History of the pedigree dogs from 1945-1990 in the GDR
GDR history
With special consideration of Schnauzers and Pinschers in the GDR Here is how to navigate through this website:
Credit: http://www.wallenfels-pinscher.de/
GDR history
1. The socialist dog
2. Organization of pedigree dog breeding and dog sports in the GDR
Association of Mutual Farmers’ Aid (VdgB)
Association of Allotment Gardeners, Settlers and Small Animal Breeders (VKSK) Society for Sport and Technology (GST)
Service and Working Dogs Section (SDG)
3. The offspring assessment and the Wermeß-number system in the GDR
4. The dog – specialist journal of the GDR
5. Special Breeding Association (SZG) Schnauzer and Pinscher
6th Special Breeding Association (SZG) Giant Schnauzer
7. The GDR and its abbreviations
GDR history
1. The socialist dog
In the socialist countries, and thus also in the GDR, people and animals grew
valued according to the utility ethos. The central question was: “What contribution was made to the construction of socialism?” The (pedigree) dog also had to submit to this question. This is how hunting, guard and herding hunde accepted in the GDR, while luxury dogs (without special task), lap dogs or even strays made no contribution to the construction of socialism. Breeding for performance was therefore more important than breeding for beauty. Service and utility dogs clearly preferred. At the major exhibitions in the GDR were German shepherds, Rottweilers, Dobermans and hounds clearly over-represented. For hunting dogs were special organized exhibitions.
GDR history
Dog athletes in the GDR
Performance tests were of great importance. The pedigree dog breed had no more alone the implementation of the respective standard as a goal; far more important was the ability of the pedigree dog to certain achievements. In the East were powerful, hardy working dogs asked. The dog was here — like the “workers” — as a working pet “a servant in building socialism”. On the other hand, dogs that are not used as service, working, herding or hunting dogs could, until the beginning of the 1960s, only as a food competitors and potential disease carriers seen.
Precious foods, in particular Wasting meat on “non-working” and not “edible” animals was for the GDR, the had major food supply problems for meat and animal products until 1963, an incredible luxury.
In the early years of the GDR, service and utility dog breeds were also more popular than the so-called luxury and lap dogs. Absolute number 1 was the German shepherd, who was bred with a focus on performance as a service dog. However, the popularity of the so-called luxury dogs or “useless” dogs decreased 1970s among the population of the GDR. The breeding and keeping of these dogs was
More and more popular.
The GDR leadership could no longer ignore this development and ultimately legitimized this dog ownership and explained the greatly increased willingness owning a dog is now seen as a “manifestation of social progress in the DDR”. Here, too, keeping a dog had to have a function; in this case, an educational one Function. According to the GDR leadership, keeping pets and dogs contributes to development the “socialist personality” of man, because there will be responsibility,
compliance with duties and learning discipline, perseverance and consistency.
The dog thus promoted the “socialist incarnation”.
GDR history
The claim of the GDR leadership the entire social development in all their Aspects to plan and control also referred to the dog being. The dog had to To be “useful” in the sense of socialism. There was a real compulsion to hold of dogs to find a reason. The reasons for owning a dog were the contribution to
socialist personality development, the recovery effect to strengthen the working performance of the worker, the security aspect (service dogs in the NVA, police and border protection) and the economic benefit (export of dogs to obtain foreign currency).
However, keeping the dog had to be regulated and controllable. Stray dogs were disposed of in animal shelters and here — there useless — relatively quickly killed. Dog owners — particularly dog handlers — have been turned into the controllable centralized organizational structures to better control them and im to be able to educate socialist sense. All club structures previously were dissolved and incorporated into mass organizations because clubs promote a bourgeois individualism and are reservoirs of reactionary forces.
However, breeding suffered from the politically driven isolation, so that no “fresh” blood came into breeding. Only at the end of the 1980s – and only with a special permit – an exchange with breeders in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary is possible. You could export pedigree dogs, on the other hand, go very well to western Europe because of the procurement of foreign currency. The supply of pet food was a major problem in the GDR in the 1970s and 1980s.
Ready-to-eat and canned dog food has been around since the 1970s, but was rarely sold have. The quality was inferior and many GDR citizens didn’t even know that these feeds could be bought, they were so rarely offered. The pet owners of the GDR were in the care of the dogs on “homemade” or informal networks reliant. A lot had to be improvised or made by hand. Was fed to the largest Portion meat, oatmeal, and vegetables, and what was left over from your own meals.
2. Organization of pedigree dog breeding and dog sports in the GDR.
Association of Mutual Farmers’ Aid (VdgB)
From the commissions for land reform formed since autumn 1945 and committees of the
mutual farmer’s aid, was at the First German Farmers’ Day in Berlin (East) in
November 1947 the Central Association of Mutual Farmers’ Aid was founded. In November 1950, under pressure from the SED, this merged with the Central Association of Rural economic cooperatives in Germany to unite mutual farmer help / farm trade cooperatives (VdgB/BHG) together. After 1957 the Organization only “Association of Mutual Farmers’ Aid”, or abbreviated “VdgB”, called.
The aim of the organization VdgB was first the land reform and later the construction of a
to support socialist agriculture. In the Canine Department in the Central Association of Small Animal Breeders — a department of the VdgB– the formerly independent pedigree dog clubs were organized.
From the point of view of dog breeders and athletes, the VdgB was still the most pleasant umbrella organization, because the VdgB did not interfere in the breeding and technical concerns of the
ties of the respective dog breeds. It has not yet been tried, the breeders and To educate dog athletes to the socialist idea.
Meeting of the VdgB mass organization
The specialist associations of the respective dog breeds could continue to create their own stud book and had its own office.
The Technical Committee for Canines wrote in a circular in 1950 Initiated by the competent authorities it is up to the pedigree dog breeding clubs to set up an independent stud book and to protect dates for performance tests and shows and to pronounce
The specialist associations eventually became special breeding communities (SZG), which depend on
race were named as follows: “Special breeding community German shepherds in the association of mutual Farmers’ Aid (BHG) Central Association”
Credit: wallenfels-pinscher Continue Reading Next Page GDR History 2