The Phylax Society was a prototypical dog club pre-dating the

German Shepherd Dog The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...

, formed with the intention of creating a standardized

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

dog breed A dog breed is a particular strain of dog that was purposefully bred by humans to perform specific tasks, such as herding, hunting, and guarding. Dogs are the most variable mammal on Earth, with artificial selection producing around 450 globally ...

Establishment

Throughout

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, unofficial groups had been operating to selectively breed dogs with profound qualities. While distinct breeds were being established they often differed dramatically, both in appearance and utility, across localities. As a result, in 1891 the Phylax Society (Phylax being

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for "guardsman") was formed with the intention of creating a standardised German dog breed by hand-picking, from sheep dogs belonging to local German shepherds, those that displayed superior qualities than those of other dogs.

Disestablishment

The official existence of the Phylax Society was short lived. Early in the group's history there was constant bickering regarding the desired traits of what would become the German Shepherd Dog. Some of the members felt aesthetics were not important in a dog breed, instead desiring that the dog be useful as a working breed, rather than having a pleasing look. Other members preferred that the dog be bred more for beauty with less of a focus on having a working breed. This argument was never settled and after numerous attempts to breed the German Shepherd dog failed by producing dogs with little to no utility, many of the members left; resulting in the Phylax Society disbanding in 1894, only four years after its establishment.

Post-Phylax Society

Although the Phylax Society had disbanded, many former members continued in attempts to breed a dog with superior qualities. It was due to the original formation of the Phylax Society that

Max von Stephanitz Captain Max Emil Friedrich von Stephanitz (December 30, 1864 – 22 April 1936) was a German cavalry officer and dog breeder who is credited with having developed the German Shepherd Dog breed as it is currently known, set guidelines for the br ...

was inspired to form the

Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde The ' (SV), in English, ''German Shepherd Association'', is a breed club founded in Germany in 1899 by Max von Stephanitz and his colleague, Arthur Meyer, which set forward the standards of the German Shepherd dog breed. History On the sidelin ...

(Society for the German Shepherd Dog) in 1899, which ultimately led to the creation of the modern German Shepherd Dog breed.

References

{{reflist Breeder organizations 1891 establishments in Germany 1894 disestablishments in Germany German shepherds History of the German Shepherd Dog Clubs and societies in Germany Organizations established in 1891 Organizations disestablished in 1894