Germany in the early
part of May and found that news Of
his coming had preceded him. He was
perfectly well aware that when an Amer
lean enters the field as prospective
buyer prices Immediately jump. Ac-
cordingly he lay low when he attended
the first show at Berlin. He took the
role Of a deaf and dumb man through
the assistance Of friend and succeeded
in buying two good looking pups. 1t
was not until after the money had been
paid that he revealed his identity.
From Berlin Mr.. McCallum went to
Mannheim where he also was able to
conceal his identity and select several
more dogs. He felt the success of his
mission In getting the best dogs at fair
prices depended on concealing his iden-
tity as an American breeder and accord
ingly was forced to disappoint friends
here who were cabling him commissions
to buy for them.
Laugh Mt Stud Fees.
Speaking Of the conditions of the Ger
man dogs. he said: "a breeder In Ger
many Is extremely careful to breed his
dog with correct blood lines to match.
The Germans laugh at the stud fees In
America. have been informed on the
very best Of authority that in some in
stances the fees asked for several Amer
lean champions are more than the dogs
originally sold for in Germany. have
documentary proof Of this in more than
one instance.
I'm Germany the mere fact that dog
Is declared winner In show doesn't
send the German breeder off his head
In anxiety to mate his bitch with him.
The sooner the American breeder gets
that idea out Of his head the better for
the big breeders wanted me to send back
to Germany Ekhardt Won Furstenhagen.
but had to tell him I had sold this
dog and was trying to buy him back
for myself, as I have seen several of
his pups Of unusually high class.
Il was kept very busy travelling
through the breeding centres and visit
ing shows. and think I bought the very
best, but will have to let them speak
fo,, c1f, 1r,r r1,k 11xr NJ
the best breeding in ages from one to
two years. no old ones that have been
winners at the principal shows.
"One big pleasure of the trip was be-
ing made a member of the wonderful
German Shepherd Dog Club of Ger
many with it's 10000 members. Just
think of a club that can have such
membership when some American clubs
are considered large If they have 900.
/ am sure there Is room for big Inn
provement in America and believe
breeders association would be big
help to the shepherds.
II have decided to give UP handling
and conditioning and will now devote all
my time to importing and breeding the
German shepherds I hope to be able
to go back to Germany again shortly to
get the rest Of the dogs bought this trip
and left to appear in later shows and
also to make some additional pur-
chases.
Breed Popular In England.
THE German shepherd has taken very
strongly in England and II we are not
careful they will beat us in few years.
There are many good dogs in Germany
now and q number more coming along,
but they bring a good price there. as
the American buyers have to compete
with the English, French and Dutch.
The English buyers will match our
prices every day in the week.
II bought twenty-five dogs on my trip
and brought fourteen of them back with
me. / have sold most Of them and will
retain three to show here IL some CLUB
can get man to judge who understands
the German standard Of judging.
II never saw such strict Judging as
they have in Germany. 1t takes a man
from two to five hours to Judge class
by the standard. The German standard.
l am convinced, Is the only and rignt
thing to go by in Judging this breed
and not by guesswork such as have
seen used at some shows. I also would
like to see stud book for the breed,
but suppose we can't have everything
at once.
IT have bought number of dogs
am convinced will improve the breed
here. I naturally don't claim to have
bought the greatest ever but I'm sure
that when they have had a chance to
prove themselves my judgment will be
vindicated. / never saw so many good
dogs as did at some of the shows
in Germany and was glad to find that
many other Americans were interested
In getting some of the best of them to
this country"