Talk:White Shepherd

Merger proposal
I propose that Berger Blanc Suisse be merged into White Shepherd Dog. The White Shepherd Dog article states that these are the same breed of dog. The Berger Blanc Suisse article is also poorly written and contains little information. bmlbytes (talk) 01:03, 2 March 2012 (UTC)
 * I suggest this only happens if a clear distinction remains being made between FCI white Swiss shepherds and the North American white shepherds and white German shepherds. The latter two may be fairly similar, but the FCI white Swiss shepherd is a breed of its own and though it originates from GSDs, it is no longer the same thing. Different temperament, different built--different dogs. It deserves the distinction and cannot be lumped together with the other two without it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.73.9.35 (talk) 22:13, 16 December 2012 (UTC)

Confusion
I've notice something while reading through this Talk forum. There seems to be somewhat of a disconnect between proper dog breed names and nicknames. The FCI-recognized breed of dog is properly named "Berger Blanc Suisse" which translates to the English "White Swiss Shepherd". Some countries or clubs may add the word "Dog" to the end of that, but as there is no "Dog" included in the proper breed name, I don't believe that word should be added to the English translation. Therefore, we have the proper breed name: Berger Blanc Suisse (White Swiss Shepherd). Simple.

As to the issue of "what, exactly, is a 'White Shepherd'"?, I will give you some history and then leave it to you to do with it as you see fit.

Many years before the official recognition of the BBS by the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI), the breed association for the White Shepherd Dog in Switzerland – the Gesellschaft Weisse Schaferhunde (GWS) – was founded. By 1991, this club, which was the only recognized club for the breed within the Kennel Club of Switzerland – the Schweizerischen Kynologischen Gesellschaft (SKG) – had gained official recognition for the breed with SKG. Furthermore, in that same year (1991), Switzerland and the SKG became the first FCI-member country and registry in the world to officially recognize the White Shepherd Dog as a new and separate breed. At that time, “Swiss” had not yet been added to the breed’s name. Switzerland was the sole holder of the world’s first provisional breed standard, making it the most natural candidate for “mother country” status for the new breed.

It was not until several years later, in November 2002, that FCI granted the new breed provisional status. It was also at that time, that the breed was officially re-named “Berger Blanc Suisse” (White Swiss Shepherd), adding in the "Swiss" and dropping the original "Dog" at the end of the name. Recognition of the new breed was confirmed by FCI on December 18, 2002. The breed was assigned to the following FCI classification: Group 1, Section 1: Sheepdogs (Switzerland), Standard Number: 347. Provisional recognition was changed to "official" on July 6, 2011 and the Berger Blanc Suisse breed has been eligible for CACIBs since July 6, 2011.

To further muddy the waters, the United Kennel Club (UKC) of Kalamazoo, MI, also recognizes and registers a breed of dog known as the "White Shepherd." UKC granted its breed full recognition on January 1, 2000 which slightly predates the provisional recognition of the Berger Blanc Suisse by FCI.

Here is the really confusing thing: breeders of white-colored German Shepherd Dogs, both here in the USA as well as in Canada and some other parts of the world, will very often refer to their dogs by the nickname of white shepherd and have done so for years. And even though there is now a fully recognized UKC breed called "White Shepherd" - a breed these people reject and do not wish to be a part of in any way - many of them are still are still referring to their (colored white) German Shepherd Dogs as "white shepherds", as term of endearment... or perhaps just out of habit.

I do not know what can be done to clarify this situation if the breeders and owners themselves will not cooperate. But I thought the people of Wiki should be made aware of the fact that there is an actual breed of dog registered by at least one national kennel organization (UKC) as "White Shepherd" while at the same time, there are people talking about "white shepherds" who are *in actuality* referring to white-colored German Shepherds by a longtime established nickname. They are NOT the same thing!

In any case, I believe the Berger Blanc Suisse should, properly, be referred to by its FCI-recognized name and not be lumped in with any discussion of white shepherds (the nickname still often used for the physical color of a certain variety of German Shepherd Dog) or White Shepherds (the officially recognized UKC breed).

Thank you for your attention.

Karen M. Carloni (editing to sign my name) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Onewaits (talk • contribs) 21:16, 18 August 2013 (UTC)


 * There is no difference whatsoever between a white german shepherd dog and a "Berger Blanc Suisse". Or for that matter, any other colour of german shepherd dog. Call it what you will, they are all german shepherd dogs of the same lineage, descended from Max von Stephanitz' original shepherds which had various colourings. For reasons quite beyond me some of those colours were considered "ok" and some considered a "fault" despite no other genetic differences. They should all still be called German Shepherd Dogs since that is their true lineage, and is factually accurate. The colouring should make no difference, and the very notion of separating out whites as a breed apart smacks of little more than racism/fascism, sadly ironic for a breed that has already suffered prejudice due to the association with Nazism - having been renamed "Alsatian Wolf Dog" (subsequently shortened to simply "Alsatian" to remove the association with Nazi Germany post World War II. Kenc 1969 (talk) 12:20, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

Heroic White German Shepherd saves man from Coyote attack
Thought maybe you might want to incorporate this in a section on famous white German shepherds or something: http://www.forsythnews.com/section/1/article/19864/ Chrisrus (talk) 07:52, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Berger Blanc Suisse which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 05:32, 5 March 2020 (UTC)

White Shepherd Dog
It should be noted that the decision to exclude white German Shepherd dogs from the breed standard in 1933 in Nazi Germany was based upon a flawed understanding of genetics which history has shown that the Nazis were infamous for. Iramarkcohen (talk) 17:47, 21 August 2023 (UTC)