King shepherd

Max Emil Friedrich von Stephanitz (December 30, 1864 – 22 April 1936) was a German dog breeder who is credited with having developed the German Shepherd Dog breed as it is currently known, set guidelines for the breed standard, and was the first president of the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (S.V.).

 Early years

Born in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, into German nobility, Stephanitz was a career cavalry officer and spent some time serving at the Veterinary College in Berlin.

Here he gained valuable knowledge about biology, anatomy, and the science of movement all of which he later applied to the breeding of dogs. He was promoted to Captain in 1898 and shortly after took his release.

 The beginnings of standardization

Stephanitz purchased property near Grafrath in the 1890s where he began experimenting with dog breeding.

He used many of the techniques